“Okay,” said Alma, hesitant to let the conversation continue, like she was being forced to watch a movie she’d seen before with an ending she hated, but didn’t want to spoil it for the others around her.
“We’re trying to make sure that we take advantage of the exposure and put up new content on the site that can get people to keep paying attention to what we’re doing,” said Rachel.
Stephen was quick to continue. “You’ve probably seen all of those shows on TV these days about ghost hunters and stuff, right?”
Alma nodded.
“That’s sort of what we’re trying to do, but with a more serious take on it. We want to go to places that have ghost stories, or unsolved crimes with a supernatural feel to them, and do a story about them.” Stephen dropped his fork and flung syrupy red sauce in an arc across the wall behind him as the utensil bounced off the edge of the table and fell to the floor. “Shit, sorry,” he said as he retrieved it. The glazed pork had collected a wealth of carpet fuzz when he picked it up. “Gross.” He put the fork on the plate and covered it with his napkin.
“Smooth,” said Rachel in jest.
“So, you two are partners in this website?” asked Alma.
“Yeah.” Rachel seemed to recognize why Alma looked confused. “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to mention Stephen’s not just my camera guy, he’s my husband.” She held up her left hand and pointed at her naked ring finger. “They don’t want me to wear a ring on camera. All part of the illusion, you know?”
Alma shook her head. “Not really.”
Stephen got up to get a new plate of food from the buffet and set his hands on his wife’s shoulders to massage her for a second. “Rachel is supposed to be the hot, single reporter. They don’t want viewers to know she’s taken.”
Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed. “Yeah, it’s a sleazy business.”
“Well, at least it pays well,” said Alma.
Rachel gave a quick laugh and straightened her posture. “You’d think, right? Truth is reporters get paid like shit. You think teachers have it bad? Try being a reporter on a local news show.”
“Really? I had no idea. I just assumed you guys made a lot.”
“Not unless you’re an anchor.” Rachel looked over her shoulder at her husband. “He makes more than I do, by a lot.”
“That’s why we’re trying to get this site off the ground,” said Stephen on his way to the buffet table, out of earshot.
“Look,” said Alma sharply. “I have a feeling I know where this is headed, and I should just stop you before we go any further. I can’t help you with your site. I’ve left that part of my life behind me.”
Rachel visibly deflated, and she looked nervous as she continued to stab at the zucchini on her plate. “I understand. I really do, but will you just hear us out?”
“Honestly, I probably couldn’t help you out anyhow. That happened when I was eight years old. I don’t even remember it that well anymore.”
Stephen overheard them as he came back with a new plate of disgusting fried meat. “Did you tell her?” He sounded disappointed.
“She saw it coming,” said Rachel. “Probably because of your none-too-subtle introduction at the school.”
“Sorry to be a bummer,” said Alma. “I really can’t help you though. I don’t know anything more than what’s already been out there. And to tell you the truth, I don’t believe all the ghost stories anyhow. The police said that the disappearances were due to a fight between a motorcycle club and the mob. They said that the people in the town are probably all living in Mexico or something, hiding from the mob.”
“Yeah, but that’s crazy,” said Stephen. “An entire town just packs up and moves because of some drug running mob deal?”
“What’s crazier?” asked Alma. “That, or that they all got abducted by aliens, or sucked up into an alternate dimension, or whatever other crazy conspiracy theory is out there now.”
“You told the police that you saw the green light that night,” said Stephen, almost as if trying to confront Alma with a lie.
“I was eight,” said Alma. “Who knows what I saw? I don’t remember any of it.” She had a habit of avoiding eye contact when she lied, and tried to stare at him when she spoke, but still averted her gaze when she said that she didn’t remember that day. The truth wasn’t that she couldn’t remember anything, but rather that she couldn’t remember pieces of what happened. There was a large chunk of time that had been lost to her.
“Have you heard about the Widowsfield lights?” asked Rachel. Her light tone calmed the conversation. “Not just what the police report said you saw, but the phenomenon that’s been going on out in Missouri ever since the day the people in Widowsfield went missing.”
Alma shook her head. “I try not to pay attention to the rumors anymore.”
“People that live near Widowsfield say that they can see green lights on foggy nights,” said Rachel. “They’ve even started to film it. You can watch some of them online. It’s actually pretty creepy.”
“And you don’t think that’s staged?” asked Alma. “Come on, the people making those videos are setting out green lights on foggy nights and then taking video of it. There’s nothing mystical about that.”
“And that’s what we want to find out,” said Stephen. He was excited about the project, and Alma could understand how that could be infectious for people around him. He had an almost childish fascination with the subject. “We want to approach this type of thing differently than other shows out there. Our goal is to go in with various viewpoints. Some of the people on our show will be skeptics, and others will be believers. I’m hoping to find a local out there that has seen the lights, maybe even someone that has been to the town a few times. We’re going to try and dispel any of the fake crap out there, and only bring out the truth.”
“I’m on your side, Alma,” said Rachel. “I always try to think of the most reasonable solution to things, and I agree that the people of Widowsfield probably just fled the mob. It was a pretty small town, and it’s not impossible to think that the majority of them were mixed up in the meth ring.” She crossed her arms and sat back in her chair. She looked over at her husband as she continued. “Did you know that right around the time all this went down, the DEA had just changed the laws around pseudoephedrine? They made the sale of large quantities illegal, and they discovered a meth lab in Widowsfield after the disappearances. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
Stephen shook his head and frowned as if he thought Rachel’s point was ridiculous at best. “They found a tiny little meth dealer’s set up. It wasn’t Breaking Bad or anything in there. Shit, I bet there’s a home meth lab within walking distance of this restaurant. They’re not exactly rare.” Then he looked at Alma and got excited again. “But you see, that’s the kind of thing we want to go over on our show. We want to explore every possibility, no matter how ludicrous they are.” He cast a snide look at his wife.
“It sounds great,” said Alma. “But I’m not sure what you want from me.”
Rachel and Stephen looked uncomfortable. It seemed that they were wary to ask for what they wanted, as if they knew it was asking too much. Stephen eventually explained, “We were hoping to convince you to come with us to Missouri, to go past the place where your brother disappeared.”
“We’re leaving tomorrow,” said Rachel.
Alma laughed uncomfortably. “No way. Sorry, but I’ve left all of that behind me. Besides, my brother didn’t disappear there. The police agreed with my father. My brother was kidnapped from his room.”
“Yeah,” said Stephen, “but that’s not what you told them originally. You told them he was…”