Suckers - J.A. Konrath

And so, yes, I found myself in the van, riding toward the Taywood house, wondering how I
ended up in these situations. Well, half the time it was entirely my idea, but I wondered how I
ended up in these situations when Roger was the instigator.
It took about thirty minutes to get there, during which Becky told her mother the Taywood
story eight different times, each less accurate than the last, until finally it involved aliens,
Frankenstein's monster, and Darth Vader. Though I have to admit the part with Darth Vader was
pretty cool.
From the outside, it appeared to be a perfectly normal abandoned house. The homes on each
side were also for sale, and had been for quite some time from the looks of the lawns. The
Taywood place was a green, two-story wooden house with a large front porch and single-car
garage.
"This is really dumb," I said as Becky's mother pulled the van into the driveway. "It's also
trespassing. We shouldn't be teaching our children to trespass. Kyle, I never want to see you
trespass, okay?"
"Okay."
"It's not trespassing," said Becky's mom. "Nobody owns it anymore. And you're both adults.
And it's Halloween."
I'm pretty sure that none of those excuses would have carried any weight with my wife (and
I didn't think any of them were true except it being Halloween). But, despite my parental advice,
I've always really sucked at resisting peer pressure, from tugging on the Rottweiler's tail at age
four to eating the Mystery Solid last month.
"Can I come?" asked Theresa.
"No," I said.
"Can I come?" asked Becky.
"No," her mother said.
"Can I come?" asked Kyle.
"No," I said.
"Why?" asked Kyle.
"Because," I said.
"Don't worry about us," said Becky's mom (I really should have known her real name, but I
wasn't about to admit my ignorance). "We'll just play some games and have fun. Tell the ghost I
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