THE MINUTES COULDN’T tick by fast enough on the clock in Logan and Kim’s living room. She’d helped the kids with homework, fixed dinner, and put them to bed. Candles burned on the mantel, a movie played on the television, and Kaylan dozed in and out of consciousness, waiting for the knock that meant Nick was finally home after four weeks away.
As the clock slipped past ten, screaming tore Kaylan from the couch.
“Molly!” Kaylan bolted down the hallway to Molly’s bedroom and tore open the door. Molly sat board straight on her bed, her eyes fixed on her window. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks. Her blonde hair hung in tangles around her face.
She whimpered on the bed, and Kaylan couldn’t bear it. She climbed in next to Molly and pulled her into her arms. “Ladybug, what’s wrong?” She stroked her hair and looked in Molly’s frightened eyes. “Talk to me, munchkin. What happened?”
“There was a shadow over there. And it came toward me and wouldn’t stop. And I screamed, and it went away. Don’t let it come back, Kaylan. Don’t let it get me.”
Kaylan looked to where Molly pointed. Her fairy night-light glowed in the dark room on the wall across from her bed just under the window. Shadows from her dolls and teddy bears on the floor flickered larger than life on the wall.
“Molly, it was just a bad dream. Just a bad dream.”
Molly sobbed in Kaylan’s arms, curling into a ball tight against her on the twin bed. Kaylan held her close, knowing that she would never let anything or anyone hurt her and wishing she could stop the dreams.
“They won’t go away, Kaylan. Why won’t the shadows go away?” Molly peeked over Kaylan to gaze at the wall again.
“It’s just your toys.” Kaylan loosened Molly’s arms and crawled from the bed. She picked up the teddy bear on the floor and made him dance in midair so Molly could see his shadow move. Then she sat him down and stretched out on the floor, making finger puppets in the glow of the nightlight.
Slowly Molly sat up. “Rabbit.” She giggled. “Worm.” She cocked her head. “What is that one, Kaylan?”
“It’s a giraffe, silly. Can’t you tell?”
“Mmm, I think you need to work on that one a little more.” Kaylan threw her hands in the air as Molly came to join her on the floor, her nightgown wrapping around her legs as she walked. She tugged her teddy bear in her lap and gazed at the shadows still looming on the wall. “How come they look smaller now?”
“Well, when we look at things clearly, they aren’t as scary anymore.”
“But where do shadows come from?” She huddled in a ball with her bear. “I don’t like them very much.”
Kaylan leaned close to her face. “I don’t either,” she whispered. She made claws with her hands, sending Molly into a giggling mess before she attacked her rib cage, tickling her until Molly rolled on the floor laughing.
After a few minutes they both lay on the floor looking up at the ceiling. Logan had stuck stars all over the ceiling that glowed a pale green. Molly rolled over and looked at Kaylan, smothering a yawn as her eyes drooped. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Shadows come from a mixture of light and darkness, Molly.”
“How do I make them go away?”
Kaylan stood up and crossed the room. She flipped on the light switch, causing Molly to squint in the sudden brightness. “Look at the wall now.”
“They’re gone! How did you do that?”
“By turning on the light. Shadows can’t exist where the light is bright.”
“Then never turn it off. Can I sleep with it on tonight?”
“Sure thing, sweet girl.” Kaylan picked Molly up from the floor right as a breeze filtered through the window, causing the curtain to flutter. She stilled. She’d closed that window. She was sure of it.
Fear rippled through her as she tucked Molly in bed. As she turned to close the window, Molly clenched her arm, her nails digging into her skin. “Don’t leave me. It will come back.”
Kaylan sat down next to her on the bed, tugging the covers around her. “Molly, we turned the light on. The shadows can’t come back, remember?”
“But the shadow wasn’t like my bear. It moved.”
“Well, sometimes curtains or something moves in my room and it scares me, but it can’t hurt me.”
She shook her head on the pillow, her eyes closing. “But it coughed,” she mumbled as she drifted off, her fingers loosening from Kaylan’s arm.
Kaylan froze. Her gaze raked the window, before she looked at Molly. The poor thing was completely exhausted. After laying Molly’s limp hand on the covers, she tiptoed to the window, taking deep breaths to still her nerves.
“Nothing is going to jump out at you. It’s all in your head,” she whispered. Her hands shook as she lifted the curtain. A small, dusty shoe print visible on the ledge waged war with her calm. “No, no, no. Not possible.”
She pulled the window down and latched it, knowing she had done this earlier. She gazed out into the dark night. If someone had been out there, they were long gone now. Something moved in the bush. Kaylan held her breath. With a screech, a tabby cat darted from underneath, a black and white one following in its wake. She exhaled, her hand going to her heart.
A knock sounded, and Kaylan jumped. Now who was jumping at shadows and noises?
She rushed from the room, pulling Molly’s door shut in her wake. Running to the door, she opened it and flew into Nick’s arms.
“You’re here. You’re home.”
“When I’m with you, I’m always home, gorgeous.” He picked her up, twirling her around on the porch. “Gosh, I missed you.”
She held on tighter, wanting to flee back into the house but unsure whether it was safer outside or inside. She was sure of it now. Someone had been in Molly’s room. Terror tore through her at the possibilities.
“Kaylan, your heart’s racing.” Nick grabbed her arms from around his neck and held her from him to look in her eyes. His smile immediately left. “What’s wrong? What happened?” He looked past her into the house and then pulled her inside.
“Nick, I’m so sorry. This isn’t how I wanted to welcome you home. I had this whole romantic night planned. And then Logan and Kim asked me to babysit so they could go out, but I still wanted to see you. So I planned something here, but then . . . ” She rambled, fear taking hold. She didn’t want to burden him. But if it was who she thought . . .
He cupped her face, calming her as their eyes met. “Kaylan, I don’t care how I get to see you. I just wanted to be with you. Now, slow down and tell me what’s wrong.”
“Someone was in Molly’s room.”
“When?”
“About thirty minutes ago probably.”
He let go and moved toward Molly’s room, but Kaylan grabbed his arm, tugging him to a halt. “Be quiet. She’s asleep again. I didn’t figure it out until she was drifting off. And then you knocked.”
“How’d they come in?”
“The window. But I know I closed it before I put her to bed. I remember doing it. She woke up screaming. Said she saw a shadow. I thought she was just seeing the shadows cast by her stuffed animals, but then she said the shadow coughed. There’s a dusty partial footprint on the window ledge. Nick, what if . . . ”
She couldn’t finish, didn’t want to think it, because if it were true, she’d placed these kids in danger.
“What if it’s the same person who sent the notes and packages?” he finished for her.
She nodded.
He pulled her tight and whispered instructions in her hair. “I want you to call the number on that card we gave you for the FBI. I’m sure they are close by. Tell them what happened and that the person is gone and ask them to come quietly. I’ll call Logan.”
Where could she go that was safe? Where could she run to protect the ones she loved? She clung to him for a moment, feeding off his strength and his calm.
“Kayles, can you do that for me?”
“Absolutely. What are you going to do?”
His jaw tightened, and she knew there was something he couldn’t or wouldn’t tell her. “I’m going to see if our guest left a calling card before they show up.”
She nodded and ran to grab her phone, resisting the urge to check on Molly again as Nick slipped from the house, silent as a panther.