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The rest of the week was quiet. Callie made sure of it by following “the rules.” She walked to town when she could, avoided jaywalking, and kept strictly to the speed limit whenever she had to drive her car. She took advantage of the good weather and finished redoing all the shutters. With David’s help, she even got the windows washed. Scraping and painting were next on her list, but she didn’t know how far she’d get before it got too cold. She’d take whatever she could get. Especially with the house cooperating like it was...
She let herself in the front door and locked it behind her. Automatically, she hit the light switch and lifted her gaze to take in the two-story entryway. Somehow over the last few days, she and her new/old home had managed to develop a symbiotic relationship. The creaks, groans, and thumps weren’t bothering her as much anymore.
She couldn’t say as much for her and the chief of police.
She’d managed to avoid him for most of the week, but she’d spotted him tonight at the football game... harassing teenagers smoking under the bleachers.
She rolled her eyes. Okay, it was bad for their health, but did the guy ever take a break?
Ever?
She shrugged out of her blue jean jacket as she walked into the living room. Tiredly, she tossed it and her purse onto one of the boxes that still filled the space. A chill ran through her, and she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. If she’d known that she was going to be sitting on those icy bleachers, she would have dug through all those boxes to find a heavier coat.
As it was, a cup of hot chocolate was definitely in order.
She stretched her arms overhead as she headed to the kitchen. The game had been fun, but she’d lost a couple hours of painting time when Alice and Mamie had shown up late this afternoon, demanding that she go with them. It had been worth it, though. For a big-city girl like her, a small-town high school football game was quite the experience. The game itself had been a nail-biter, but watching her two new friends with their megaphones and pompons had been even more entertaining. Thank God the Phantoms had won. She could only imagine how Alice and Mamie would have sulked if their team had lost.
“Ay yi yi.” After sitting next to a megaphone-amplified Alice for three hours, Callie wouldn’t have been pleased with a loss, either.
A yawn caught her unexpectedly as she pulled a mug out of the cupboard. Yup, a cup of cocoa and then bed. It had been a long day, and she needed to get an early start tomorrow. Tonight had given her plenty of inspiration for her column, and she wanted to get the ideas written down while they were still fresh in her mind.
She opened the refrigerator door.
And groaned. “Not again.”
There was barely enough milk left for breakfast. She sighed in disappointment and bumped the refrigerator door shut with her hip. It was time for yet another trip to the grocery store. With all the physical energy she’d been exerting, her appetite had kicked into high gear. She was practically eating herself out of house and home. Half the time, she didn’t even remember eating the food.
She put the mug back into the cupboard. She might as well just go to bed. Maybe another blanket would help fight the chill running through her bones.
“Phantom fever,” she said, her lips quirking.
As exciting as the game had been, she could feel her adrenaline waning. She hurried through her nightly routine in the bathroom, alternatively shivering and yawning. She was grateful when she closed her bedroom door and felt actual warmth coming from the heating vents. Ernie’s cousin had yet to figure out the cause of the cold spots around the house, but it always felt comfortable in here. Quickly, she changed into her pajamas and slid under the covers.
“Ahh.”
That was the thing about painting. It used muscles a person had forgotten she had. Climbing onto the roof of the porch today certainly hadn’t helped, but she’d wanted the blue trim around the porthole window of the attic to be as fresh as the shutters.
Just remembering that treacherous climb had her pulling the covers to her chin.
She’d gotten the oddest sensation up there. Almost as if she were being watched again... Only this time, it had felt different.
“No doubt by Laurie Hughes, waiting to see me break my neck,” she muttered. She rolled onto her side. She liked David, but his mother was a real piece of work.
Click.
The sound cracked through the darkness like a gunshot.
Callie sat bolt upright in bed and reached blindly for the lamp. In her haste, she nearly knocked it over. When she finally found the switch, the light made stars dance in front of her eyes. Anxiously, she looked through the red blotches until she could focus on the door across the room.
It was locked.
Locked.
This time, there was no doubt. The latch had turned... by itself. She could see it from where she sat.
“No way,” she whispered. Her adrenaline kicked back into gear, and her heart thudded.
Determinedly, she pushed back the covers. Her bare feet padded a quick rhythm across the hardwood floor. She hit the wall switch, and the overhead light flooded the room.
The lock was a deadbolt—odd for a bedroom—but it was firmly set. She wrapped her fingers over the thumbturn, but it wouldn’t move. “Oh, come on.”
She’d oiled that thing specifically so this wouldn’t happen again.
“I did not just trap myself in my own bedroom.” Wouldn’t that just be the talk of the town? She could practically hear everyone laughing down at Mamie’s about the dimwitted big-city girl.
She wiped her hand on her pajamas and tried again. No luck.
She’d heard of locks freezing up, but not like this. It had been fine two minutes ago, and it wasn’t like she’d slammed the door shut or anything. She frowned as she looked more closely at the lock. It wasn’t old like the rest of the house. In fact, the finish on it gleamed. One of the more recent tenants had to have installed it. Frustration set in, and she grabbed the knob with both hands. “Don’t do this to me. Damn it!”
She slapped her palm against the door. She had tools, but they were upstairs in the room she’d decided to make her office. She turned to look around the room. There had to be something she could use to get herself out of here.
She’d only taken one step away from the door, though, when the handle began rattling.
Callie pivoted like a top. Her heart slammed into her throat, and she jumped backward, coming up hard against the dresser. A scream built in the middle of her chest, but it lodged there when another sound came rolling down the hallway. Thin and high. Otherworldly.
What in God’s name was that?
The sound grew in strength and seemed to resonate in the walls. She stumbled further away, but stopped in her tracks when she heard footsteps. Loud, heavy footsteps, right outside her bedroom door.
Somebody or something was in her house!
“Oh God, help me.”
She dove for her phone on the nightstand and dialed 911. Scooting away until her back was pressed firmly against the far wall, she stared at the door, praying now that the lock would hold.
“Nine-one-one. Please state the nature of your emergency.”
“Someone is in my house,” she said hoarsely. “They’re trying to get into my bedroom!”
“What is your address, ma’am?”
“Twelve fifty-five Highland. In Shadow Valley.” She didn’t know how the emergency system worked in small towns like this. How far away was help?
“Do you know this person?”
“No! Someone must have broken in.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes. Please send someone fast. I don’t know what to do.”
“If you can, lock the bedroom door. Barricade it in some way.”
The laugh that left Callie’s throat was a bit hysterical. She had the locking part down.
“Ma’am?”
She gripped the phone like a lifeline, but her thoughts scattered. Could she move the dresser? Not without pulling out all the drawers first. What did she have that she could use to protect herself? Her tennis racket? It was still packed in one of the boxes in her living room. Sweat broke out on her forehead until she noticed the lamp sitting right beside her. It was heavy. She ripped the cord out of the wall and curled her fingers around its base.
“Ma’am? Are you there?”
“Shhhh!” Callie hissed. She was listening for the footsteps. Where were they? She couldn’t hear them. Where had they gone?
And that hair-raising noise—where was it?
“Stay on the line, ma’am. Just stay calm.”
Calm? Was the woman high?
“Is there anyone else there with you?” the dispatcher asked.
“I’m alone.”
“We have officers on the way.”
Knowing that didn’t help. “I won’t be able to let them in,” Callie said in a rush. “I’m locked in my room.”
“I’ve made the officers aware of that. Just stay where you are.”
But she didn’t like where she was.
Her grip on the lamp became slippery. What was she going to do if somebody came through that door? She was staring at it so hard that her eyes were going dry. What if they burst through, and she dropped the lamp? What if—
A tap sounded on the windowpane behind her.
She screamed. Whirling around, she lifted the lamp up high.
“Callie, open up. It’s Chief Landry.”
Landry! She dropped the lamp onto the table with a clatter, and the phone bounced on the bed as she dove for the window. She pulled back the curtains, lifted the shade, and found herself face to face with him.
“Oh, thank God!”
“The latch,” he said, pointing at it.
He’d used her ladder. Bless him. Quickly, she undid the lock. The window stuck when she tried to pull it up, but her adrenaline surged. She gave a hard yank, and the window screeched although it only lifted a few inches.
“That’s good enough,” he said. He squeezed his fingers through the opening and forced the window open wide enough for him to climb inside.
Callie had never been so happy to see anyone in her life. Without thinking, she lunged at him.
“I’m locked in,” she babbled as she grabbed his shoulders with both hands. “The lock turned, and when I went over to open it, it wouldn’t move. I tried everything I could think of, but I couldn’t get out. But then it started shaking on its own.”
“Callie, breathe.” Landry dipped his head so he could look into her eyes. “Are you all right?”
“No! There’s someone in my house! They tried to get in my room!”
His look turned hard as he glanced at the door.
She dropped her voice to a stage whisper. “There were footsteps, but then this other noise came down the hall. I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know what it was.”
“You did exactly the right thing. You called me.” The muscles in his arms were tense, but his gaze gentled when he looked at her. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“Yes,” she said. That was an excellent idea.
His gaze ran down her form. Her pajamas weren’t sexy, just a Red Sox T-shirt and shorts, but she wasn’t wearing a bra. And her legs were bare.
“Here,” he said, plucking her robe off the foot of the bed. “Put this on.”
He slipped the robe over her shoulders and shoved the slippers he found on the floor at her, all while placing himself between her and the locked door.
“Did you hear anything after the noise?” he asked. “Any doors slamming? Which way did the footsteps go?”
Callie fumbled her slipper. He thought the intruder might still be there.
“Toward the kitchen,” she whispered. “I think.”
She suddenly realized how cold she was. The temperature in the room was freezing, and opening the window certainly hadn’t helped. She jammed the slipper onto her foot. All she wanted to do was take one more step toward her rescuer and absorb all the heat she felt surrounding him, but he was in full cop mode.
“We’re going out the window,” he said.
She nodded. Window. He was full of good ideas tonight.
“You first,” he said.
She cinched her robe tight and turned, but froze mid-step. It was jet black outside. Not even the moon was out. Shadow Valley was steeped in darkness.
“I’ll be right behind you,” he said, nudging the small of her back.
He’d better be. Taking a steadying breath, Callie crawled out the window. She gripped the ladder tightly as Landry held onto her arm and searched blindly for a metal rung with her foot. When she found it, it was so cold that her foot nearly cramped. She forced herself to make her way down the ladder. Wet grass clung to her legs when she touched the ground, and she shuddered.
Landry was close behind her. She stepped away to give him room, but the moment he was beside her, she reached out for him. Screw cop mode; he was big and tough, and she was scared. Her hand tangled in a strap of his bulletproof vest, and she held tight.
“Chief.”
Callie spun around and stepped back. She collided against Landry’s chest, and his hand automatically settled at her waist.
“It’s just Officer Raikins,” he said.
The flashlight pointed at them dipped, and a skinny, red-haired policeman approached them. “The front and back doors are secure,” the man announced. “Locked.”
Callie felt Landry’s look turn on her.
“I want you to wait in my truck,” he said.
“But...” She really didn’t want to be alone.
“Now.” He reached into his pocket and handed her the keys. With one hand planted firmly on the small of her back, he escorted her to the big black 4X4 he’d left on the street. “Lock the doors. If you see anything or anyone, lay on the horn. If somebody approaches you other than me or Officer Raikins, drive straight to the police station.”
“Chief—” she said weakly.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
* * *
CARTER WAITED UNTIL Callie was safely locked inside the cab of his truck before he turned his attention back to the house. “She heard two distinct noises, footsteps and something else she couldn’t identify,” he told Bill as they stood on the front walk. “We could have two intruders.”
He eyed the layout of the place. “We’ll go in through the bedroom. She says the lock is jammed, but I’d rather break down an interior door if we have to cause damage.”
Bill nodded, but his face was ashen. They didn’t get many break-in calls in Shadow Valley, but Carter knew that wasn’t the problem. “Bill, it’s just a house. Suck it up.”
He gestured impatiently to the ladder. Once he saw Bill take the first step, Carter’s mind went back to the woman he’d just stowed in his truck.
“Damn it,” he said under his breath. He hadn’t liked the look on her face when he’d come through that window. She’d been terrified. Anger bubbled up inside him, but his concentration focused when it was his turn to re-enter the house.
It was time for him to do his job.
Once inside the bedroom, he nodded at Bill, and they readied their weapons. Moving quietly on the balls of their feet, they approached the door from the side. Reaching out, Carter tested the lock. It twisted easily, releasing with a soft click.
He looked at it in surprise.
“Don’t touch the handle on the hallway side,” he whispered to Bill. “I want it dusted for prints.”
Bill nodded and, on Carter’s signal, they went through the door. They moved together, their backs bumping, as they made their way down the hallway. It was empty. So were the bathroom and the living room.
Carefully, Carter swept the space. There weren’t many places to hide. Callie was still in the process of unpacking. He nudged the larger boxes with his foot just to be sure and checked all the windows. None of them looked as if they’d been disturbed.
The wood floors creaked under his feet, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. He carefully moved on to the kitchen. Compared to the living room, there were even fewer places that an intruder could hole up. A quick look at the back door proved it to be locked, just as Bill had said. Carter started for the rear staircase that led up to the second floor.
Clunk.
As one, he and Bill swiveled around toward the basement door. Carter knew that noise. It was the same sound that had made Callie jumpy the other day. He waited a moment before it came again.
He thought she’d had someone come out to look at that.
With a glance at each other, he and his officer crossed the room. The door to the basement squeaked when Carter opened it. Adrenaline started coursing through his veins. The area needed to be searched, but damn, he hated staircases. They were a vulnerability. If anybody was down there, they’d have a clean shot at him.
Still, it needed to be done.
He swatted the light switch atop the stairs, and the lone bulb in the center of the room lit. Nothing showed itself. Determinedly, he started down the steps. Bill was close behind, searching the other side of the open room.
Something suddenly moved in Carter’s line of sight.
He held his weapon steady, even as his body went taut.
A mouse.
It scurried underneath a storage shelf, back into the shadows, but his relief was short.
He quickly made his way down the stairs and put the wall at his back. There was a feel to the place, one he didn’t like. He scanned the big, dank cellar, trying to put his finger on the source of his uneasiness. It was an open room with nothing more than some shelves of junk, a washing machine, and a dryer.
And a furnace.
It thumped again, and he walked over to look at it. He shook his head and signaled Bill to head back upstairs. They had the second floor and the attic yet to search.
In the end, they found nothing. No intruders and no signs of entry or exit.
Holstering their weapons, they met up again outside of Callie’s bedroom door. Carter nodded at the door handle. It was all that they had. “Dust it.”
“Uh, are you sure, chief?”
“You got a better idea?”
Bill shuffled his feet. “I... Well, I was just wondering if you were taking everything into account.”
“Like what?”
“This is the Calhoun place.”
Carter’s blood pressure tweaked. “Don’t give me that. She had an intruder. Somebody rattled that door handle.”
“I know. I just didn’t see any evidence of a break-in, and I thought—”
“Thought what? That you’d like desk duty for the next two weeks?” Carter rolled his tight shoulder and took a calming breath. “Just see what prints you can get.”
“Yes, sir.” Bill’s head dipped. Without a word, he headed out to his squad car.
Carter ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t have time for any superstitious garbage. Callie was already frightened enough as it was. They were going to treat this as a possible break-in.
Nothing else.
He headed out to get her. The moment he stepped out the door, the chill in the air turned his breaths into cloudy puffs in front of his face. Still, he could feel her gaze home in on him like a hot laser beam. He rounded the front of the truck, and she hastily unlocked the door.
“Did you find anything?” she asked. “Did you catch anyone?”
“You have mice in your basement.”
Her eyes were wide and dilated. “That’s it? Nothing else?”
“The house is clear.” He saw her shiver and jumped right back into first-responder mode. “Hell, you could have turned the engine on to keep warm.”
He grabbed a ragged old blanket he kept behind the seat and wrapped it around her shoulders before taking the keys out of the ignition. “Come on, let’s get you back inside.”
She glanced warily at the house.
“I’ll go with you,” he said.
He stepped back, not letting her dally. She was chilled, and the longer she waited, the harder it would be to gather the nerve to go back inside. Hesitantly, she swung her legs out. Her robe split open and a long, lean thigh was left bare. Carter looked away. He was here on business. Business.
He led her up the walk. She moved slowly although the cement had to feel like a block of ice underneath her slippered feet. He glanced at her face. She was white as a sheet. “It’s all right. Raikins is the only one in there.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. We searched the place from top to bottom.”
She pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders and nibbled on her lower lip. His gaze was drawn unwaveringly to her mouth.
“Mice, huh?”
He shook his head to break the spell. “Yeah, down by your laundry area.”
“I hate mice.”
He looked down with surprise when she slipped her hand into his. Their palms met, and she gripped him tightly. When she finally started up the steps, he moved with her. He held the door open for her, and she walked into the entryway. It was as far as she got.
“Why don’t you go into the living room and sit down?” he said.
She took a deep, calming breath, but didn’t let go of his hand. “Okay.”
Bill glanced up when he saw them come into the room. He was in the hallway, kneeling in front of the bedroom door with a print kit.
“Callie, this is Officer Bill Raikins,” Carter said. He discreetly pulled his hand out of hers and settled it more impersonally on her shoulder. “Sit down. Can I get you anything?”
She remained standing. Her gaze was on the paraphernalia spread out on her hallway floor. “What’s he doing?”
“Taking fingerprints. You said your intruder rattled the door handle.”
She nodded. “If it hadn’t been locked...”
Carter couldn’t help but squeeze her shoulder comfortingly. Together, they watched as Bill pulled the tape off and bagged it.
“Did he—or she—do anything else?” Carter asked. “Touch anything else? Could you tell where they came from? You said you thought the footsteps moved to the kitchen.”
“It was a man,” she said with certainty, but then her forehead rumpled. “Or an awfully brawny woman. The footsteps were heavy.”
She shivered, and he pulled the drooping blanket back over her shoulder.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “My X-ray vision was on the fritz. I don’t know what was on the other side of that door and, honestly, I get queasy whenever I think about it.”
There it was, the biting humor he was used to, although the queasiness factor blunted its effect.
Bill collected his equipment and walked over to join them. “Ma’am,” he said, “I’m sorry that this happened.”
Callie nodded. “Thank you for responding so fast.”
Bill shuffled his feet under her attention. “Is there anything else that you think I should dust? Chief Landry mentioned you heard two noises.”
Carter almost winced when Callie went ramrod straight. “What exactly was the other noise?” he asked.
“I... I don’t know.”
“Could you describe it?”
She shuddered and moved so close that she bumped against him. “It came from everywhere, through the walls and the ceiling.”
She glanced around the room nervously, but he pressed the issue. It was important. “Was it mechanical? Or human?”
“It was a keen.”
Bill’s skin paled in contrast with his red hair. He pulled his notebook out of his pocket and wrote down the word. “A keen,” he said hoarsely.
Enough. Carter guided Callie to the sofa and made her take a seat. “This house sits back in the woods. There’s more wildlife out there than you would expect.”
“You think it was an animal?” she asked, quickly latching on to the idea.
“I know it was. I live close to the woods myself. You hear some strange things every now and then.” He threw a glare over her shoulder at Bill for good measure. One word. One word and not only would the officer be pulling desk duty, he’d be pulling night desk duty.
Bill’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but he nodded in understanding.
Carter gestured at the fingerprint kit. “You get anything?”
“Too much. There were a lot of smudges and overlapping prints.” Bill shrugged. “It’s a door handle.”
“We’ll make do with what we have.” Carter watched the way Callie took great care in wrapping the old, tattered blanket around her legs. This break-in had rocked her, but he’d seen this kind of a reaction before. Invasion of privacy struck at the core of a person.
He crouched down in front of her. He hated to do this to her, but he had to question her while everything was fresh in her mind. “Do you think you could answer some questions?”
She let out a long, shaky breath. “Okay.”
He gestured toward Bill’s notebook, and the officer lifted his pen. “Can you think of anyone who might have done this? Have you noticed anyone hanging around the house? Watching it?”
She looked at him with wide eyes that got him right there. “You mean like one of your thrill seekers? Shouldn’t everyone in town know the house isn’t deserted anymore?”
A cold knot formed in Carter’s gut. He didn’t think that this break-in was some teenage lark. The guy had been trying to get into her bedroom. His hands clenched into fists, but he forced them to relax. “Is anything missing?”
She blinked as if she hadn’t even given that a thought and looked around the room. “I don’t think so.”
“Take your time. If you notice anything later, give us a call at the station and report it.”
“Okay.”
This was harder than he’d expected. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Has anyone made you feel uncomfortable? Have you had any run-ins with anyone lately?”
A familiar spark lit her eyes. It was dim, but it was there. Relief washed through him. There was that spirit, her strength.
“Nobody’s bothered me,” she said.
Except him.
He cleared his throat. “We checked all the doors and windows, and they looked secure. Can you think of any other way that this person might have gotten into your house?”
She paled. “No.”
“Have you given anyone a key?”
She shook her head.
“Not even David Hughes?”
She flinched, but then her jaw went hard. “He has nothing to do with this.”
“I know he’s been helping you around the house.” Even after his warning... The town gossip mill had kept Carter abreast of everything that had been happening at the Calhoun house.
“David’s been helping with the painting, but I haven’t given him a key.” She folded her arms over her chest. “It doesn’t matter. It wasn’t him. He would never do something like this to me.”
Just like that, that invisible wall sprang back up between them.
Carter put his hands on his thighs and pushed himself to his feet. Irritation bubbled up in his throat, but he kept his voice on an even keel as he looked down at her. “That’s enough for tonight. Is there anyone I can call for you? Alice? Mamie?”
“You’re leaving?”
God, the look in her eyes. He reached up to rub his shoulder. “Bill needs to get back to the station with that evidence, and I should canvass the neighborhood. It’s not that late. Somebody might have seen something.”
“But... But... What about the garage?” she blurted. “Did you search the garage?”
“That’s where I got the ladder, but I’ll check it before I go.”
“The chimney? That could have been a—what do you types call it?—a point of entry.”
“There’s nobody in your chimney, Callie.”
Her fingers bit into the musty blanket. She refused to say it, but he could see she didn’t want to be alone.
Carter nodded at Bill, releasing him.
“You’ll be okay,” Carter said as the front door closed. “After all the commotion, this guy is long gone, but I’ll have my people keep an eye on your place tonight just to make sure.”
Even as he said it, Carter didn’t like the idea of others watching out for her. Still, they’d been very clear on where they stood with each other. The two of them weren’t friends. They were two people who sparked off one another, yet had very different opinions on things.
He waited, but for once, she had nothing to say.
“Call me if you need anything,” he said.
He could see her brain working fast... trying to come up with an excuse. He steeled himself from offering. She needed to be the one who asked.
Her forehead furrowed, and she cocked her head. “You’re not on duty.”
Carter blinked. Ah, hell. He took a step back from her. “No, I’m not.”
She was looking at him as if just seeing him. He’d grabbed his bulletproof vest when he’d gotten the call, but he wasn’t in uniform. He’d been at the football game tonight... just like her. It hadn’t escaped his attention that she was in the crowd.
She frowned. “How did you know to come?”
He’d hoped she wouldn’t notice, but of course she had. He planted his hands on his hips. “I told the dispatchers to alert me if any calls came in from this house. They called me as I was headed home.”
“Why?”
He’d wanted to avoid this. “You told me that you were having trouble adjusting to life on your own in an old, creaky, run-down house. It was nothing more than that.”
Her chin lifted, and he fought to stand his ground. It wasn’t a lie, but she was looking at him as if it was.
“Didn’t want me bothering anyone else?” she asked.
No. As a matter of fact, he didn’t. If she was going to bother anyone, it was going to be him.
“I’ll check on you tomorrow morning,” he said. It was time to go.
He turned for the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her spring up from the sofa so fast that a pillow went flying off the end. She followed him until they were both at the front door.
“Lock up behind me,” he said, “and try to get some sleep.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’ll be chalking up the Zs.”
He hesitated.
“Thank you, chief,” she said quietly.
“It’s Carter.”
“Thank you, Carter.”
He stared at her for a long moment before abruptly moving onto the porch. “Lock it.”
He waited on the other side of the door until he heard the lock slide into place. Even then, his feet didn’t want to move. He’d just made a big mistake there. Huge. Because even though they’d defined how things were going to be between them, it didn’t feel like it when she called him by his name.
He stood there, torn, knowing he should go, but wanting to go back inside. And stay...
With a bump of his fist against the doorframe, he forced himself to move down the steps. She was secure, but his job here wasn’t done. There was nothing in that house; he’d looked into every nook and cranny. That didn’t mean somebody hadn’t been there.
He scanned the neighborhood for any houses with their lights on. He wanted to know if anyone had seen or heard anything. His gaze landed on the house across the street, even though it was dark.
He’d start with David Hughes.