I knock on the door frantically before checking to make sure Stevie’s at my side and glancing over my shoulder at the empty road. I knock again and Carol opens the door in her robe with Alex right behind her, still clothed.
“The back door was wide open,” I blurt out, and they usher Stevie and I inside. “Someone was in the house, and they messed with my fake blood. They put it all over Stevie’s toy and it was in my bed, and I don’t know—maybe it was the person in the black car. Maybe that’s what they were doing when I showed up. Maybe they’re still in the house—”
“You’re sure you didn’t leave the door open before you left?” Carol asks.
My legs shake beneath me as I turn to face her. What doesn’t she understand? “I’ve been locking everything up. I’d never just leave it unlocked, never mind open!”
“I want you to stay here with us tonight, okay?” Carol says. “I think you need to call the police again. Right now. This matter needs to be investigated.”
I nod. “Could I use your phone? I—I don’t have mine.”
“Of course,” Alex says, and leaves for the other room.
“I think you should call your mom tomorrow morning, too,” Carol says, checking the lock behind me.
“They’ll be home in three days,” I say automatically as I try to imagine calling her, telling her what’s happened. She’ll be so scared for me.
Alex comes back and taps on his screen a few times before handing me his phone. They stand by in the foyer while I call the police and report a break-in. I’m asked to meet an officer outside again, and I agree.
“I have to go back over,” I tell them, gripping the phone in my hand. “Just after the officer gets here.”
“I’ll go with you,” Carol says, “and then you’re coming back here to spend the night.”
Alex nods and holds his hand out for his phone. I give it back to him, and he steps into the dark living room. “I’ll keep a watch for the police.”
“Why don’t you come upstairs and I’ll make you a bed?”
I nod and follow her with Stevie and now Ace right behind us. We climb the steps and turn left at the top, into an office with a couch.
“Sit down there, Lynda.” Carol points to a chair behind a wooden desk.
I round the desk and sit down on all the crenalin from my dress, relieving all the tension from my legs. Tears fill my eyes.
“The couch is a pullout.” With her back turned, she pulls out the extender on the couch. “I’ll get the sheets and a pillow.” She turns to me, folding her hands in front of her. “You just try to relax. I’ll make you a tea, too.”
“Thank you.” My voice shakes as I grip the armrests. “I can’t thank you both enough.”
She nods once. “Lynda, you’re not alone. I’m scared, too. Someone coming around here, breaking into houses. The police need to do something about this. I’m glad you called them.” She leaves and Ace follows her. Stevie stays with me, rounding the desk to be at my side. I stare at her.
If she were home, she’d have been there when the person broke in. When they spilt the fake blood all over the bathroom tile and… and what? Rubbed the stuffed lamb in it, all across the floor, dragging it through the hallway, into my room, and onto the bed, leaving it like an animal had played with it there.
Like it was a mess Stevie made. That’s what I first thought.
I bend down and pet her, kissing her cheek, and sit up again, trying to gather my bearings. A crescent moon sits in the sky, out the office window, the points so sharp, the edges so shiny.
I walk to the window, and just below, I can see into the window of my room. The light’s on, just like I left it. I can even make out some of the blood smeared in the doorway, leading out of frame to my bed. I walk away, back to the desk, my legs shaking until I drop into the chair.
I need to stay seated. I’m too dizzy to stand.
Carol comes in with sheets and a pillow, setting them on the folding couch and staring at me, blinking fast. “Oh-kay, well, I’ll fix that right up after I come back with your tea.” I stare up at her, shaking, and she disappears out the door.
Why is this happening to me?
I look out at the moon again in sharp contrast against the black sky and peer out the window from the corner of my eye. I can’t see my room from where I sit at the desk, but…
The Hildens might have seen. If Alex or Carol were in here, they might have seen something.
Stevie follows me back downstairs to the front room. Alex stands in front of his window, looking out at the street, and turns around at the whooshing of my dress.
“Is that your office up there?”
He nods. “Why do you ask?”
“You have a view into my room. Were you in your office tonight? Did you see anything going on in my room?”
He shakes his head with a frown. “No. No, I wasn’t up there tonight. We were out in the back yard most of the night.”
“But Carol said she saw the black car out front.”
“Yeah, that was when we came in.” He takes a step toward me.
“I came in,” Carol says behind me, and I jump. “Sorry. Oh, I did it again. I’m sorry, Lynda. Here.” She hands me a cup of tea and I take it in my shaky hands, letting it warm my fingers. “So I came inside while Alex was out with the dogs in the back. I had a headache and I wanted to lie down. I saw the car from our bedroom window.”
Alex
