Page 58 of Tracking Safety

“Anything?” Caleb asked behind him.

“Nothing’s tripped.” Luke closed the panel. “If the problem were in here, something would’ve thrown. It didn’t.” He met his brother’s eyes. “Which means the power’s being cut somewhere else.”

Somewhere outside.

He turned back to Jenna then his mother and sister. “I’ll go with Caleb and Max to check it out. You all stay here.”

The three men strode toward the entryway and grabbed their jackets off the hooks by the door.

A moment later, they stepped out the side door onto the driveway. Luke pulled the door shut behind them. They stood still for several seconds, letting their eyes adjust.

It was genuinely dark outside. Storm clouds obscured the moon and stars, and big, fat plops of rain hit Luke’s cheeks every few seconds.

While Max went to check on the kennel, Luke and Caleb stood there listening.

Wind rustled the upper branches. Somewhere out in the darkness a dog barked.

Luke swept the flashlight in a slow arc across the front of the property. The gravel drive. The pond, its surface flat and black. The gate at the start of the drive, closed. The cottages standing pale against the dark tree line.

Nothing moved.

He and Caleb headed toward the utility box, which ran along the side of the house beneath a narrow overhang.

He remained aware of the darkness. Aware of the wide-open stretch of lawn to his left. Of the tree line too far away to see into. Of the cottages throwing odd shadows.

Luke rounded the corner of the house and stopped.

The cover to the utility box hung open.

Someone had somehow bypassed their security system here and tampered with it.

This was deliberate.

They’d wanted to cut the power to the house.

But why? Even more—where was this person now?

CHAPTER 23

Jenna sat on the couch and listened to the house. She watched as the fireplace threw unsteady light across the walls. Ruby had lit two candles and set them on the coffee table, their small flames moving in the drafts she couldn’t feel. They offered a small comfort.

No one spoke. They were all doing the same thing—listening for Luke and Caleb, tracking any sounds from outside, and waiting to hear what happened. The dogs stayed inside with them, keeping guard over everything.

Then from upstairs, a voice cut through the silence of the house, “Daddy?”

Cora. Her pitch sounded high and frightened.

Jenna jumped to her feet. She started toward the stairs before pausing to look at Ruby.

Yes, Cora was her child. But the situation was complicated, and part of her still felt like she needed permission.

Ruby looked at her. “Go.”

Jenna took the stairs quickly and reached the children’s room.

“Mama?” Cora asked as soon as the door opened.

In the darkness, Jenna could make out the shape of her daughter sitting upright in bed with her blanket clutched to her chest.