Page 59 of Tracking Safety

“I’m here.” Jenna crossed to her. “I’ve got you.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, and Cora leaned into her embrace.

“I couldn’t see anything,” Cora said into her shoulder. “My nightlight went out.”

“I know, baby. It’s okay.” She held her and looked around the room.

Jonah was still asleep on the trundle, one arm flung out, utterly undisturbed. Liam sat up in his bed, watching her in the darkness with those careful eyes.

“Is everything okay?” His voice sounded quiet and controlled—and older than eight.

“Everything is fine,” Jenna said. “Dad and Uncle Caleb are outside checking to see what happened. It was probably just the storm. They’ll have the power back on soon.”

Liam studied her a moment before frowning and lying back down.

Jenna held Cora, stroking her hair.

She thanked God for the blessing of being with her kids. But she also apologized for bringing this trouble their way.

Why was it so hard to figure out the right thing sometimes?

Luke shone the flashlight inside the utility box.

Someone had worked one of the levers with enough force to leave scratch marks on the housing around it.

“Someone clearly did this on purpose.” Caleb leaned in beside him. “My guess? Travis Henderson.”

“I could see him doing this.” Luke swept the flashlight across the ground around the box.

Boot prints had been left in the soft earth—one set that appeared to first approach the house and then leave in the same direction.

Using his beam, he followed the path to the fence at the back of the property.

Whoever had left the prints was gone. Searching the property wouldn’t do much good.

Someone had done this to send a message. To cause fear.

His back muscles hardened.

He headed back and reset the breaker.

The exterior lights immediately came back on, and a moment later he saw the kitchen light through the window. Caleb exhaled beside him.

Luke stood in the restored light, looking again at the boot prints in the dirt.

He wasn’t angry. He was something colder than angry. Too many threats were converging from too many directions, and he didn’t have enough information about any of them to know which one to focus on tonight.

All of them, probably. That was the honest answer.

“I need to call Micah.” Caleb pulled out his phone.

A moment later, he was explaining the situation to Micah.

As they spoke, Luke surveyed the woods in the distance.

Was the person who’d done this still out there? He didn’t know. But it was a real possibility.

Caleb ended the call and looked at Luke, something shifting behind his expression. “Micah is going to come out in the morning. He has another situation he’s dealing with right now.”