Page 83 of Weight of Guilt

I broke that branch on purpose.

I wanted to see what he’d do, see what his reaction time would be.

He’s fast, with good instincts.

He will be a problem. I frown.

I’ll consider that later when I’m somewhere I can think.

For now, I stand in the dark and let my breathing go slow and shallow. I wait for the man to give up on me.

I don’t rush. Rushing is what ruins things.

My thoughts wander to the boy’s room back at the cabin.

I had a good long while in there tonight. Longer than I’ve had in months. The cabin had sat there empty and lit up by nothing but a porch light, and I walked in with a key.

I smile at how easy it was.

I’d learned the room.

I learned which side of the bed the boy sleeps on. Which board creaks under the window. That the closet door doesn’t latch.

I know that room better now than his mother does.

I hadn’t been finished. I had another twenty minutes of work in that room, and then I’d heard his family pull down the drive. I probably should have left then. But I didn’t. I decided to take my chances. It’s more fun that way.

I put my hand in my coat pocket and find the object there.

A little gray rabbit. I smile.

The floppy thing was on his pillow, and when I’d seen the rabbit, I knew I needed it.

So I’d slipped it into my pocket.

In front of me, the big man is still there.

Should I act? Get him out of the way?

Or should I give the situation more time?

That’s what I need to figure out.

Chapter

Forty-Two

Wren managed to stand on the second try.

Cold poured through the front door. Past the frame there was nothing but dark yard.

She put weight on her right leg and staggered forward, pain shooting through her hip.

She ignored it and glanced toward the front of the cabin.

It would only take four steps to get to the door. She could make it that far.

She took them one at a time, holding the back of the couch, then the wall.