AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shook my head slowly. “No, but I haven’t really paid attention. Why?”
“Someone might have been here.”
“Oh, okay.”
He had said the words with such a casual effect that it took some time for my alarm to register.
“Wait, what?” I gasped when it finally registered. “What do you mean someone has been here?”
“There were tire tracks,” he said.
It was such an unexpected explanation that I paused.
“Tire tracks?”
“Yes. They came close to our backyard before retreating into the bushes.”
“That could be your truck, though. Remember how we drove around there a few days ago?”
“It’s not the pattern of my truck tires,” he said firmly. “They cut into mine, and they led all the way here from the front of the bush.”
“Could have been one of the neighbors. Maybe they missed a turn and started coming back.” We lived a little outside the city in a gated house surrounded by bushes, but any of the neighbors could come at any time and could have missed a turn. It didn’t mean anything.
Monty shook his head, the intense look still in his eyes. “I’ve never seen that tire pattern before on this path, and I already went and checked all the neighbors’ tire patterns and the paths which they came back with. It didn’t match any of theirs.”
I blinked at him. “Okay, so let me get this straight. You think someone possibly broke into our house because you saw a strange set of tire tracks on the way here?”
He glanced at me. “Yes,” he said in a manner suggesting that he had not caught the incredulity in my tone.
He continued to walk around the living room as if searching for something to prove his theory, and I watched him for a few more seconds before venturing tentatively.
“Are you sure this has nothing to do with what happened earlier?”
He didn’t react visibly to the statement, but I could almost feel the wall shutting down between us when he responded, “Nothing happened earlier.”
“Yeah, that won’t cut it this time, buddy,” I said, raising an eyebrow at him. “You think I didn’t notice how pale you got? How you weren’t quite here after I said…you know, what I said?”
“I said nothing happened.”
“I think I triggered your PTSD,” I told him. He glanced at me, and I shrugged. “I’m no psychologist, but I have done some significant reading on the subject.”
Monty didn’t seem at all surprised by my assessment, which probably meant he likely already knew what was wrong with him.
“I’ll go check in the bedroom,” he said instead of answering my questions. He strode purposefully in that direction. “Maybe they came to scout the place for a robbery.”
I sighed. “You’re going to make this harder than it needs to be, aren’t you?”
I followed him to the room and stood there as he analyzed the walls and ran his fingers under the tables and other flat surfaces. He didn’t respond to me or give any indication that he even heard what I said.
“What are you doing now?” I asked.
“Looking for a listening device. Or cameras. They might be watching us.”
“Are you seeing a psychologist for your PTSD?”
If I thought slipping the question in there would make him more likely to answer, I was wrong. He turned away to the bathroom and said, “I’m going to check here.”
I sighed and followed him as he checked every single corner of the house, reinforcing the window and pulling things against doors. He analyzed every room for a missing item or some kind of vulnerability, and then, when finally satisfied, he went to the couch to load his gun. I followed him through all this, watching him and asking questions he didn’t respond to. Or rather, he responded to the ones about the safety of the house, but he didn’t respond to anything concerning his condition.
