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She kept watch from the kitchen window. Wearing pajamas and slippers, she stood on tiptoes and leaned over the sink to peer into the backyard. Nothing moved out there.
“See anything?” Aaron stumbled out of the guest bedroom where he’d been banished to sleep ever since the fight over the videos and came bounding down the hall. He swore as he lost his balance, trying to pull on a pair of faded jeans and running sneakers, jumping on one leg before slamming into the side of the refrigerator. “I should have kept my clothes on after last time.”
She ignored the uncoordinated display. Her focus wentright to the bat in his hand and stayed there. “What are you doing with that?”
“Turn off the alarm.”
He ignored her question. Not a surprise. He’d been hostile since she found out about the videos. Turned the whole thing around on her and acted like the tension between them was her fault because she didn’t believe the crap excuse he offered. “The intruder could have a gun.”
He zipped up his sweatshirt. “It’s probably nothing. Some stupid animal.”
She watched as he headed for the French doors to the patio. “You don’t know that. Someone could be out there.”
“I know you want to fight about everything right now, but please take a break and handle the alarm.” He swore under his breath as the phone rang. “I don’t want to get charged by the police for a false alarm, so get that call and give the code.”
“That’s your concern?” A fifty-dollar fee. Only Aaron would cast losing that amount of money as a bigger horror than getting shot in the head and bleeding out on the grass.
“Lila, get the phone.”
She picked up the receiver and said the safe word. Their alarm snapped off right after.
He opened the door and a second alarm screeched through the house. This one came from outside and had more than one neighbor’s house sputtering awake in the darkness.
The Filmores lived next door. Other people on the street whispered “pharmaceutical money” when they referred to Pat and Kitty. Theirs was the first house on the corner when someone turned onto the street. Set back in a tunnel of trees with only the third floor and the hint of a driveway peeking out from the branches.
With their kids in college, they no longer invested in private high school and swanky family vacations. Instead, they redesigned their backyard with a spa and gardens. They had an outdoor kitchen and family room, complete with a huge television where they watched movies in the summer while lounging in the pool.
The bottom floor was a playroom for grown-ups and kids. It housed old-school video games and a pool table. A media room with oversize couches. A lot of shiny, expensive things that required an intricate alarm system and video equipment to protect them.
When the Filmores’ alarm turned on, their outside lights also flipped on. The place lit up like a carnival. Any intruder should have been pinned in a spotlight and caught on video. Pat bragged about that enhancement. Now they would see if the system delivered.
When she heard familiar male voices around the corner of the house, she followed Aaron’s path outside. He stood on their side of the tall trees that marked the boundary between properties, bat in hand. Pat paced along the hedge shaking his head.
Just as she reached them, she saw Kitty running out a side door toward them. She’d wrapped an oversize robe around her and wore it with what looked like snow boots. Pat was a bit better, having slipped on sweats and a jacket that was inside out.
“Well?” Pat shouted to his wife over the din of the alarm.
That fast, the noise cut off. Silence descended, and the yard folded into darkness as the emergency lights clicked off.
“The police are coming to do a quick check, but I looked at the videos.” Kitty sounded out of breath. “There’s nothing.”
“You sure?” Aaron asked.
Kitty reached out for Pat to help her down the slight slope between the properties. The consoling gesture seemed to be automatic, as if he’d spent his life protecting her and didn’t plan to stop now.
That type of coddling didn’t really register with Lila. She’d never experienced it and didn’t go looking for it.
To outsiders, Pat and Kitty looked a bit mismatched. He possessed that spends-Fridays-on-a-golf-course look. Tan and lean. Pure businessman, ready to charm and make a buck. A little gruff when he thought people didn’t treat him as he deserved to be treated, but a good neighbor. Quiet and not one for nosiness.
Lila wasn’t all that familiar with what defined a motherly type. Probably a mom who went to kids’ practices and made sure the family had dinner together most nights. Kitty gave off that vibe. She was always cooking or redecorating the house. She was a good foot shorter than her husband, and the years and having children had rounded out her figure a bit.
Aaron joked about how Pat likely would come home from a business trip one day with the future, and much younger, second wife on his arm. That showed Aaron’s priorities, notPat’s. Lila didn’t buy into the concept of happily ever after, but Pat and Kitty made her believe some people might.
Pat nodded as he pulled Kitty tight against his side. “I’ll do a more in-depth check, and we’ll look back on the video, just in case this is some sort of ongoing review of the alarms in the neighborhood.”
“Look back?” Lila asked.
“Five days. That’s how long before the video recycles.” Kitty glanced up at her husband. “At least only one sensor went off this time. The one by our nursery shed. In the video you can see things blowing around.”
