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“‘Bit’? Isn’t Rachel in her early twenties?”
“Josh told me she’s thirty. I asked, which isn’t like me because I usually don’t care about other people’s personal stuff, but I was curious.”
“You do generally forget to ask the important gossipy questions, which is annoying.” But Elisa could have sworn Rachel was twenty-something. Didn’t Josh tell her that... or maybe she assumed? She’d lost all ability to ferret out what was true and what wasn’t these days. Especially about Josh. “I wonder if Josh knows she’s not ready to be his replacement wife. Technically, his second replacement wife.”
Harris let out a long, dramatic exhale. “I’ll go ahead and ignore that, too.”
“But I’m not wrong.” Elisa thought she should be congratulated for not outright calling Josh a killer. She thought it but tucked the word inside... for now.
Harris shook his head. “Still ignoring.”
Yeah, that was the problem. “Okay, but I’m telling you, those two are headed for trouble.”
“How bad can it be?”
Only a man would ask that. “Just wait.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Rachel was right. The main thrust of the illness lasted about a day. Elisa spent two full afternoons doing nothing but sleeping on the couch. So, tonight, she wasn’t tired. Not even a little.
She was hungry and maybe a little bored from not doing much, but everyone had gone to bed. Right around midnight she gave up on rest and decided to go in search of something to eat. In that moment even Nathan’s favorite peanut butter crackers sounded delicious.
She slipped out of the covers and reached for her robe. A few seconds later, she stepped into the hall. A quick stop in Nathan’s room found him curled on his side, hugging his stuffed tiger. The toy no longer traveled on day trips with them because he’d declared thatbaby stuff,but it did need to be somewhere on his bed when he went to sleep to avoid a tantrum. Elisa kind of wished she had some sort of security blanket. A lot of grown-ups she knew would benefit from having one.
Fuzz and Buzz slept at Nathan’s feet and everything seemed fine. She checked the window lock, because she didthat now. Checked his and the one in the hallway every night before bed. As if she needed one more thing to add to her routine, but touching the metal and knowing it held secure gave her some peace, so she did it.
After kissing him on the cheek she stepped back into the hallway and headed for the stairs. No breeze. No open windows. No noises. All good so far. She almost made it to the bottom of the stairs before she heard it.
The soft thud of footsteps. Practiced and purposeful in trying to hide any noise.
She froze on the second-to-last step and balanced her back against the wall. Her breathing echoed through her. She fought to slow it down. To remain as quiet as possible.
Next came a scratching noise then the slight clank of metal, as if someone were rummaging through the silverware drawer.
She concentrated on the sounds ringing in her head. She singled them out, magnifying them until she identified each one. The brush of her robe against the wall. The scrape of that one too-long branch as the wind moved it against the window in the family room.
Footsteps. They meant someone had gotten into the house. She debated screaming or running upstairs to wake Harris, but neither of those guaranteed they’d all be protected. She needed Nathan asleep and unharmed.
She thought about the open window the other night. About Josh. About how sick she’d been. For a minute she hoped she was dreaming, that the medicine had worked and she’d drifted off and was now locked in a nightmare.
Cool air hit her bare feet. Her body shook from the sudden chill. She thought about chalking the sensation up to fear, but it felt so real.
Risking everything, she inched down one more step. The wood creaked under her and she shut her eyes.
No, no, no.
Her heartbeat hammered against her chest and she could barely swallow. Every muscle tensed and strained as she waited for an attack. When it didn’t come, she slowly lifted her head from the wall and peeked around it.
She couldn’t see much in the shadowed downstairs. Nothing looked out of place. A light was on over the sink, as usual... and the back door stood wide open.
She ducked a bit and looked out into the backyard. She couldn’t see any movement from her safe position smashed against the stairway wall, but the sensor lights had flipped on.
“Now what?” she whispered to the quiet floor.
Another step. She half expected someone to jump out or swing at her. But the menacing footsteps were gone. She couldn’t see or hear anyone. They could be hiding, but she guessed the outside lights flashing on meant the person had left.
“Hello?” Yeah, that was silly, but she couldn’t think of any good options.
