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Nothing but an eerie stillness. Goose bumps prickled her arms. She rubbed them away as she marched across the overgrown lawn.
Was Haley okay? Was Seth still there?
His car wasn’t parked outside.
But why was the house so dark?
Something about this was off, wrong. So wrong. She crept up the rickety porch steps, each groan from the wood warning her to tread carefully. Floorboards creaked as she drew closer to the front door.
There was no bell on the jamb. She pulled open the screen door; hinges in need of WD-40 squeaked. With two knuckles, she rapped on the door, and it yawned open like someone hadn’t closed it all the way for the latch to catch.
“Hello?” she called out.
No answer.
Haley could be unconscious, bleeding to death. Or worse. Seth was pond scum. Well, actually, he was lower than pond scum. He was the type who would leave his wife injured, alone, in desperate need of medical attention, and in the dark for sheer spite.
The type of man Charlie wouldn’t spit on if he was on fire.
She nursed her anger to keep at bay the worry flitting around her belly like fireflies.
“Hello? Haley?” Every muscle tightened as she listened intently, straining to pick up the slightest whimper.
Still not a peep.
Forget about trespassing if it meant she could save a life. She stepped over the threshold, letting the screen door slam shut, and edged into the house.
With a sense of foreboding ballooning inside her, she slowly eased deeper, into the living room. She pressed the button on her flashlight, the sound of the click reassuring, but it didn’t turn on. Shaking it, she hoped the problem was just a short and that the flashlight might at least flicker.
No luck. The batteries were dead. She usually changed them once a year. But there should be a new twelve pack of D cell alkaline batteries in the trunk.
She debated going back outside to change the ones that weren’t working. But it was better to find Haley first. Every second counted in a life-or-death situation. It had taken Charlie twenty minutes to get there. No telling how much damage Seth had done to Haley in that amount of time. Broken bones? Swollen eyes? Internal bleeding? Concussion?
All good incentives to hurry.
The curtains were drawn back, letting in plenty of moonlight for her to see. She wanted to avoid touching light switches or much of anything if this turned out to be a worst-case scenario—a crime scene.
In the living room, a tired leather sofa faced a fireplace and flat-screen TV. Magazines covered the coffee table: everything from gossip rags, recipes, toNational Geographic. An ashtray filled with cigarette butts sat on top of aTV Guide.
She stepped into a bedroom. Looked like the primary. A king-size bed with a blue-and-white quilt dominated the space, only leaving room for a couple of nightstands. On one of the bedside tables was a glass of water. Moving on, Charlie peeked her head into a cramped bathroom next door. The shower curtain was pulled back, revealing an empty tub. But something on the sink caught her eye.
Dark spots on the porcelain gleamed in the moonlight. She stepped inside and leaned over the sink for a closer look.
Blood.
Not much. Only a few drops. Maybe from a nosebleed. But it was enough to spur her on quickly throughout the rest of the house.
The dense, muggy air was thick as soup indoors thanks to the lack of air-conditioning.
She came to a second bedroom, similar to the first and also empty. From the hall, she entered the kitchen, coming up to the peninsula on the right side. The space was small and jam-packed, even with just the basics and a slim top freezer fridge.
But the back door was wide open.
She walked around the peninsula and halted.
A bright spill of moonlight, cutting through the kitchen, spotlighted a swath of something dark smeared on the floor all the way out through the back door. She stared at the grimy strip. It wasn’t mud.
Glancing around the kitchen, she saw more. Splattered on the cabinets and wall.
