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“Big T? I’m about to call Arden, but I wanted you to know that you were right about Lorena Dobbs,” Bit said in as low of a voice as he could so as not to disturb Sylvie. “Dobbs attended a yoga class a few months ago and tried to draw Zoey into a conversation. Arden needs to check with his family and friends. We need to make sure Dobbs hasn’t infiltrated anyone else’s life.”
Chapter Nineteen
Brooklyn Sloane
February 2024
Sunday — 4:47 pm
The white blanket of snow softened the edges of Erin Smith’s neighborhood. The tree branches sparkled underneath the streetlights as they were weighted down with heavy white powder. There was no one walking the sidewalks or even out in their driveways as most people had hunkered down inside to avoid the storm, although there was an occasional car that drove by slowly in an attempt to reach home.
Smoke curled out of the surrounding chimneys, but there was no movement inside the house for sale on the corner. Brook continued to stare at the vacant home as she carefully monitored each window, both upstairs and downstairs. The house was a two-story colonial with black shutters and white siding. An American flag was hanging from the porch, and the wind had the material moving gracefully in the air. It wouldn’t be long until the fabric was barely hanging on from the force of the storm.
Brook rotated the vent so that the warmth hit her face. She had been cold all day, and it hadn’t helped that the temperature in the houses that she had searched through had been lowered so the owners wouldn’t waste money. No one was living inside of them, and the thermostat only needed to be high enough to avoid being left with frozen pipes.
She would search through one more house before calling it a day.
The snow was already sticking to the roads and visibility was lessening with each passing minute. She didn’t want anyone to find it odd that someone was out in this weather. They were liable to call the police.
Brook hadn’t given herself time to think about Jacob or the lengths he had gone to in order to locate Sarah Evanston. Brook also tried not to obsess over Sylvie. It was taking every ounce of her willpower not to drive to the hospital right now. Brook had thought about calling Sylvie before leaving the house, but being transferred from the ICU to a regular room would have been exhausting for her. Brook would call each of them later this evening now that they all had burner phones.
For now, she needed to focus on the search.
According to the profile, Dobbs had believed that someone from the team would talk about Jacob and how Sarah Evanston had escaped her so-called fate. Now that Dobbs’ cover was blown, she would resort to what she was familiar with—violence. Lorena would also focus on the one person who she now thought of as a rival, and that individual was Brook.
Giving one last scan of the immediate area, Brook finally turned off the Land Rover’s engine. She was wearing the same suit as last Thursday, including her long black dress coat. The only fortunate thing about her outfit was the winter boots that she had found in the front closet of Graham’s foyer. The boots belonged to either his mother or Lacy. All that mattered was that Brook had something to wear to walk in this weather.
The cold air was like a wall of torment as she stepped out of the Land Rover. Her cheeks stung, her lips immediately became dry, and the sudden burning in her lungs was far from pleasant. She had made sure that she parked with the driver’s side door toward the sidewalk, so she didn’t have to walk far to the porch. Someone had shoveled a thin path recently, most likely the homeowner on the directive of the real estate agent.
Brook pulled her coat a little tighter as she climbed the three steps to the front door. There were no chairs or benches on the porch, but that wasn’t out of place considering the time of year. Some of the vacant homes that she had searched today had been completely void of furniture and others had been staged beautifully in hopes of a quick sale.
Luck wasn’t on her side this evening, though.
The porch light was on, making her easily visible to anyone paying attention.
Brook removed her gloves and shoved them in her pocket before entering the code on the keypad of the lockbox. Graham had given her the list of combinations that he had received from Theo.
The front of the lockbox opened immediately, and she was able to fish out a key without delay. Not wasting any valuable time, she slid the key into the slot and unlocked the deadbolt. It wasn’t long before she was inside the house and closing the door quietly behind her.
Brook remained directly in front of the entrance, listening for any signs of disturbance. She gave her vision time to adjust, which didn’t take long given the illumination of the porch light through the living room windows. The owners of this home had taken all their furniture, leaving behind vacant rooms.
It wouldn’t take long for her to search the premises. She had planned on driving back to Graham’s place, but there was a chance she might be able to squeeze in one more house before driving home. The small hallway in front of her was quite dark, so she reached into her left pocket for her penlight. She then unbuttoned her long dress coat, allowing her to unholster her weapon.
She waited a few moments before clicking the button and allowing the penlight to illuminate the small area in front of her. The faint beam was enough to guide her without the light being bright enough for someone outside to notice.
The floors of the home were hardwood, and the walls had been painted in a neutral color to lure in potential buyers. With no furniture in the house, there was a slight echo of the weakest sound. If Lorena Dobbs were inside at the moment, chances were that Brook would have already heard the woman. Such absence didn’t mean that Dobbs wasn’t using the home as a place to sleep.
Brook advanced cautiously as she raised both arms in unison. She held the penlight in her non-dominant hand, which she had positioned underneath her firearm. She passed by an open archway to her left that led into a kitchen. The homeowners had left behind the standard appliances, but the counters were bare. She didn’t come to a stop until she was in front of the refrigerator. Pulling open the stainless-steel door with her left hand, she winced when the pull of the suction made a sharp popping noise.
The appliance was empty and had been wiped clean.
Closing the refrigerator door, she then canvassed the main level until she had made her way back to the staircase that led upstairs. She debated whether to check the upstairs or the basement first, and the latter won out since the door to the basement was to the left of the kitchen.
She closed the distance to the door and slowly turned the knob with her left hand. If she had been able to take a walk around the outside of the house, she would have known whether or not the basement had windows. She couldn’t afford to take the chance of turning on an overhead light.
The basement was pitch black, which indicated no natural light whatsoever.
Still, Brook wasn’t willing to take the chance of a neighbor noticing someone inside the Wilkins’ residence. She slowly descended the stairs, aiming her penlight on the steps below while positioning her weapon toward the darkness in front of her.
