Chapter 3 - THE PERSON INSIDE THE HOUSE
By sunrise, there were three police cars outside the Collins home.
Officer Morales returned with a detective named Samuel Price.
Price was in his late forties, with tired eyes and the habit of listening longer than most people felt comfortable.
Avery sat at Heather's kitchen table beside Daniel, wearing an oversized police sweatshirt.
Olivia sat across from her.
Neither girl spoke.
The stolen phone rested inside an evidence pouch between the adults.
Detective Price looked at Avery.
"You did the right thing keeping this."
Avery stared at her hands.
"Mom said if anybody found it, Daddy would go to jail."
Daniel flinched.
"Why would I go to jail?"
Avery shook her head.
"I don't know."
Price asked, "Why did you take the phone?"
Avery looked at Olivia.
"Because Mom takes pictures."
"Of what?"
"People."
"Which people?"
"Uncle Eric. Aunt Heather. Olivia."
Heather forced herself not to react.
"And Daddy."
Daniel looked up.
Avery continued.
"Sometimes she talks about files."
"What files?" Price asked.
"The family files."
Heather frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Avery shrugged.
"She says everybody has one."
Price leaned forward.
"What was on Uncle Eric's file?"
Avery's face tightened.
"I wasn't supposed to read it."
"But you did?"
A nod.
"What did it say?"
Avery looked at Eric.
"Money."
Eric's eyes narrowed.
"What about money?"
"And Grandma."
Everyone became still.
Heather turned to Eric.
His mother, Margaret Collins, had died four years earlier.
"What about Grandma?" Olivia asked.
Avery began to cry.
Daniel put an arm around her.
"You can tell us."
Avery whispered, "It said Grandma didn't die the way everybody thinks."
Eric stood.
The chair legs scraped against the floor.
Heather stared at him.
Margaret Collins had died after a sudden heart attack while driving.
Her car had rolled into a ditch.
The coroner ruled it natural causes.
"What exactly did the file say?" Eric asked.
Avery shook her head.
"I don't remember."
"You said she didn't die the way we think."
"It said accident with a line through it."
Price raised a hand.
"Eric."
Eric sat again.
The detective looked at Avery.
"What word was written instead?"
The child wiped her eyes.
"Correction."
Silence swallowed the kitchen.
Price turned toward Daniel.
"Did Melissa ever mention Eric's mother?"
"Constantly, years ago."
Eric stared at him.
"Why?"
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
"Melissa and Margaret hated each other."
Heather knew they had argued, but not badly enough to explain what she was hearing.
"About what?"
Daniel looked at Eric.
"Your father's company."
Eric blinked.
"My father didn't own a company."
Daniel's expression changed.
"That's what Melissa said."
Eric stood again.
"My father was an accountant."
"Maybe she lied to me too."
Detective Price lifted the evidence phone.
"We're going to extract everything on this device."
Eric nodded.
"But until we identify the person who let Melissa into the house, I strongly recommend none of you stay here."
Heather looked around her kitchen.
The house she had loved suddenly felt contaminated.
Every window seemed like an eye.
Every vent seemed capable of hiding a microphone.
"Where do we go?"
Daniel said, "My place."
Eric immediately shook his head.
"If Melissa knows it."
"She does."
Price said, "We can arrange a hotel under another name tonight."
Olivia's voice interrupted.
"We can't leave Buddy."
Everyone turned.
Buddy was the family's elderly golden retriever.
He was sleeping near the back door.
Heather smiled sadly.
"We'll bring him."
Olivia nodded.
Then suddenly frowned.
"Mommy?"
"What?"
"Buddy barked."
"When?"
"The night Aunt Melissa came inside."
Heather's pulse quickened.
"You saw her?"
"No. I heard Buddy."
"What happened?"
"I woke up."
Olivia looked toward the hallway.
"And I heard somebody tell him to shut up."
"Melissa?"
Olivia shook her head.
"A man."
Eric stared at her.
"Did you recognize his voice?"
Olivia's face tightened in concentration.
"I think so."
"Who?"
She opened her mouth.
A loud crash exploded from the back of the house.
Everyone jumped.
Buddy began barking.
Detective Price drew his weapon.
"Stay here."
Officer Morales followed him through the laundry room.
Heather pulled both girls close.
Eric moved toward the hallway but Daniel grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
Thirty seconds later Morales shouted.
"Clear!"
Price returned holding a brick wrapped in paper.
The kitchen window above the sink was shattered.
Heather stared at the brick.
Price carefully unfolded the paper.
Four words had been typed across it.
RETURN WHAT SHE STOLE.
Avery went pale.
Daniel held her.
Price looked at the evidence phone.
"They know we have it."
Eric moved to the broken window.
Across the backyard was an alley lined with trees.
No one was there.
Heather whispered, "Whoever threw that was watching us."
Price nodded.
"Yes."
Olivia tugged on Heather's sweater.
"Mommy."
Heather crouched.
"What is it?"
"The man's voice."
Heather's heart stopped.
"You remembered?"
Olivia nodded.
"Who was it?"
The child looked at Eric.
May you like
Then whispered the name of a man they had trusted for nearly ten years.
"Uncle Ryan."
