Chapter 3 - The Door That Opened by Itself
Laura didn't move.
The footsteps stopped.
For several seconds, there was complete silence.
Then a drawer opened downstairs.
Laura slowly backed away from the staircase.
Her first thought was Emily.
She moved toward her daughter's room.
Emily was asleep.
Laura closed the door.
She grabbed her phone and locked it.
No signal.
She tried again.
Nothing.
A floorboard creaked downstairs.
Laura whispered, “Emily, wake up.”
Her daughter opened her eyes.
“What?”
“Quiet.”
Emily sat up.
“What happened?”
“Someone may be downstairs.”
Emily's expression changed.
Laura put a finger to her lips.
Then she heard a man's voice.
“Where is it?”
Another voice answered.
A woman's voice.
Margaret.
Laura felt her stomach drop.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered.
The voices downstairs became clearer.
Margaret said, “She moved it.”
The man replied, “You told me it was in the office.”
“It was.”
“Then find it.”
Laura looked at Emily.
Her daughter had heard everything.
Laura motioned toward the closet.
They moved silently inside.
Laura closed the door almost completely.
Through the narrow opening, she watched the hallway.
Footsteps climbed the stairs.
Slowly.
The man appeared.
Gray jacket.
The same man from the mall.
He looked around.
Margaret followed.
She whispered, “The girl?”
“Asleep.”
Laura held Emily's hand.
The man reached the top of the stairs.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
“Yes.”
He listened.
His face changed.
“No, that's impossible.”
He looked at Margaret.
“She knows.”
Margaret's expression hardened.
“How much?”
The man lowered his voice.
“Enough.”
Then they turned and went back downstairs.
Laura waited until the front door closed.
Only then did she release the breath she had been holding.
Emily stared at her.
“Mom…”
Laura nodded.
“I know.”
“They were looking for something.”
“I know.”
“And Grandma was helping him.”
Laura didn't answer.
She couldn't.
Because one question had become impossible to ignore.
If Margaret wanted the deed, why had she entered the house with the same man she had met at the mall?
And why had the man said Laura knew enough?
Laura went downstairs.
The front door was locked.
But the home office was open.
She entered.
The cabinet door hung open.
The empty deed folder was on the floor.
Laura picked it up.
Something fell from behind it.
A photograph.
Laura stared at it.
It showed her house.
Taken from across the street.
May you like
And on the back was a date.
Seven years earlier.
