Page 47 of In the Line of Ire

I placedone tentative foot on the first step and pushed myself onward untilI stood right in front of the door. Solomon's blood stain was longgone, leaving nothing but the image imprinted in my memory, and thedoor was repainted. Solomon never mentioned that to me. I liked thenew coat of black paint and the way the brass fixings gleamedagainst it. I gulped, blinked, and took in a deep breath. "Okay," Isaid. "Did it. Didn't panic. Wasn't so bad."

"Youokay, honey?" called a voice from the street.

I turnedaround, looking down at the elderly man walking a chihuahua on asparkly leash. "Pardon me?"

"I thinkthey've gone away," he said. "Maybe on a vacation or something. Ilive down the street. You might want to leave a note. I don'texpect they're back yet."

"Oh?" Inever noticed the man before but apparently he was aware that thehouse was empty. I walked down the steps, standing next tohim.

"Somebad business happened there but the couple are okay, I think. You afriend of theirs?"

"Something like that," I said.

"Maybeyou should try calling them?" He glanced down at the tiny dogprancing impatiently at his ankles. "Yes, Giant, we can go for ourwalkies."

"Giant?"

"Thedog. It's a joke," he explained unnecessarily. "On account of he'sso small. Big attitude though. I only have to walk him to one endof the street and back to the other end where we live and he's alldone. Best kind of dog to own."

"Good toknow," I said, smiling as they walked away. I took one more look upat the house before climbing back into my car and driving away. Acouple of blocks later, my heart stopped pounding so hard and Icould breathe deeply again. That wasn't so terrible. I visited thehouse and I survived. I could probably do it all over again. Pollywould have been proud of me.

"I needyou to install a camera system. Just a basic one," I said as Iwalked into our home twenty minutes later. I dropped my keys andpurse on the console and began looking for Solomon, adding when Ifound him, "For free."

"Okay,"said Solomon without blinking. "Why?"

"To seewho the creep is that keeps going inside my client'shouse."

“Client?”

“The walk-in you sent me to deal with. I’ve looked into it andI’m convinced a creep is breaking into her house. I meant to askyou about setting up a camera system when we saw the therapist thenit flew out of my head.”

"You'resure someone is going in there?"

"Positive. I believe Natalie. I just checked the house formyself and the mail was all stacked up on the console inside. Idrove over to where Natalie is staying and she swears she didn'tput it there. I just don't know who could be doing it or why. Acamera will record the identity of who it actually is."

"We cando that after your shift at the mall tomorrow. I'll get the gearwhen I pick up the van."

"Perfect," I agreed, sniffing the air. "Something smellsreally good."

"I'mmaking dinner."

"Great!"

"Yourmom called."

"And?"

"I meanshe came by and left a package for you. She didn't stay long. Shejust narrowed her eyes at me with a glare and left." Solomonreached for a manila envelope on the counter and passed it to me. Iopened the end and shook out the documents inside. There wereseveral brochures designed for romantic, couples-only vacations, abook on how to connect as newlyweds, and a bottle of massage oil.Good grief! I dumped the whole lot into the trashcan.

"Don'ttell my mom I did that," I said.

"Neversaw it happen. What was in the bottle?"

"Don'task. What are you cooking?"

"Thesame meal I first made for you."

"Really?"

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