Page 9 of The Midnight Order
He grins. “Got a call that said you had someone on the property?” he asks.
I nod, suddenly without words to reply.
“Can you show me where you saw them?”
I lead the officer over to the side of my Tahoe, pointing right where I saw the movement. “They were standing right here.”
He turns and looks up at the house. “Clear vantage point into your windows.”
“Exactly.”
“You always keep the curtains wide open like that?”
His question makes anger rip through my chest. “Excuse me?”
“Well, all I’m saying is if you’d draw those curtains closed…”
“If they were closed, I wouldn’t have realized someone was trespassing. You’d rather I be ignorant of the lurker so that they can break into my house and catch me unaware?”
I cross my arms over my chest.
Strike one for Officer Hottie.
“No, ma’am, I was only saying don’t give them something to look at and…” he trails off as I narrow my eyes. “Are you the homeowner?”
“Yes, I am. I’m getting the place in order after my aunt’s passing.”
I don’t see how any of this has to do with the stalker standing in my yard, but he jots the information down on his little pad.
“Find anything, Scott?” He turns as his partner rounds the front of my Tahoe.
“Nope. Nothing. Not even tracks leading up here.”
“This is a gravel road,” I point out, thinking it obvious.
“We’re standing in grass, which means whoever was here would’ve been too, ma’am,” Officer Hottie says, and my fingers dig into my arms, which I still have crossed.
Scott sighs. “Whoever it is, is long gone now, and being you live so close to…”
Officer Hottie cuts his eyes as Scott and his words die off.
“So close to what?” I prod. I’m sick of everyone dancing around the facts.
“Nothing,” Scott says. “They’re gone for now, but you can contact us if you have any more disturbances. Jake, give her a card.” He pokes his partner in the arm with his Mag-lite before getting back into the passenger side of the squad car.
Jake takes a card out of his breast pocket. “This is my direct number. Call me if you see them again, alright? I’m sorry we couldn’t be more helpful, but hopefully, whoever it was saw the police presence and packed it in for the night.”
His words don’t settle the worry in my stomach.
“Hey,” I call out as he reaches the squad car.
He stops, looking at me over the roof of the car.
“How did my aunt die? Do you know? The lady at the coffee shop alluded to some event I was unaware of, and it didn’t settle well with me.”
A breeze ambles past, and goosebumps rise on my skin as Jake grips the top of the car’s door harder. His white knuckles are visible from here. “She was murdered,” he says.
I’m at a loss as he gets back in his car and turns the lights off.
