the women enough credit to consider this possibility.
She was furious with herself for falling prey to a sociopath after she had just divorced one. When this was over, she was going into therapy.
It only took seconds to install the camera air freshener and pocket the other. Then she crossed the room and started down the hall. Olivia wasn’t here. Either she’d been with her father in the Lee-mobile, or she had gone home with a friend after camp. Tracy had been relieved to see Olivia at the rec center that morning. The girl was more subdued than ever, and less inclined to chat, but at least Tracy knew she was still okay.
Except who was watching over Alice?
At Alice’s door, Tracy paused and listened before she knocked. As expected, there was no answer, even when she called and knocked louder. She turned the doorknob and pushed. It opened an inch or two, but she couldn’t push it farther.
“Alice?” Tracy put her shoulder against the door and shoved. “Alice, are you in there?”
“Tracy…”
Tracy had envisioned a body on the floor against the door, Alice’s cold dead body. She was filled with such relief that tears sprang to her eyes. “Alice, are you all right?”
“Lee…”
“It’s okay. He’s not here. He left, but I don’t know when he’s coming back.”
“Trying…”
Alice fell silent.
“Alice, can you open the door? Can you let me in? Look, we’ll get you out of here, okay? Whatever’s going on, we’ll fix it. But we have to get you to my house first.”
“Dress…”
Tracy tried to translate. “We’ll get you dressed, don’t worry. Just open up.”
“Dresser. In front…”
Now Tracy understood. Somehow Alice had managed to shove her dresser in front of the door. There was only one reason Tracy could think of for that. Alice was frightened that when Lee came back, something horrible was going to happen.
The old woman was not in the early stages of dementia or delusional. Maribel’s phone call had laid that possibility to rest. Alice was justifiably terrified.
Tracy tried to think what to do. If Alice could move the dresser away from the door, she would. But moving it in the first place had probably taken all her strength. Tracy tried to picture Alice’s windows. Were they the kind that opened out? Or were they the old-fashioned jalousie windows that she herself had in several rooms?
“Alice, can you open your windows? Are they large enough for me to crawl through?”
No answer.
“Alice, are you awake in there? Can I get through your window? Then I can move the dresser and we can get out of here.”
No answer.
“Alice, open the windows if you can. Please. I’m coming around.”
She took off for the front door, planning to leave it unlocked so she could get back in if necessary. As she passed the kitchen phone she lifted the receiver to call Janya, but the line was dead. She hung up, then tried again, but either the storm had interrupted service or Lee had disabled it.
She picked up speed, darted through the front door and around to the back, giving one brief glance up the road. No headlights in sight, a good sign. With relief she saw that the room at the end had windows that cranked out, but they were closed, and most likely locked against intruders.
Or old women fleeing for their lives.
She picked her way through overgrown shrubs and banged her palm against the window. “Alice, open the window.” When there was no response, she flattened her face against the glass and peered inside. With horror, she thought she saw Alice sprawled on the floor between the beds.
She grabbed a chunk of concrete from the ground nearby and smashed it hard against the glass. The window shattered, and she grabbed the jagged pieces that remained, tossing them to the bushes beside her and away from the frame. When the frame was clear, she rattled the screen. It came loose in her hands and followed the glass shards to the ground.
She lifted herself up by her palms, one stinging badly from a cut as she forced it to bear her weight. But she managed to swing herself inside the room, saying a brief prayer of gratitude that she had spent the summer at the rec center chasing children and hauling equipment.
Alice was lying face down on the floor. Tracy grasped her shoulder and shook it. “Alice, wake up. You’ve got to wake up.”
She was rewarded by a moan. Tracy threaded her arms under Alice’s torso and tried to lift her to