hoped the extra glare from his high beams would be a silent honk of his horn and prompt his wife, or maybe the Lamberts, to appear in that open doorway, hands shielding their eyes, waving him in.
When Carrie asked why they weren’t going up the rest of the driveway, Norman gave the little girl an honest, albeit useless answer. “I don’t know,” he said.
Carrie was eager. “Are we gonna—”
“Kids,” Norm began, “I’m going to leave the car running here, then go inside. I’m going to lock all the car doors and I want you to keep them locked until I come back outside. Okay?”
“Why?” Carrie asked.
“Can you just do that for me? Please?”
Both kids nodded.
“When I come back out, then you can unlock them. Okay? Do you understand? Keep them locked until Mr. Mitchell comes back out.”
They nodded again.
And then it was Caleb who asked, “What’s wrong?”
Norman forced a smile. “Nothing’s wrong, buddy. Silly Mrs. Mitchell just left the front door open. I want to go in first and make sure no animals got inside and started gobblin’ up all our food.” He made a silly face and pretended to nosh on something the way a squirrel might a nut.
Caleb smiled.
Carrie did not. “Where are Mommy and Daddy?” she asked.
“They’re probably next door at your cabin, sweetheart.”
Carrie looked out her car window towards their cabin next door. It was black. “I don’t think they’re home,” she said.
Norman noticed it too. Oh please, God, let them be screwing each other, he thought. Please let the worst of our problems be catching them in the act. And why not? It made sense. It made perfect sense. Time away from the kids. Romantic cabin to themselves. They’ve probably been at it all night.
But his own house? Pitch black with the front door wide open? His stomach swirled with adrenaline. He did not want to waste time making excuses anymore. Norm moved with an urgency that he prayed would not contaminate the children.
“Kids, can you just do as Mr. Mitchell says and wait here in the car please?”
The children didn’t nod this time; they stared back with uncomfortable wonder.
Norm took it as a regrettable yes. “Great. I’ll be right back. Just hold tight okay?”
Norm opened his car door and stepped out. He clicked the tiny black switch on the driver door’s interior and all four locks thumped as they shrunk into their holes. He closed the car door, waved and forced another smile at the kids, then jogged to his open front door, the high beams of his idling Volvo lighting his path.
“Lorraine?” he called the moment he was inside. He took two more steps, each one slow and delicate as though the floor might give under his weight. “Lorraine? You in here, honey?” He heard nothing but the distant idle of the Volvo outside.
Norman began to imagine the worst. He thought of the man who had accosted Amy at the market and then peeked into her bedroom window last night. Had he come back? And if he had, was he dangerous?
Norman felt his pulse thumping all over. He was imagining the worst. But better to imagine the worst and be prepared than to be ignorant and caught off guard, right? He scanned his surroundings, searching for a potential weapon. A sharp metal poker was leaning up against their fireplace to his left. He hurried over and grabbed hold of it. He steadied it in his hand like a fencer about to duel. Am I really going to have to use this?
“Lorraine?” he called again. His voice cracked this time, the adrenaline sapping his saliva.
Norman took cautious steps towards the bedroom, the tip of the black poker leading the way. The bedroom door was open a crack. He placed the tip of the poker against the door and pushed slowly. The door felt heavy on the end of the poker as he pushed it open.
He took in every inch of the dark room, squeezing the handle of the poker for all he was worth. He twisted his left arm and blindly patted the wall to his left, feeling for the light switch. He found the switch and flicked it upward. The room came alive with light, and Norm blinked quickly so his eyes would adjust.
The bed was made. The closet doors were shut tight. The room looked as if he may have been the first to visit that day.
Norm let out a long, slow breath. Yes, the room was empty, and yes, he would