Chapter 5 - The Man With Our Key
Daniel killed the kitchen lights.
"Upstairs," he whispered.
I didn't move.
"Claire, now."
The front lock clicked.
Evelyn grabbed the laptop and flash drive. Daniel shoved a dining chair under the basement door handle and pointed toward the back staircase.
I hated that he was suddenly acting like a man I needed.
But footsteps entered our foyer.
Slow. Confident.
Whoever it was had used a key.
Daniel guided me up the stairs with one hand hovering near my back without touching me.
At the landing, Evelyn whispered, "Guest room. Window to the garage roof."
"I'm seven months pregnant," I hissed. "I'm not climbing onto a roof."
A floorboard creaked below us.
Daniel pulled me into the nursery instead.
The room was half finished. White crib. Unopened boxes. A mobile of tiny felt clouds hanging from the ceiling.
We crouched behind the door.
The stranger came upstairs.
I could hear his breathing now.
He stopped outside our bedroom.
A drawer opened.
Then another.
"He's searching," Evelyn mouthed.
Daniel took out his phone and typed 911 but didn't call. He showed me the screen.
If he hears us, run.
My stomach tightened. Not labor. Fear.
The stranger left the bedroom and moved toward the nursery.
Daniel picked up the metal bar from the crib package.
The doorknob turned.
I pressed both hands over my mouth.
The door opened three inches.
Then a phone rang downstairs.
The stranger froze.
A second later he ran.
We heard the front door slam.
Daniel rushed to the window.
"Black SUV," he said. "No plates."
Evelyn's face had gone pale.
I called the police.
While we waited, Daniel went downstairs and returned holding something in a paper towel.
A key.
Our key.
There was a small engraved number on it.
Evelyn stared at the number and sat down hard.
"What is it?" I asked.
May you like
She looked at Daniel.
"That key came from your mother's house."
