she still wanted to go to Tremain’s house.
CHAPTER 12
U sing a crowbar, David pried the plywood from the front door while Elise stood watching, crutches under her arms. In the house next door, a curtain moved as a curious neighbor watched from the safety of her own home. How odd it must have been to find cops and detectives swarming the lot next to yours. Would you ever feel safe again? Would you ever look at your neighbors in the same way? Would each and every one be suspect?
It had happened to Elise. When you dealt with bad people all day long, pretty soon everybody was painted in dark colors. The world was painted in dark colors.
But today . . . today was lovely. It was another surprisingly cool day for November, and they were both dressed for the weather: David in his black coat, Elise in a pale vintage jacket with giant buttons she’d found in Anastasia’s closet.
A breeze was blowing off a nearby marsh, and birds called overhead. The sky was so blue it hurt her heart, and the occasional cloud almost needed a happy face. The day was that perfect. All a stark contrast to what they would find once they entered the building.
David hefted the sheet of plywood aside and pulled a key from his pocket.
The house was one of those places you pass and wonder if anybody could possibly live there. An overgrown yard. Trash caught in dying shrubs, a tarp over one side of the building, a collapsing fence, and vines growing from wood so rotten water would seep out if you gave it a squeeze. It was a place you could smell from the street. Not a real smell, but an imagined one of rotten food and feral cats.
David shouldered open the door. Even though it was sunny outside, a black rectangle waited to swallow them.
Over the years, Elise had learned to shut off the emotional part of her brain when dealing with crime scenes. That skill was so second nature to her that she found herself looking at the house with the eyes of someone who’d never been there before.
David flicked the light switch. “No power.” He pulled out a flashlight and moved inside. Elise followed, the act of stepping over the threshold bringing back the minutes that led up to her capture.
He’d trapped her. Atticus Tremain, the man who was now in a coma at Memorial Hospital, had lured her to his home and trapped her. So easily. Using Audrey as bait. Elise had gotten a call at work from Tremain, who’d posed as a parent. He’d told Elise that Audrey was at his house, and that she and his daughter had skipped school.
Elise drove there. She got in her car and drove there. To the address he’d given her. She’d marched up to the house, and she’d knocked on the door.
There was no Audrey. Audrey was safe at school, but Elise hadn’t known that. Immediately assessing the situation, she’d realized something was very wrong.
“Watch your step.” David panned the broad beam of light across the dirty vinyl floor. Nicotine-stained curtains hung over the windows above a sink stacked high with dirty dishes. Trash everywhere. Twisted clothes mixed with fast-food containers. She could smell mice and rats.
“I have to say, this doesn’t look like the kind of place you’d walk into with no backup,” David said.
“He said he had Audrey,” Elise said. “The cop in me vanished. I was a mom trying to save her daughter, and yet I still can’t believe I fell for it.”
“It’s different when it’s our kids,” David said. “It’s easy to fall.”
Using the tip of a crutch while trying to remain detached, she pushed a pile of trash aside. “I feel bad that I was so quick to believe she’d ditched school in the first place.”
“Oh, come on. We both know Audrey. I love that kid, but I’m sure she’s ditched school more than once.”
Elise laughed. She couldn’t believe she laughed. In this place. The sound was so strange, as if nobody had ever laughed here. But David was right about Audrey. She was a handful.
In the living room, the very
CHAPTER 12
U sing a crowbar, David pried the plywood from the front door while Elise stood watching, crutches under her arms. In the house next door, a curtain moved as a curious neighbor watched from the safety of her own home. How odd it must have been to find cops and detectives swarming the lot next to yours. Would you ever feel safe again? Would you ever look at your neighbors in the same way? Would each and every one be suspect?
It had happened to Elise. When you dealt with bad people all day long, pretty soon everybody was painted in dark colors. The world was painted in dark colors.
But today . . . today was lovely. It was another surprisingly cool day for November, and they were both dressed for the weather: David in his black coat, Elise in a pale vintage jacket with giant buttons she’d found in Anastasia’s closet.
A breeze was blowing off a nearby marsh, and birds called overhead. The sky was so blue it hurt her heart, and the occasional cloud almost needed a happy face. The day was that perfect. All a stark contrast to what they would find once they entered the building.
David hefted the sheet of plywood aside and pulled a key from his pocket.
The house was one of those places you pass and wonder if anybody could possibly live there. An overgrown yard. Trash caught in dying shrubs, a tarp over one side of the building, a collapsing fence, and vines growing from wood so rotten water would seep out if you gave it a squeeze. It was a place you could smell from the street. Not a real smell, but an imagined one of rotten food and feral cats.
David shouldered open the door. Even though it was sunny outside, a black rectangle waited to swallow them.
Over the years, Elise had learned to shut off the emotional part of her brain when dealing with crime scenes. That skill was so second nature to her that she found herself looking at the house with the eyes of someone who’d never been there before.
David flicked the light switch. “No power.” He pulled out a flashlight and moved inside. Elise followed, the act of stepping over the threshold bringing back the minutes that led up to her capture.
He’d trapped her. Atticus Tremain, the man who was now in a coma at Memorial Hospital, had lured her to his home and trapped her. So easily. Using Audrey as bait. Elise had gotten a call at work from Tremain, who’d posed as a parent. He’d told Elise that Audrey was at his house, and that she and his daughter had skipped school.
Elise drove there. She got in her car and drove there. To the address he’d given her. She’d marched up to the house, and she’d knocked on the door.
There was no Audrey. Audrey was safe at school, but Elise hadn’t known that. Immediately assessing the situation, she’d realized something was very wrong.
“Watch your step.” David panned the broad beam of light across the dirty vinyl floor. Nicotine-stained curtains hung over the windows above a sink stacked high with dirty dishes. Trash everywhere. Twisted clothes mixed with fast-food containers. She could smell mice and rats.
“I have to say, this doesn’t look like the kind of place you’d walk into with no backup,” David said.
“He said he had Audrey,” Elise said. “The cop in me vanished. I was a mom trying to save her daughter, and yet I still can’t believe I fell for it.”
“It’s different when it’s our kids,” David said. “It’s easy to fall.”
Using the tip of a crutch while trying to remain detached, she pushed a pile of trash aside. “I feel bad that I was so quick to believe she’d ditched school in the first place.”
“Oh, come on. We both know Audrey. I love that kid, but I’m sure she’s ditched school more than once.”
Elise laughed. She couldn’t believe she laughed. In this place. The sound was so strange, as if nobody had ever laughed here. But David was right about Audrey. She was a handful.
In the living room, the very
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