Read Online The Devil's Closet by Stacy Dittrich - Free Book Online Page B

waiting. Michael brought up the rear.
    “What was that all about?” he asked quietly once we were out of earshot from the kitchen.
    “Not much, I just unloaded on her, essentially saying she’s been a piss-poor mother and lucky if she doesn’t go to jail.”
    “Knowing you, I’m sure that’s exactly what was said. No sugar coating from you, right?” He put his hand on the small of my back and chuckled.
    “Right.” I turned out of his reach, feeling the familiar explosion of desire and need I experienced whenever he touched me.
    Melissa and Austin walked in, both appearing to have settled down and now ready to talk. Melissa sat on the couch and motioned for Austin to sit next to her, which he ignored, climbing onto her lap instead. Melissa began telling us her version of what happened earlier.
    Austin’s preschool party was the following day, and Melissa had been in the kitchen making cookies while he was in the living room playing with his trucks. Austin was being his normal four-year-old self: loud, whistling, making siren noises and yelling “fire!” As with any parent who has a child that age or younger, silence brings about an immediate concern if the child is not directly in sight. Such was the case today.
    “I didn’t hear Austin making his fire sounds anymore. In fact there was no sound at all coming from the room.”
    Thinking he may have gotten into something he wasn’t supposed to, Melissa left the kitchen, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw the front door of her house wide open. In a panic, she ran outside, fearing Austin had managed to open it and walk out, something he was able to do on two prior occasions. It was then she saw an older white station wagon backing out of her driveway and heading up the street at a high speed. The man driving was white and had blond hair.
    “There was a temporary registration tag in the back, but I didn’t get a close look at it.”
    Standing in the front yard, she began yelling Austin’s name. He called out to her from inside the house, where she found him in the living room, playing with his trucks and once again making ordinary childish noises
    “I asked him if he opened the front door, and he said it was the tall man that did it. I thought he might have been making things up and the wind blew it open, or he really did open it, then used his quite vivid imagination to come up with the story about the tall man. I guess I brushed off the car as someone just turning around in my driveway.” She eyeballed me, waiting for a response. “I wasn’t thinking, I guess. I mean, Austin does have an active imagination. There was one time our toilet got backed up with almost six cans of Play-Doh in it. When I asked Austin, he told me an old lady with a cane and a beard pushed him down, stole the Play-Doh, and tried to flush it down the toilet…”
    Michael grunted, trying to suppress his laugh.
    “There also isn’t the slightest bit of wind today, Melissa,” I interrupted.
    “I know, but I thought maybe my husband or I hadn’t latched it properly, so anything could have blown it open. Anyway, I went back to making the cookies, but the whole incident kept nagging me. I went back and talked to Austin a little more about it, and that’s when he told me a man came in and asked him if he wanted to go play with Hanna. That’s when I ran to call the police.”
    It was very, very quiet in the room. Michael was studying Melissa, analyzing her every word, something he is very good at. And he was clearly making her uncomfortable. Austin looked like he was on the verge of a deep sleep before I called out to him.
    “Austin? Do you want to help me catch a bad guy again? You did such a good job the first time.”
    “Okay! I played with my fire twucks. The bad guy was standing wight there.” He pointed toward the door.
    “What color shirt did he have on, Austin?”
    “White. He knew my name too! He asked me if I wanted to play with Hanna!”
    “What did you