Lauren leaned her back so she could see her face. “Why did you choose those numbers? Are those just the ones you know?”
Sarah looked down at her hands and mumbled, “I dunno.”
Jack knew that was Sarah’s line whenever she was nervous, but he wondered if that wasn’t the truth this time. “Sweetie, you’re not in trouble. We’re really proud of you.”
Sarah shrugged and burrowed deeper into her mom’s arms. Lauren and Jack made eye contact, each searching the other for ideas. Neither of them knew where to go next. They sat in silence, staring at the pages sitting on the table. The faint sound of a sitcom laugh track filtered down from Becky’s room upstairs.
Jack looked around the room. The area where they sat was what the realtor had called the great-great room. Jack thought the label a bit pompous, but he had to agree with her. It was a massive space with ceilings two stories high, one side covered with layered river rock and another all windows designed perfectly to take advantage of the forest view. The room was his favorite. He loved the openness, the giant fireplace, the illusion of being outdoors. It had always been the most comfortable room in the house for him. Now he felt different. Now he felt exposed.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
Jack jumped at the sound. Lauren let out a small cry as the knocking on the front door crashed through the house. Jack laughed at their reactions, “Wow, I guess we’re a little strung out, huh?”
“Are you expecting someone?”
“No. You?” Lauren shook her head. Jack noticed Sarah watching them. He leaned down toward her and said, “Probably Uncle Max, huh? He’s always getting lost.” He rubbed the top of her head, messing up her hair until she smiled. He walked toward the door trying to show more confidence than he felt. “You guys wait here. I’ll see who it is.”
TWENTY-SIX
Jack gave a low whistle and Buddy fell in behind him as he walked to the door. As he got closer he noticed the door wasn’t locked. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time they’d bothered.
Buddy started to whine, his tail dropping between his legs.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, rubbing Buddy’s head.
He looked up and suddenly he noticed a person standing with his back to the door just off the entryway. Even in the gathering late afternoon shadows, Jack could tell it was a man’s frame, well over six feet; lean but broad shouldered. The man’s hair was pulled back and tied into a pony tail. Jack opened the door and the man turned around and stepped toward him.
“I think we need to talk,” the man said.
Jack studied the man’s face. A dark complexion betrayed any sign of age and provided only ambiguous hints at the man’s ethnicity. He had dark eyes that were focused and intelligent, darting back and forth in constant surveillance. He had a wide, irregular nose, as if it had been broken and left to mend on its own. White scar tissue wrapped its way up from the man’s throat over his jaw line until it disappeared into his hair. Jack had hoped that it would be a door-to-door salesman. But something about the look of the man told him it wasn’t the case.
“Listen, whatever this is about, you’ve caught me at a bad time. Could you…”
“Nate Huckley’s coming after your daughter.”
Jack stiffened. “What did you say?”
“I said Nate Huckley’s coming after your daughter. And he’s not working alone. I think we should talk.”
Jack stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him. A couple of days ago he would have told the man to get the hell off his property. But too many strange things had happened, all of them about Sarah. “What do you know?”
“I know you’re involved in something you don’t understand. I know Huckley tried to take your daughter away from you at that rest area. I know if he’d succeeded that she’d be dead right now. I know that if he wanted her that badly then there must have been a good reason. Once the rest of them figure out what that reason was, then they’ll be after her too. How’s that for starters?”
“Rest of them? What do you mean?”
“Huckley isn’t alone. He stumbled across your little girl but believe me his friends are taking notice of the risk he took. They’re trying to understand right now what he found. They have their suspicions, but once they know for sure they’ll stop at nothing until they get her.”
“This is crazy. Who are you? How are you involved in all this?”
“I’ve told you more than you knew. Now I need a few answers from you.”
“Like what?”
“What did your little girl write on those pages? Is Huckley trying to contact her?”
Jack was confused for a moment but then felt a surge of heat rush to his face as he realized the implications of what the man had said. The man had been spying on them. Watching from the woods. He didn’t care what the man knew, the invasion was too much. Who knew how long the man had watched his family from the trees. For all he knew, the man was with Huckley. Jack took a step forward and jabbed a finger at the man’s chest
“You get the hell out of here, understand? If I catch you spying on my family again, I’ll come after you. I swear to God.”
The man wrinkled his brow as if amused by Jack’s attempt to look threatening. He pointed at Jack’s finger still waving at him. “You’ll want to put that away. I’m not here to cause trouble. I came because I think we might be on the same side in this mess.”
Buddy, fidgeting uncomfortably next to his master, snarled when the man pointed. Jack reached down without taking his eyes off the man and took hold of the dog’s collar. “Like I said, I think it’s time you leave.”
The man looked down at the snarling dog and back to Jack. Finally, he shrugged. He reached into his jacket pocket.
“Hey, hey,” Jack called out, almost releasing his grip on Buddy.
The man pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen. Jack steadied his breath. The man wrote something on the paper and held it out for Jack to take.
“When something else happens, and something will happen, you’ll want to talk. Name’s Joseph Lonetree. That’s my number. ”
Jack took the paper and stuffed it in his pocket without looking at it. He nodded toward the driveway. The man smiled, turned and headed back to his car. Jack watched until he made sure the car was far up the driveway. He walked back inside and told Buddy to stay on guard by the front door. One phrase from the exchange kept repeating in his head as he walked back to the kitchen. When something else happens, and something will happen, you’ll want to talk. He had a bad feeling that the mysterious Mr. Lonetree was going to be right. And worse, he felt powerless to stop it.
TWENTY-SEVEN
The girls resisted sleep as long as possible. Jack and Lauren tried to stick to their normal routine but found themselves as distracted as their kids. Lauren was still unsettled by Jack’s reaction to their late night visitor. He had returned from the entry way with a concerned look and, without saying anything, started to go through the house and check that every window and door was locked. Not many of them were. Then he pulled closed the few curtains they had, muttering to himself how easy it was for someone to see into the house. Lauren resisted the temptation to ask who had been at the door. By Jack’s reaction it was no one he wanted to talk about in front of Sarah.
Becky came downstairs to see what was going on. She sat at the table and looked over the sheets of construction paper with Sarah’s writing on them and then at her dad rushing around the house. Something was going on. She called out for Buddy and the dog happily jogged into the room and sat by Becky to get his ears rubbed. Seeing this, Jack strode over and kneeled next to his daughter.