Mom took her pill like an obedient child. I gave her one last hug and left her room. Closed the door behind me.
I wiped a hand across my forehead. Really, Hannah. What would I have done if I had found someone?
Jeff’s gun.
For years it had sat in our nightstand, unloaded, bullets nearby. When Mom came to live with me I’d moved the weapon and bullets to a box in my closet. Tonight I’d load the thing. Sleep with it by my bed. In the morning I would put it away.
For now I couldn’t stop with Mom’s bedroom. I checked my room, bath, and closet. Then the closet in the front hallway. The kitchen and laundry room and garage. I even peered through the windows of my car. No one lurking in the backseat.
No one else anywhere. Just me and Mom.
Going through the house again, I closed all the curtains.
I stood in the kitchen, hands on my hips and pulse still high. I needed to eat. And I wanted to find out just who Morton Leringer was. Did he own an electrical power company? One tied to that video on the flash drive?
The phone rang. I leaned over to peer at the ID. Emily.
“Hi, Em.”
“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you forever.”
“At the sheriff’s department.”
“What? Why?”
I told her all about it. The video, the FBI agents, Harcroft and Wade. Right down to the fact that a deputy would be watching our house.
When my words ran out, Emily was silent, as if she didn’t know what to say. “Mom, this is really scary.”
“I know.”
Another pause. “You said you gave those fake FBI agents a copy of the video. Not the original.”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure.”
“Yes. Why?”
“Because . . . nothing.”
“There’s something. I hear it in your voice.”
Emily sighed. “Look, those guys probably won’t bother you again. At least they have the video, for whatever it means to them. They should leave you alone now.”
Of course they should. Her words sounded so reasonable. But they also sounded almost as if she was trying to convince herself.
“I’m going to research Morton Leringer,” I said. “We never got to watch the news. I don’t know if the story made it on TV or not.”
“I want to see that video. Can you send me a copy?”
I hesitated. “I don’t want you involved in this.”
“Mom, just looking at it won’t hurt anything. I might see something in it that you didn’t.”
“Could be. Still, I don’t want you involved. Look what’s happened to me. I don’t want fake FBI agents showing up at your door.”
“Now you’re just being paranoid.”
Maybe, maybe not. “Emily, I’m not sending it. And I’m going to go erase it from my own computer. It’s in the hands of the sheriff’s department now.”
“You’re stubborn, you know that?”
“No. Just cautious. Especially when it comes to you. And Mom.”
“Well.” Emily’s voice softened. “That’s true.”
For a moment neither of us spoke.
We talked a few more minutes. I had the impression Emily didn’t want to let me off the phone. The worry would not leave her voice. In the end I said I needed to go.
“Okay, Mom.” Her words remained tight. “Stay safe. And call me anytime tonight. It’s not like I’m going to sleep anyway.”
I winced, sorry that I’d concerned my daughter. Maybe I shouldn’t have told her any of this. “We’ll be fine.”
“If anyone comes around, just tell Grand to put on her music real loud. That oughtta keep ’em away.”
I managed a laugh. “You’re right about that.”
We hung up and I lingered at the counter, thinking. So much to sort through.
My stomach growled.
From a cabinet I pulled a can of vegetable soup. Dumped it in a bowl and slid it into the microwave. As it heated I slipped into the living room without turning on the lights and peeked through the front drapes. No parked car in sight. I leaned over to see down the street to my left. No car. Peered to the right. Some distance down, on the other side of the street, sat a van. It was as far from a streetlamp as possible.
Was anyone inside?
Deputy Harcroft had given me his cell number to call. So had Sergeant Wade. “Anytime you need us,” they’d said, “day or night.” I found Wade’s number in my purse and punched it in. He answered immediately.
“Mrs. Shire, you okay?”
“Did you send a car to my street?”
“It’s there.”
“I see a van, but I’m not sure anyone’s inside.”
“That’s it. We can’t be obvious.”