“Remember the guy that we didn’t like this summer after the Red Sox game?” Kate asked the kids.
“The one that asked Daddy for money, then followed us to our car?”
“While his buddies trailed us, too,” Alex reminded them.
“Yes. This guy reminds your dad of that guy. Something’s wrong with him, and without food or supplies, we think he might be a danger to the neighborhood, and to us.”
“Worse than some of our neighbors?” Ryan asked.
Alex laughed, not really sure if Ryan was serious or joking. “I think this group is way worse,” he said.
“Can we give them some food, Daddy?” Emily asked.
Kate smiled at her. “That’s a nice thought, sweetie, but it’s probably not a good idea…”
“Why not?” Emily pressed.
“Because I think they would want more, and if we couldn’t give them more, they would cause trouble,” Alex told her.
“How do you know?”
“They’re scummy looking,” Ryan yelled.
“Well, it’s not just that they look scummy,” Alex said, glancing at Kate.
“Your dad talked to them this morning—”
“Twice,” Alex interrupted.
“Twice, and his gut instinct is that there is something seriously wrong with them,” Kate said.
Alex stepped back over to the front corner window and stared down the street toward the Perrys’ for a few seconds, then down the other side of the street, thinking about all of the doors and windows in their home as he walked over and took a seat next to Emily. Mentally he reassured himself that all of the doors and windows were locked. However, he sorely wished he had enough ply board to cover each window from a possible intrusion.
“So what we’re going to do is be a little more cautious around the house. Pretty much what we’ve been doing before, but a little different, especially at night. First, like always, nobody answers the door for any reason. Mom and I will take care of answering the door. Second, I want you guys to have one of us with you when you’re downstairs. Day or night, okay?”
“But what if I just want a drink of water?” Ryan asked.
“Then you keep a cup upstairs and get a drink from the bathroom.”
“But Mom doesn’t like us to drink from the bathroom faucet. Something about poop particles in the air.”
“I’ll make an exception in this case,” Kate said.
“But what…”
“Just get one of us to go down with you, all right? One of us is down here most of the day anyway, just be a little flexible about this. I don’t know what these people might try, okay?” Alex said.
“Okayyyy,” Ryan said, barely convincing Alex.
“All shades are open during the day. All shades are closed at night. After dark, kids upstairs, and we keep inside lights to a minimum. The other thing that will be different is that I will be visibly wearing a handgun, and you might see a few of my rifles around the house, and under no circumstances are you two to touch them. Don’t knock them over, don’t move them at all. They will be loaded with real bullets. Here’s what you might see.”
He stood up and pulled out his shotgun and assault rifle from behind Kate’s chair.
“Cool,” Ryan whispered.
“Great, those were behind my chair?” Kate asked.
“This is a shotgun, and this is a rifle. Don’t touch either of them. I may have one of them sitting up against the island, next to one of the doors, or in my lap on the couch. No matter where you find them, or see them, do not touch them. Understand the rules, Mr. Ryan?”
“Why am I being singled out?” he asked with an overly incredulous look on his face.
“Because you’re the only one in the room that said ‘cool’ when I pulled these out, and I know Emily could care less about guns,” Alex said.
“Guns are stupid and dangerous,” Emily said.
“Exactly,” Kate agreed.
“You want me to break them apart and bury them in the backyard?”
“Not today, baby but maybe after all of this blows over,” Kate said with a wink and nod to Emily.
Alex raised an eyebrow and smirked. “They might be stupid, but still, don’t touch them. Are we all clear?”
“Yes,” the kids said in bored unison.
Alex looked at Kate.
“You’re including me in your solemn swear?”
He nodded his head slowly.
“I gotcha,” she said.
“And if you see something outside that doesn’t look right, let one of us know right away. Like someone peeking from the trees, or even just walking around the neighborhood,” Alex added.
“What’s weird about walking around the block?” Emily asked.
“It’s weird because nobody does it anymore. Nobody just takes a walk for the sake of getting fresh air. If they’re out, they have a purpose, and I want to figure out what that purpose is.”
“That’s it for me. You got anything, Mommy?” he concluded.
“Nope, this was your show,” Kate said dryly.
“Anything else from the peanut gallery?”
“What’s for lunch, Mommy?” Ryan asked.
“Tuna salad on crackers, with leftover peas and carrots,” she said.
“Sounds like a feast,” Alex said.
“Sounds like…”
“Don’t even think about continuing that sentence, little man,” Kate said to Ryan, cutting him off.
“…like the best lunch ever,” he said, flashing a sly smile across the room.
“I’m keeping a close watch on you,” Kate told him. “Lunch, of course, is self-serve,” she added.
Ryan got up and headed back upstairs. Emily moved over to her favorite chair and turned on the flat-screen TV. Before Alex or Kate could vacate the family room, the silly screams and sounds of the Cartoon Network filled the room.
Kate and Alex met at the kitchen island.
“How bad do you think it will get?” she asked.
He sat up from leaning the rifle and shotgun against the island. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I made it clear enough that screwing with us would be a costly idea for them.”
“Well, if you’re not sure, then assume you didn’t. You’re not exactly the best at making things clear. What’s the plan then?” she asked, leaning over the island with her glass of water.
“Stay vigilant. Make sure we see them before they see us.”
“What are you going to do if they show up again demanding that you share the bounty Todd probably told them we have?”
“Tell them to pack sand,” he said.
“Pack sand? I don’t think these guys are going to respond to an ancient nautical insult. In the interest of direct communication, you might want to think of a more modern one,” she advised.
“I’ll probably stick with something closer to ‘go to hell.’”
“I hope they don’t mess with us. Do you really think Todd told them we have lots of supplies? That would be a mean and dangerous thing for him to have done.”
“He did it a few times the other day. He picked the most unstable-looking people and sent them straight on over. I have little doubt that we’ll be hearing from our new neighbors soon. Ed saw them spend a considerable amount of time at Todd’s. My biggest concern is exactly how we’ll be hearing from them. We have to plan for the worst-case scenario,” he said.
“Which is what?” she asked, gently clasping his hands across the island.
He glanced into the family room and saw Emily in the oversized brown leather chair, intently watching the TV.
“She can’t hear us. I can barely hear you over the TV,” Kate said.
“I know. Old habits. Anyway, we need to be ready for a direct assault on our house. Probably after dark. If I were planning this…”
“Which sounds scary. I wish you wouldn’t do that,” she said and released his hands.
“Do what?”
“Think like they do. This isn’t good fo
r you,” she said with a pained look.
“What do you mean not good for…never mind. I know where you’re going with that. We can talk about it later. I have to try and plan this out from their perspective, so we can prepare ourselves. All right?”
“I’m sorry. You’re right. So what do you think they’ll do?”
“I think they’re watching us right now, looking for some kind of pattern. Something they can use. I’d look for an opportunity to take one of us down and storm the house. They can’t see into our house during the day, but we can see out. This gives us an advantage during daylight. As the sun sets, we need to shut the shades before the reverse occurs. At night, they can see in…if we have lights on. I’m going out a little later to put up the Christmas floodlights. We have enough for the front and back…maybe one of the sides,” he said, pointing to the side of the house next to the family room.
“I’ll put them out a little farther than usual so they cover more space. If we keep the inside dark, we’ll see shadows if they come between the lights and the house. We also have the motion lights on the garage in front and back. If it’s dark in the house, we’ll see those trip, too.”
“What if they cut the wires or just unplug them?” she asked.
“Then we’ll know something’s wrong pretty quick. The lights will go off. Plus, they’d have to approach the house to unplug the lights.”
“Can the battery system keep this going all night? After this storm, we might be on our own for power.”
“I don’t know. I doubt it, but the outdoor sockets can be turned on and turned off from the switch in the foyer hallway, so if we lose power, we can use the lights if we hear something outside or at random intervals. But until then, I think we should have them on all night.”
“And we all stay upstairs after dark?”
“Yeah, once the shades are shut, we’re blind except for the outside lights. Even then, they might be able to crawl and not cast a shadow. The ground floor would be their point of entry, maybe the basement. If they burst in while all of us are down here, it’ll be chaos, and I won’t be able to effectively protect everyone.”
“What about dinner?”
“We’re gonna have to eat earlier. Three thirty or four at the latest, or we eat upstairs. We’ve been shutting the shades at about four, so we should be fine if dinner goes on the table at roughly three-thirty.”
“That’s workable. We’ll eat and close the shades. Send the kids upstairs and finish cleaning up. Then what?” she asked.
“We turn off the lights downstairs; maybe keep the stove light and the mudroom bathroom light on. The interior lighting scheme on the second and third floor should stay the same throughout the night, so they can’t track our movements through the house. Turning lights off is fine, but turning lights on is not.”
“What about when we all go to bed? Won’t they know that we’ve all turned in when all of the lights are out?”
Man, she’s the perfect devil’s advocate.
“It’s not a perfect plan by any stretch. Ideally, we would keep the same lighting profile all night. We could keep one small lamp on in each bedroom all night. Shouldn’t suck too much energy out of the batteries, if the power fails for good. One on the third floor, too. Four light bulbs should be fine,” he said.
“I don’t think it’ll matter. They know we’re all gonna fall asleep eventually. I don’t think the lighting scheme will be that important. They’ll figure it out pretty quickly. We need to set up some kind of early warning system in the house, so you can wake up if something happens.”
“I wish we had a dog or an alarm system. I can set up some beer bottles or cans, but it’s no guarantee. I hate to say this, but I think I might have to change my schedule around. Nap during the day, and stay up at night. At least until they go away, or we’re pretty sure they don’t plan on trying to cut our throats in the middle of the night.”
“Do you really think they would try to break into our house? I mean, that’s crazy. What kind of psycho would do that?” she asked.
“You should see this guy. He looks like he doesn’t really need a reason to kill. Hungry, cold… sick family? I don’t think we should take any chances. I’ll visibly wear my pistol at all times, and if I have to go outside, I’ll sling the assault rifle. I’ll take it out with me when I set up the lights a little later. If they’re watching, it might be enough of a deterrent for them.”
Kate walked over to the pantry and pulled out a large can of tuna fish, placing it near the sink.
“Maybe they’ll bother Charlie enough that he’ll just shoot them from his bedroom window,” Alex said.
“Charlie’s all talk and no action. I wouldn’t count on him to line up his crosshairs on a human.”
“He’s all we’ve got at this point.”
He walked around the island and started to pull down some plates to help with the meal. Kate opened the can with a hand operated can opener that he hadn’t seen in years.
“Where’d you find that antique?”
“Stuffed into one of the island drawers. I figured I’d get used to it,” she said and cranked at the can again, sloshing tuna can juice on the counter.
“I think we’ll be able to run the electric can opener if we need to.”
“I suppose. It just seems ridiculous not to use something like this, if we have it at our disposal. Why don’t you call Ryan down for lunch?” she suggested.
“Sure.” He kissed her on the lips, took a few steps toward the stairs, and turned back around. “You all right with all this?”
She looked down at the pistol in his hip holster. “I guess so. I haven’t seen this guy yet, but I trust your judgment. Seeing you this worried makes me pretty nervous,” she admitted.
“This guy is definitely a piece of work. We’ll be fine if we stick together and keep to our plan. Nothing to it.”
“Maybe you should go over the basics of that pistol you bought for me,” she said quietly.
“I’ll dig it up later. You can dry fire it, get used to it. That’s not a bad idea at all. You never know…”
He yelled up the stairs and heard Ryan’s faint reply from the attic.
“Here comes the tuna on crackers stampede,” Alex said.
“This is his favorite lunch. Watch.”
Two seconds later Alex heard thumping from above as Ryan hurtled down the stairs.
Chapter 34
Alex tipped a cold bottle of pale ale into a pint glass and watched the golden beverage settle—mesmerized by the bubbles. Kate placed a steaming pot of spaghetti on the table in front of him, breaking his concentration. He turned toward the kitchen, watching Kate grab a large, green, ceramic bowl with oven mitts.
“It smells awesome, Mom,” said Ryan.
“Thank your dad for the sauce. There’s enough here for a couple days.” She cautiously edged her way over to the table.
A heavy gust of wind buffeted the house, and Alex’s mind drifted back to the windows as he took a long swig of beer. He was nervous about nightfall. The sun would set a few minutes after four, and there would be ample light outside for at least another half-hour, even under overcast skies. He wasn’t sure that sitting in the dining room together was a good idea at all.
He had expected to hear from the Mansons earlier in the afternoon, but as the afternoon grew longer, and the sky darker, he’d come to the uncomfortable conclusion that the Mansons wouldn’t tip their hand so quickly. He took another oversized swig of beer.
“No wine?” Kate asked as she carefully lowered a bowl of sauce on one of the placemats.
“No, it makes me too sleepy. Might be a long night.”
Kate got up to retrieve the bottle of red wine from the counter, while Alex scanned the windows again. He couldn’t help watching the outside, knowing that the Mansons would likely hit their family before it became completely dark, while they all sat together eating at the table.
“You all right?” Kate asked and placed the bottle on the table
with a serious look.
“I guess so…I just don’t know about this light. Something…”
“There’s still plenty of light, right?” she asked and took an unusually long sip of wine.
Alex looked at the kids, who appeared oblivious to their concerns, as they slurped down their pasta. A pile of peas, broccoli and olives grew on the corner of each of their plates.
“Eat the veggies, too, guys,” he urged.
Ryan made a weak gesture with his fork toward the veggies. Emily ignored the request altogether. Alex looked back up at Kate, smiling thinly.
“The whole neighborhood is starving, and my kids are picking at their food,” he said ruefully.
“They’ll polish it off, don’t worry.”
“Anyway, the light’s fine, but we were always cautious when the sun set. The eyes have to constantly adjust to the changing light, otherwise they can be easily tricked. I’m more comfortable when the dark completely settles in.”
“They’ll have the same problem,” Kate said.
Alex saw that Ryan was listening to their conversation and nodded.
“What? It’s not like you’re in a private forum,” Ryan said defensively.
“We didn’t say anything,” Kate said.
“So are we all right having dinner now?” Ryan asked.
Now Emily focused on the conversation.
Kate raised her eyebrows and gently blew air out of her mouth, which was her patented non-verbal “here we go.”
“Now that we’re all part of the conversation…let’s just finish eating and get upstairs. Everyone’s in our room tonight. All night,” Alex said.
“What?! Come on, I don’t want to sit around your room all night watching her stupid shows. Why can’t we sit on the third floor? She can watch TV on the other side,” Ryan complained.
“Then all I’ll hear is your stupid machine gun games,” Emily whined back.
“I’ll use headphones,” he said.
“Is anyone still playing online?” Kate asked.
“Earlier in the month it slowed down a lot, but it’s starting to pick back up again. A bunch of my friends are on, and they’re fine,” he told her.
THE ALEX FLETCHER BOXSET: Books 1-5 Page 27
