Page 27 of I Know She Was There

I expected his specter to pause. Think about my question, like he always did. Then answer in that thoughtful, deliberate way of his. But instead, his body startled when he saw me, like Emmy had as a newborn. An involuntary movement.

“Caroline? What are you doing here?” He walked up to me as though I’d invaded his property. “Did you follow me here?”

“What?” I reached out to touch him, reassuring myself he was real.

He jumped back instantly as if I’d menaced him with a cattle prod. “I asked what you are doing here.”

I was confused. “I’m always here, I?—”

“Have you been drinking?”

“Of course not!”

I looked down at Emmy’s carriage, anger filtering through me. Who did he think he was, appearinghere, of all places? Accusing me of tailing him. Of drunkenness. “I might ask you the same thing. What bringsyouhere?”

He stared at me, saying nothing, his jaw rigid. He had a look I recognized. The concentration of calculating weights and measurements... or trying to determine if I was lying to him.

“What’s wrong with you?” I nearly yelled. “Why are you lurking around an empty house in the dark?”

He squinted at me. “Why areyouhere?”

“I’m taking my nightly walk, Tim. It makes sense that I’m here, but you?—”

“I talked to Mary,” he interrupted. “I dropped by the house. Needed to pick up those tools in the utility closet but forgot my key. You weren’t home, so I went next door to borrow Mary’s spare key.”

I shook my head as if to realign it, force his words to make sense. “Okay, so you were at the house. You talked to Mary. What does that have to do with you standing here, now?”

“She told me about the woman you saw here.” He angled his chin upward, toward the house. “I decided I’d better swing over.”

Icy cold rushed from my head to my feet. “I know what you’re going to say. I’m seeing things again, just like I did after Emmy was born. Just like?—”

“Stop, Caroline. You’re putting words in my mouth.” He rubbed his forehead, a gesture he made when he was frustrated. “I didn’t know what to think, so I just came over here, okay?”

“Trying to think of ways to discredit me?” I challenged. “A way to take away...” I couldn’t continue, couldn’t even fathom him suing me for custody of Emmy. I swallowed a big lump in my throat.

“No, I had to make sure things were all right over here. I knew the couple who lived in this house. Ray worked with me. I met Annie a couple of times too. A few weeks ago, Ray didn’t show up for work. He called in his resignation the next day, but he never came by the office to pick up his things, and never said goodbye to any of us. It was odd.”

I blinked. “You know these people? What did you say their names are?”

“Ray and Annie Connolly. Do you know them?”

I shook my head. Matt’s name was really Ray. And Melanie was called Annie. “I’ve never met them. I just saw?—”

“Mary told me what you saw.”

I clenched my jaw. “You don’t believe me.”

He held his hands up in front of him as if to ward off an attack from a rabid dog. “It doesn’t matter what I think. Mary told me you mentioned the police don’t believe you.”

“By the time they got to the house it had been hours. Plenty of time for someone to clean up.”

The wary expression on Tim’s face softened. “Caroline, are you taking care of yourself?”

That got me. I swallowed the emotion bubbling up from my chest, causing my lips to tremble and my eyes to tear up. I got this way on the rare occasions Tim showed me an ounce of compassion. I suddenly remembered the line he’d repeated all the time when we were first dating:You’re my oxygen, Caroline.

How my heart would swell at his words; the sweet, romantic notion of him being unable to even breathe without me near made me feel special, cherished.

But I’d learned not to be fooled. Tim could breathe just fine on his own.

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