Page 90 of Silent Threat
She was used to it. “See you in a couple of days.”
She stopped in three or four times a week. Kelly did the same. Sylvia, the housekeeper, had been upgraded to twice weekly, from Fridays only, to make sure someone saw the old man every day.
Annie walked to the garage and got into the truck—clean, save the dust that had accumulated on the outside. The pickup was older and more beat-up than she remembered. When was the last time she’d been inside it? Before her mother had moved them from Broslin.
Don’t go there.
She turned the key.
Nothing happened.
Dead battery? She was almost relieved. The thing was a massive gas guzzler. The Toyota dealership had promised that a loaner would be ready for her at one point today. She’d much prefer that.
She locked up the garage and then walked through the backyard and into the corn, her mind on her grandfather’s sudden softening. Resentment rose inside her.Nowhe wanted to give her a vehicle? He should have helped back when her mother needed the help.
Instead, he’d kicked them out of the house. If he hadn’t, her mother would never have met Randy. Annie rubbed the heel of her hands over her thighs as she walked.
Don’t think about it.
The wind picked up, ruffling the cornstalks around her. They towered over her, boxed her in.
A noise came from her right, gone before she could identify it. The wind? A deer?
The sun slipped behind the clouds, and immediately the temperature dropped, reminding her that summer was over. She rubbed the goose bumps on her arms.
The wind strengthened. Something touched the back of her neck. She jumped and swirled around, gasping.
Oh.A foot-long corn leaf whipped around on the stalk right at her neck.Just a leaf.
Then that noise came again. She was amazed that deer would still come to feed considering how much poison the guy who leased the land sprayed on his crop.
Annie hurried forward, shivering. Odd bits of noise, different from the wind, kept following her. Almost as if the deer was pacing her, maybe ten feet back and to the left. She couldn’t see the animal through the forest of green stalks, had no idea why a deer would follow her.
Then she thought,What if it’s a stray? A scared dog that needs help?
She stopped.
The wind had blown in some clouds. She couldn’t leave an animal out there, especially with all that bad weather coming.
“Hey, puppy,” she said in a soothing tone. “Where are you?”
No barking, no whining. Yet something definitely moved in the corn.
She felt anxious suddenly. For no reason, since both Joey and Big Jim were in jail.
She resisted the urge to hurry home. Instead, she turned toward the noise to see if there was an animal that needed her help.
Cole stared at the text that came from his CO:No transmission today. No transmission yesterday either.
Trevor Taylor.Cole hated typing the name.Looks like he was our guy.
The CO sent back:Sudden attack of conscience?
Maybe, Cole typed. Then he added,Nothing in the room other than the plastic I sent. His belongings have been mailed home already.
A couple of seconds passed before the response popped up.I’ll send someone to his parents.
I’m finished?Cole texted.
