The Way You Look Tonight by Carlene Thompson Page B

to Brian’s shirt. ‘When you get back, we’ll know a lot more about where Daddy is and when he’s coming home,’ Deborah said with false cheer. They immediately detected the insincerity of her tone and looked at her with large, doubting eyes, although they said no more.
    The morning was blustery, wind whipping bare tree-limbs around and catching at the children’s hair when Joe took them out to his Jeep. They were unnaturally subdued, and Deborah’s heart ached for them, but there was no way she could comfort them now.
    After Joe had driven away with them, Deborah told Evan about the intruder in the spare room the night before.
    â€˜What time?’ Evan asked.
    â€˜Around one o’clock. I heard boards creaking.’
    â€˜Did the dog bark?’
    Deborah shook her head. ‘No, but she heard something. She was awake. She would have barked if the creaking of the boards hadn’t been so faint. If I’d been sound asleep, I’d never have heard them myself.’
    â€˜But Joe heard them, and he was downstairs,’ Evan said, frowning into the coffee Barbara had poured for him.
    â€˜Joe was in the kitchen,’ Deborah explained. ‘The room was right above him.’
    â€˜Ummm.’ Evan took a sip of coffee. ‘Was it your ladder propped against the side of the house?’
    â€˜Yes. It was the one we store in the gardening shed.’
    â€˜Was the shed locked?’
    â€˜No. This is such a quiet neighborhood, Evan. We’ve never had anything stolen. We’ve never had trouble of any sort until the night before last, when that man was hiding in the evergreens. But he didn’t steal anything. At least, I don’t think he did. We didn’t check the shed. But I find it hard to believe he made off with any gardening equipment.’
    â€˜And nothing was missing from the storage room last night?’
    â€˜Not that I could tell. The light was bad and I don’t go in there often, so something could be gone and I wouldn’t immediately miss it, but I don’t think so.’
    â€˜But you think you heard creaking for at least ten minutes and Joe claims he heard it longer.’ Evan looked up from his coffee, his eyes suspicious. ‘ Why would someone go to all the trouble of climbing a ladder into the house, then do nothing but lurk in that room?’
    Deborah ran her hands through her hair. ‘I don’t know . It doesn’t make sense.’
    â€˜No, it doesn’t,’ Evan said emphatically. ‘I’ll let the police know. They’ll want to check for evidence, if Joe didn’t contaminate the scene too much last night.’
    â€˜Joe is a trained investigator,’ Barbara interrupted in a chastizing tone. ‘Certainly he was careful. And he already called the police.’
    â€˜Well, pardon me,’ Evan said frostily.
    Barbara blushed, clearly realizing she’d come on too strong again, and Deborah added hurriedly, ‘They told us not to touch anything and they’d be here this morning. Of course, they didn’t know about Steve’s car then.’ Her voice broke. Barbara’s forehead creased in distress, as if she were frantically trying to think of the right thing to say. Deborah took a deep breath, forcing herself to pull her spiraling fear back to earth. ‘I should go upstairs and get dressed before the police get here. If they come before I get back downstairs—’
    â€˜I’ll take care of everything,’ Barbara said.
    â€˜As usual.’ Evan flashed her a resentful look.
    Trouble in paradise, Deborah thought vaguely as she left the kitchen. But at the moment, she couldn’t be concerned with Evan and Barbara’s conflicts. She had her own much more serious situation to handle.
    She hurriedly pulled on a pair of jeans and a heavy sweater, forgetting about make-up or pulling her hair back into its neat French braid. When she got downstairs again,