Chapter Five
Devers Residence
White Street
Brenda roused. Her eyes drifted open. The room was dark…the house quiet. A frown furrowed across her brow, tugging at her senses. What time was it?
A click, then the almost imperceptible slide of something…maybe a shoe…a footstep…whispered through the darkness…
Her eyes flew open again. Her body went stone-still. She held her breath. Listened. Had she imagined it…fallen asleep and dreamed it? Another faint swish of sound…a clink of metal or glass.
Janey? Had she gotten out of bed and gone to the bathroom?
Brenda swept the cover from her body and eased upward, cringing at the soft sigh of the sheets sliding apart.
If Janey was asleep, she definitely wanted her to stay that way.
Her feet settled on the cool hardwood floor, and she pushed up to a standing position.
Her bones settled, her muscles coming to attention as her mind brushed away the last remnants of sleep.
She threaded her fingers through her hair, dragging it out of her eyes.
The silence thickened around her. Maybe she had been dreaming…
Another swish made her freeze.
A whine echoed then…the sort of sound her daughter made when she didn’t want to wake up but something or someone had disturbed her.
Brenda’s breath caught.
A cry pierced the air.
“Mommy!” Janey sobbed.
Brenda bolted from her bedroom, her heart pounding like a drum, keeping a triple tick with the sound of her child’s distress.
“Coming, sweetie!”
Her body came to a jarring halt against an unyielding object…something out of place. For a moment Brenda couldn’t assimilate what had occurred. Something big and solid, like an unexpected wall, had stopped her.
Brenda drew slightly back, blinked at the blackness…then something shifted and a pair of eyes turned toward hers.
Fear rammed into her throat, trapping a scream there.
Strong hands shoved her against the wall. She tumbled sideways, landing on the floor. Framed photographs rattled; at least one skated down the wall and hit the floor with a cracking sound.
A swoosh of movement…rapid footfalls.
A scream pierced the air.
Janey.
Brenda scrambled to her feet.
A loud thud reverberated through the house. But her only concern at the moment was for her daughter.
Brenda didn’t dare turn on a light. She couldn’t be sure if the intruder had left or was still in the house. She flung herself through the door to Janey’s room, slammed it shut and locked it.
She fell to her knees next to the bed, grabbed her sobbing child and wrapped her in her arms. Pressed her lips to her hair and softly shushed her.
Then she listened, held her breath in an attempt to hear above the hammering in her chest…the roaring of blood in her ears.
Quiet…nothing.
Scrape…scrape.
Wait! Another surge of adrenaline fired through her.
Brenda held perfectly still, listened.
Scrape…scrape. The wind…and that damned tree limb. She relaxed the tiniest bit.
Maybe it was over now… That loud thud may have been a door. Brenda forced her brain to think, to analyze the situation.
Someone had been inside the house…shoved her to the floor.
“Janey,” she whispered, “I need you to hide while I see if it’s safe now.”
“Noooo,” her baby whimpered. She snuggled closer to her mother.
“We have to call the police,” Brenda whispered. “I need my phone.” She should have picked it up when she got out of bed. What had she been thinking?
Certainly not about an intruder. Only that she needed to get up and check on her child.
“It’s in my room. I’ll be right back for you.”
“I’m scared,” Janey cried.
Brenda stood, holding her daughter close against her, and crossed the room. She opened the door to the closet and lowered to her knees. She settled Janey on the floor at the back of the small space.
“You stay in here. Don’t come out for anything. I’ll be back to get you in just a minute, okay?”
Her daughter nodded fearfully, tears running down her cheeks.
Pushing back to her feet, Brenda closed the door. She stretched her neck. Squared her shoulders and walked to the bedroom door.
She closed her eyes and listened. Nothing. Not even the wind. She reached out, touched the knob…released the button lock. Deep breath. She opened the door.
Blackness greeted her. But no sound…no solid body…no eyes. A shiver raced through her. Was he gone?
Hopefully.
She walked into the hall and started toward her bedroom, listening intently. With every step, she moved more quickly. When she at last had her phone in her hand she entered the necessary numbers.
“9-1-1, what is the nature of your emergency?” the voice on the phone said, sending some small measure of relief through her.
“I woke to an intruder in the house,” Brenda explained as she walked to the third bedroom, poked her head through the open door and glanced around as best she could without turning on the light.
If he was still outside or nearby somewhere she didn’t want him to see lights coming on.
Was that the right thing to do? She wasn’t sure.
“My name is Brenda Devers.” She recited her address in answer to the call taker’s question.
Then she moved on toward the living room.
“Are you safe, Ms. Devers?”
“Yes. I think so. He appears to be gone but I’m not sure. My four-year-old daughter and I are here alone.”
The call taker assured Brenda that a pair of officers were already en route and should arrive within five minutes. Brenda was to stay on the line.
“Thank you.” Brenda drew in a deep breath for the first time since hearing the sound of her child whimpering.
While she waited, she checked the living room and kitchen and under the table in the dining nook.
Maybe she’d been half asleep and tripped and fell.
Maybe the whole thing had been a nightmare and…
The back door stood open. She stiffened.
Not a nightmare. Not her imagination. It was real then.
There had been someone in the house. Several emotions swam through her veins. Fear…anger…affirmation.
“Are you armed, Ms. Devers?”
The voice startled her no matter that Brenda still had the phone pressed to her ear. “No,” she said, clearing her head of the thoughts tugging her in a dozen directions.
“Is there a firearm in the house?”
“No.” Brenda turned around and around in the center of her kitchen.
Someone had been in her house. And she was unarmed.
Her husband had been the one with the handgun.
He’d taken it with him when he moved out—after his last round of cheating.
After ripping apart the final tatters of their relationship.
He is alive.
The realization rattled her. The explosion…three dead…DNA…an attorney for the Jenners. The horrors flooded in like a lake spilling over a dam.
“Looks like the, ah…” She swallowed in hopes of dampening her dry throat. “The intruder came in and then left through the back door.” She forced the other worries away. Had to focus. “It’s standing open.” Maybe the thud she heard had been him running into something.
“Stay inside,” the call taker warned. “The officers are approaching your home now.”
The news set her in motion. Brenda hurried back to her daughter’s room and opened the closet door. She reached in and pulled a shivering Janey into her arms. “It’s okay, baby. We’re safe now.”
But were they?
No way. Something was going on with Scott and whatever trouble his firm had gotten involved with. She and Janey might never be safe again.
A couple of sharp raps against the front door were followed by, “Huntsville Police!”
Practically running, Brenda rushed to the door and opened it. The sight of the two uniformed officers made her weep. The tears hit her so hard and fast…so unexpectedly that she couldn’t remain standing. She collapsed to the floor, Janey hugged against her chest.
One officer moved past and headed into the house, turning on lights as he went. The other crouched down and surveyed her. “Are you all right, ma’am? Do you need medical attention?”
“No.” She swiped at her eyes. “I’m fine. I’m sorry. I just…” She shook her head. Couldn’t explain the sudden eruption of emotions.
“It’s all right.” He stood, held out a hand. “Let’s get you and your daughter over to the couch, and then I’ll have a look around outside.”
She took his hand, her relief so profound she couldn’t hold back another surge of tears. She felt so foolish. She never broke down like this.
When he’d ushered her onto the sofa, he walked back outside.
She watched beyond the window as his flashlight moved over the yard…
over the shrubs that had bloomed so beautifully last year and were showing signs of the same this year.
This was her and Janey’s home. Their private space…
their safe place. Emotion clogged her throat once more and she fought it back.
She couldn’t keep falling apart like this.
Janey needed her to be strong. She was watching, taking her cues from her mother.
Brenda had to keep it together better than this.
Shouting outside had her hunkering lower on the sofa. Janey whimpered. “Shh, shh. It’s okay.” Brenda surely hoped it was okay.
The officer who had helped her to the sofa appeared at the front door once more. “Ma’am, there’s a Ben Clark out here. He says he’s your neighbor.”
The officer who’d gone deeper into her home came from the direction of the bedrooms. “All clear,” he said to his partner.
Brenda nodded to the officer at her door. “Yes. Ben Clark is my neighbor.”
“He wants to see you, but it’s best if no one else comes into the house until we’re finished.”
Brenda somehow managed to get to her feet. “Is it okay if my daughter and I go next door and stay until you need us?”
“Yes, ma’am. My partner will be over to take your statement once we’ve completed the assessment of the situation here.”
Brenda nodded and headed out the door. Ben waited on the sidewalk.
“Are you two okay?”
Brenda managed another deep breath. “Yes. We’re…fine.”