Chapter 2: Something Behind the Door
I pulled up to the house and sat in the driveway for a moment, Noah still strapped in his car seat, watching me with those big serious eyes.
"Grandma, are you mad?"
"No, baby.
I'm not mad at you."
I got out, took his hand, and knocked on the front door.
My daughter answered.
The second she saw my face, hers went white.
"Mom.
What are you doing here?"
"I think you know why I'm here."
She glanced down at Noah and something flashed across her face.
Not guilt exactly.
Something closer to fear.
"Come inside," she said quietly.
My son-in-law was in the kitchen.
He stood up the moment he saw me, and he and my daughter exchanged a look I wasn't supposed to catch.
"I want to see the garage," I said.
Nobody moved.
"I want to see it now."
My daughter put her hand on my arm.
"Mom, it's not what Noah thinks it is.
He's five.
He doesn't understand what he saw."
"Then explain it to me."
She opened her mouth.
Closed it again.
That's when I heard it — a sound coming from behind the garage door.
Not a machine.
Not a tool.
Something else entirely.
May you like
I looked at my daughter.
She looked at the floor.
