Kevin O'Brien - Disturbed

For weeks, someone else had been carefully watching Kay Garvey. And Kay had no idea. She was clueless — as were her neighbors on Willow Tree Court. None of them knew how vulnerable they’d become after a month of constant observation.

The intruder on their cul-de-sac had already figured out that Kay Garvey kept an extra key under the flowerpot by the screen-porch door in the back. That was just one of many things this uninvited visitor to Willow Tree Court knew about its residents.

Kay drank a lot, too. Her daughter, Madison, had once confided in Mr. Corson about the woes of having an alcoholic mother. Ray Corson had taken extensive notes on his sessions with Madison, who had repeatedly gotten into trouble and been sent to him for guidance:

When she has an “audience” of any kind, Madison too often lapses into a Catskills comedy routine — full of bile about her classmates & teachers. She’s very insecure, probably due to her borderline gawky looks. Madison must know, at some level, that if it weren’t for her close friendship with Courtney Hahn & her affectation of wearing Converse All Stars 24/7, no one might notice her at all. There must be some truth to Madison’s claim that her mom has a drinking problem & tries too hard to be her best friend. . Madison loathes her stepmother (often the brunt of her comic quips). I believe this “bitch on wheels” isn’t at all cruel, but rather stuck with the thankless task of correcting years of unchecked bad behavior. More time with the stepmother might help Madison become a better person, but that would mean she would have to move away from her indulging mom & attend a different school. Her whole social identity is wrapped up in being Courtney’s best friend. Without that, I believe Madison would see her popularity plummet & she’d be utterly miserable. .

At this very moment, Kay Garvey had no idea someone planned to make her daughter, Madison, a better person — and for a while utterly miserable.

Kay started up her driveway and glanced back at Molly, still standing on the front stoop of the Dennehy house. It was sweet of her to make sure she got home safe.

Kay kind of felt guilty for all the nasty things she’d said about Molly to Lynette and Angela. She really never had anything against Molly, but had to go along with the others. Until last year, when Angela and Jeff split up, Kay’s two best friends had treated her like a second-class citizen, because she was a divorcee. Both Angela and Lynette had considered themselves happily married — as deluded as that notion might have been. Poor, pathetic Kay , seemed to have been their attitude. But since Angela and Jeff’s marriage had gone kaput, the second-class citizen on Willow Tree Court was Jeff’s new wife. Anything Kay could say to tear down Molly to her two friends raised her stock with them.

“You should see how she fawns over Erin,” she’d told Lynette two weeks ago. “I have a view of the bus stop on the corner. Honestly, she acts like Erin’s her own child. I want to tell her, ‘Hello, you know, her real mother is still around!’ Angela would be livid if she saw how Molly smothers that little girl. It’s creepy.”

Now, Kay felt bad for saying that — and for all the other embellished bits of gossip she spread about Molly Dennehy.

At the front stoop, she paused by some bushes that blocked her view of the Dennehy house. She heard Molly step back inside and close the door.

With the sound of that lock clicking, Kay suddenly felt all alone.

She’d left a few lights on inside the house — as she always did when she stepped out. Pulling her keys from her purse, she put the key in the lock but realized the door was open. “What the hell?” she murmured.

She was almost positive she’d locked it when leaving for the Dennehys’. But that had been a few hours and three glasses of wine ago. She wondered if Madison had come home from her overnight. Kay warily stepped inside. “Madison?” she called. “Maddie, honey, are you here?”

No answer.

For a moment, she stood in the front hallway, listening. The lights were on in the living room and kitchen. She didn’t see any movement in either room, nothing out of place, either. “You’re fine,” Kay told herself. She closed the front door and double-locked it.

Heading into the kitchen, she went right for the liquor cabinet and poured a glass of wine. “A dose of courage,” she murmured, taking a hearty gulp. She always hated it on these rare occasions when Madison spent the night at a friend’s house. Usually, it was Courtney spending the night here. The Garveys’ house got to be known as Party Central. Kay actually liked having a lot of teenagers around. She didn’t mind the noise.

It was being alone in a deathly quiet house that she hated.

She switched on the TV in the family room — just for company. Some movie with Sarah Jessica Parker came on. Kay wasn’t sure what it was; she’d check it later. Right now, she just needed the noise.

Her wineglass was already down to the last few sips. How did that happen so fast? Kay retreated toward the kitchen for a refill. Weaving slightly, she bumped against the edge of the kitchen’s entryway. She knew she was drunk, but that didn’t stop her from emptying the bottle. There was only a little bit left anyway.

On the TV, Sarah Jessica Parker stopped talking for a moment. Kay heard something upstairs. It sounded like water running in one of the bathrooms. She told herself it was just the toilet tank refilling. She must not have flushed it right earlier. That had to be it. Still, she couldn’t relax until she went upstairs and checked it out.

Setting down her wineglass, Kay grabbed the empty cabernet bottle by the neck and brandished it like a weapon. A few drops spilled out and slithered down her arm. She quickly licked it off, then headed up the stairs.

She’d left the light on in the second-floor hallway. In the bathroom at the top of the stairs, the toilet wasn’t making any noise. It seemed to be coming from the master bathroom. It sounded more like a faucet running than a toilet tank.

Moving down the hallway to her bedroom, Kay tightened her grip on the empty wine bottle. She stepped into the bedroom. She’d left the bedside lamp on, but it was still dim in there.

She didn’t see the man standing in the shadowy corner until it was too late.

“Oh, my God,” Kay gasped. Staggering back, she knocked over the nightstand lamp. A brief flash of light blinded her as the shade flew off. Kay dropped the bottle. The lamp hit the carpeted floor, but the bulb didn’t break. The wine bottle rolled next to it, also unbroken.

“Take it easy,” the man whispered. He wore a black jogging suit with a hood — and surgical gloves. He had a gun pointed at her. “I’m not going to hurt you. You’re a little unsteady there. Have you been drinking?”

Terrified, Kay quickly shook her head. She backed into the edge of the bedroom doorway.

She couldn’t really tell what he looked like. The light on the floor cast strange shadows all over the room — and on his face. He stepped toward her. “You look pretty drunk to me, Kay,” he said. “Were you guzzling that wine? Were you a naughty girl? Did you drink the whole bottle, honey?”

Tears stung her eyes as she stared at him. “Yes, I–I’ve had several glasses of wine,” Kay admitted. “In fact, I probably wouldn’t even be able to describe you to the police later, if they asked. I’m so — I’m really so drunk.”

It wasn’t true anymore. She’d been tipsy a few minutes ago, but he’d scared that right out of her. She couldn’t move. Her back was still pressed against the edge of the doorway. “Listen, you — you can help yourself to anything,” she said, her voice cracking. “There’s a silver service in the dining room downstairs. It’s worth a lot. And — and — and my daughter has a new laptop computer in her bedroom. I have some cash and credit cards in my purse. Take whatever you want, really. . please. . ” She started sobbing.