Erica Spindler - Cause for Alarm

She forced a smile, not wanting to worry him. "I'm sure it was nothing." "That's what I thought. But I just wanted to let you and Richard know, just in case."

"Thank you. I'm glad you did." Kate walked him to the door. She saw Richard's Mercedes pull into the drive. "I feel safer knowing you're in the neighborhood, Joe."

He beamed at her, pleased with himself. "I'll keep my eyes open and let you know if I see her hanging around again."

Kate thanked him once more and said goodbye, then waited at the door for Richard. From down the walk, she heard Richard greet Joe; a moment later he appeared at the door. "Hi, hon." He bent and kissed her. "How was your day? Everything go okay?"

She looked at him, surprised. "Excuse me?"

"The Bean, was business good?"

She stared at him, heart beginning to thrum. She opened her mouth to tell him about her meeting with Luke. Instead, she murmured, "You know The Bean, Saturdays are always good."

As soon as the evasion, the lie it represented was out of her mouth, she regretted it. But to take it back, she feared, would be worse.

Let sleeping dogs lie, she told herself, even as guilty heat crept up her cheeks. Why upset Richard over something that was done and over with?

"Are you all right?" he asked, crossing to the refrigerator for a beer. "You look a little strange."

Tell him about Luke. Tell him now. "Do I?"

"Mmm." He popped the top and brought the beverage to his mouth. "What did Old Joe want?"

Joe. The woman on the swing. The missing photograph. Coming home to change; the feeling of being watched. It all came tumbling out. As she filled him in, her unease returned, her feeling that something was terribly wrong.

"I thought I heard someone in the house, Richard. I'd convinced myself my imagination was playing tricks on me, but now…"

"Is anything besides the photograph missing?" he asked, frowning with concern.

"I…I don't know." She hugged herself. "I was too spooked to look around. Then Old Joe arrived."

He set down his beer, went to his golf bag and pulled out his new Ping putter. He met her eyes, the seriousness of his expression sending a chill down her spine. "If you ever even suspect there's a stranger in the house, get out. Do you understand, Kate? Take Emma and leave. Go to The Bean or a neighbor's and call me or the police."

She nodded, her mouth desert dry, her pulse fast. She was more frightened now, by his concern, than she had been before, alone in the house. "I understand."

"Good. Now, let's take a look around."

Richard, armed with the putter, Kate with Emma in her carrier, they made their way through the house. They went from room to room, looking under beds and in closets, checking the silver, Kate's jewelry, Richard's office.

They found nothing missing or out of place.

Back in the kitchen, Richard slipped the golf club back into the bag. "Well, nothing looks amiss. Was the side door locked when you got home?"

"I don't know." Emma began to stir, sucking in her sleep-a sign that she was not only about to wake up, but that she was hungry. Kate went to the pantry for a can of formula. "I came in the front."

"I'll check it."

A moment later he returned. "Door's locked. Key's in its hiding place."

Kate filled a bottle with the formula, popped it in the microwave, then turned to Richard. "Why would anyone break in only to steal a photograph?"

"Good question. Could you be mistaken? I mean, a hanger on the floor, a few wrinkles in the bed, none are particularly sinister. And we both know, this old house creaks and groans more than a ninety-year-old spinster."

Kate frowned, frustrated. The truth was, at the time it had seemed so real, so chilling. Not at all like her imagination running away with her. But now, it all seemed rather far-fetched. "I'm not usually flighty like that, Richard. You know I've never been one to let my imagination run away with me."

"I know. But you've had a lot on your mind lately. Sleep deprivation has been known to cause some pretty far-out behavior."

Emma picked that moment to wake up and fret; Kate lifted her out of her carrier and crossed to the microwave to retrieve her bottle. He had a point, no doubt about it, though something kept nagging at her as she fed Emma her bottle. Something dark and disturbing. A thought, a fear, more terrifying than any she had ever experienced before.

As she rocked her daughter, gazing down at her perfect face, it grew, took shape. And then she saw the fear for what it was.

That Emma's birth mother had somehow sought them out. Because she wanted Emma back.

By the time she had finished giving Emma her bottle and had changed her into her pajamas, Kate had worked herself into a state of complete terror. Afraid the child would pick up on her distress, she tucked her into her swing, then went in search of Richard.

She found him in the kitchen, seasoning a steak for the grill. "Richard?" She stepped into the room, hands clasped in front of her, barely able to speak so great was her fear.

He looked up, his smile dying when he saw her expression. "What's wrong?"

She hugged herself. "I…I have this terrible feeling, Richard. What if…what if Emma's birth mother has found us? What if she's the one…the one who-" Kate bit the words back, unable to verbalize her darkest fear. The one that fueled her nightmares and kept her up nights.

"Who what? Broke in and stole the picture of Emma?"

"Yes," she whispered, her voice shaking.

"And why would she have done that?"

"You know." Kate's eyes flooded with tears. "Because she's changed her mind. Because she wants Emma back."

"And she came here today in a bizarre quest to steal Emma away?"

"I couldn't bear to lose her, Richard." Her tears brimmed, then spilled over. "I couldn't."

"Come here." He held out his arms and she moved into them, pressing her cheek to his chest, and he folded his arms tightly around her. "You're being silly, love. That's not going to happen."

"How do you know?" She tilted her head back to meet his eyes, her vision blurred with tears. "How?"

"Because it's not logical." He smiled. "First, she chose a closed adoption. She knows nothing about us, not our names or where we live. Second, if she wanted the baby back, she would go through Citywide. She'd call Ellen, she'd hire a lawyer. Not sneak into our house and lurk about, for God only knows what reason."

He was right, she knew he was. So, why didn't she feel reassured?

"Where's the picture, Richard?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "It got knocked into a drawer. The cleaning service moved it."

"But I looked at it this morning! I know I did."

"You could be mistaken." As she opened her mouth to protest, he laid a finger against her lips. "It'll turn up,

Kate."

"What if it doesn't?"

"We'll take another," he said, amusement coloring his tone. "Or get a copy made of that one. Buy a new frame."

"Very funny." She rested her forehead against his chest a moment, then met his gaze once more. "Earlier today, when I had that feeling I was being watched, that I wasn't alone, it was so creepy, Richard. And then, when Joe told me about that woman…"

She drew in a shuddering breath. "She was the right age. And it just seems like such a coincidence…I mean, what was she doing inside our gate?"

He cupped her face in his palms. "Don't read so much into this, Kate. It could have been anyone. The gate's not locked, we live on a well-traveled street. There's a park directly across from our house, for heaven's sake. Someone saw our swing, thought it looked inviting and helped themselves."

"But she knew our names. She knew we had a baby."

"So do a lot of people in the area. Could be someone we knew who was embarrassed at having been caught. Who was afraid Joe would tell us." Richard bent and dropped a light kiss on her mouth. "Your imagination is running away with you. Trust me, love. There's no cause for alarm here. None at all."