Protector - Laurel Dewey [130]
“It’s leaking through the ceiling in the kitchen!” Emily dramatically insisted. “Mom put duct tape around it but I don’t think it’s safe. You really need to come—”
“Patty, I don’t want to bother Dan—”
“Aw, it ain’t no bother a’tall!” Dan said. “Like your daughter said, the fish ain’t bitin’ so I might as well come on over and get to fixin’ that leak. Be over in two shakes!”
Emily snatched her fishing pole and took off through the tall grass toward the house. Jane grabbed her pole and the creel and followed the kid, cussing a blue streak under her breath the whole way home. The second she entered the house, Jane did a quick search to make sure everything appeared normal. The only room that held suspicious items was her bedroom and those items were safely tucked away in Jane’s leather satchel. Dan called out as he approached the house. Emily raced to the front door and opened it with a flourish.
Jane led Dan to the kitchen, where he set his toolbox on the counter and surveyed the ceiling. He noticed Emily’s Starlight Starbright projector on the kitchen table. “You a fan of the stars, Patty?”
“Yes. I can point out the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper and Orion’s belt.”
“Well, I’m a real star enthusiast myself,” Dan said, smiling down at Emily.
“Really?” Emily said, ecstatically.
“Yes, ma’am,” Dan replied, turning back to his investigation of the ceiling. Jane observed Dan with her cop radar, desperately trying to detect a sign of deception.
Emily pulled the star chart out of her projection case. “You oughta see this, Dan—”
The familial banter was getting to Jane. “Patty, how about if you take that in the backyard and let Dan do his job.” Emily looked a bit dejected but did as Jane asked. “Stay in the backyard like we talked about,” Jane quietly cautioned.
Dan waited until Emily was outside. “You’ve got a beautiful daughter.”
“Thank you,” Jane said, keeping a close eye on Emily.
“She’s not going to wander off. And even if she did, it’s a small town. She’s safe.”
“Yeah, right,” Jane said tensely, still watching Emily.
“You okay?” Dan said warily.
Jane spun around. “Yes, of course. I’ll show you how to get up in the attic and then I’ve got to attend to some paperwork.” Dan followed Jane to the retractable stairway that led to the attic, pointed out the pipe and retired to her bedroom, closing and locking the door behind her.
Jane leaned down to collect the satchel next to her bed and felt the Glock pistol against her belly. She unlatched the fanny pack and set it on the bedside table. Hoisting the leather satchel onto her lap, she proceeded to organize the paperwork, removing several manila folders and stacking them on a nearby chair. Jane withdrew the legal-sized notepad and flipped through the pages until she reached the odd drawings of the wolf face and upturned left handprint with the backward numbers, 10-24-99. Out of curiosity, she placed her left hand upright over the drawing and found it to be a tight match. A cold shudder pricked her skin as she quickly lifted her hand from the page and wedged the notepad back into her satchel. The dust from the files irritated her nose, causing her to sneeze. Searching for a tissue, Jane unzipped the fanny pack and dug around, removing the Glock and setting it on top of the folders.
Upstairs in the attic, Dan found the leaking pipe. Scanning the adjacent pipes with only the light of his flashlight, he took a step to the right and nearly tripped over one of the several air vents scattered across the floor. Continuing on, Dan found several more fragile pipe connections. Pulling a pen from his pocket, it slipped from his hand and landed between two vents just as he heard Jane sneeze. He peered down and realized that one of the floor vents offered a direct view of Jane’s bedroom. He reached down for the pen just as Jane got up from the bed to retrieve a tissue.
That’s when he saw it. He quietly knelt down on his haunches and