Page 131 of Forever Gone

A table knife lay on the floor beside one place setting. Its rounded dinner blade reflected the light.

One plate stood almost untouched. A water glass had overturned near the edge of the table, its contents running through a dark red smear. One place mat had bunched toward the hallway. The wine bottle remained upright, absurdly undisturbed beside the signs of violence.

Selena moved the beam over the wall. A shallow cut marked the paint near shoulder height. Below it, a blond hair clung to the corner of a framed print.

The struggle had begun here.

Selena advanced toward the dining room.

“Deb?”

A drop of blood marked the pale rug beneath the table.

Another dark spot lay near the chair. The beam followed a broken line toward the hallway.

Selena pressed the transmit button on her shoulder radio. “Kelly, I have blood inside. Front door was unlocked. No visual on either woman.”

“I’m at the rear,” Kelly replied. Her breathing carried faintly over the channel. “Kitchen door won’t move. It’s dead-bolted, and the frame’s reinforced.”

“Come back around the front.”

“On my way.”

Selena passed the table.

A steak knife lay beneath one of the chairs, clean and unused. Whatever weapon had caused the blood trail was nowhere in sight.

The blood trail continued into the hall.

Some drops were round. Others had dragged across the floor, as though a bloodied foot or piece of clothing had brushed the boards. A smear darkened the wall at hip height. Near the baseboard lay one small gold earring, the post bent beneath it.

Selena left it where it had fallen and continued along the blood trail. Carol had attacked Deb before the lights went out, but the trail suggested Deb had remained on her feet long enough to reach the hall. Whether she had run toward the cellar or been driven there, Selena could not tell.

The house creaked as the wind pressed against it.

Selena stopped near the first doorway and directed the flashlight inside. A small study. Empty chair. Computer monitor off. No person behind the desk.

The next room was a bathroom. The shower curtain hung open. Beside it, a deep linen cupboard stood ajar. Selena swept the beam across shelves crowded with towels and spare bedding. Nothing moved.

At the end of the hall, blood gathered near a closed door.

Selena held her position and listened.

A faint sound came through the wood.

Not speech. A low, unsteady breath.

“Deb, can you hear me?”

The breathing stopped.

Selena pinned the flashlight against her left palm and used that hand to turn the knob, keeping her weapon trained on the opening. Her reflection moved across a framed photograph on the wall beside her. Deb stood in William Screech Square, smiling beside two women Selena did not recognize.

The knob turned.

Selena pulled the door toward her.

Cold air rose from a narrow staircase.