Page 85 of Ryder’s Storm

“That’s Dad’s favorite drink.”

But he was definitely not in the living room.

“I saw a light upstairs,” Ryder said.

They walked back into the foyer, and Scarlet glanced to the back of the house where the kitchen, a laundry room, and her father’s study was located. But it was dark back there.

“Let’s check upstairs then,” Scarlet agreed.

As they walked up the stairs, Scarlet called out again, “Dad? Where are you? I’m home.”

“What’s that sound?” Ryder asked.

“What sound?” She hadn’t heard anything.

“A clicking sound, but now it’s gone.”

“I didn’t hear anything.” At the second-floor landing, Scarlet didn’t bother turning left to go to her room. She knew he wouldn’t be there. Besides, the room was dark. She pointed to the master bedroom at the end of the hallway. The door was ajar, and from it, light streamed into the corridor.

Her boots made a click-clack sound on the old hardwood floors.

“Dad?”

At the door, Scarlet knocked, despite it being open a sliver. She didn’t want to walk in on her dad if he was getting undressed.

When he still didn’t answer, she exchanged a look with Ryder. He nodded and pushed the door open, entering ahead of her. As she opened the door wider, she saw the unmade bed. The bedside lamps and the recessed ceiling lights illuminated the room.

“Dad?” she called out toward the bathroom. The door to it was closed, but from underneath the door, she could see the light. “Dad?”

Still no answer.

“What if he fell again?” Scarlet asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Last week he slipped in the bathroom in Palo Alto and sprained his ankle.”

“Yeah, I saw him limping the other day,” Ryder confirmed.

“Yeah, he told me that he slipped on some spilled lotion or shampoo. He didn’t know what. Claudia has so many different bottles. What if it happened again?”

“Mr. King,” Ryder called out at the bathroom door. “I’m coming in.” He turned the knob and pushed, but the door didn’t budge. “It’s locked.”

Now Scarlet felt a pit in her stomach. “Oh my God, we have to get inside. If he’s hit his head or had a stroke… please, Ryder. We have to get in there.”

“I’ll break the door down. Step back.”

Scarlet took a few steps back and watched as Ryder kicked his foot against the door just above the doorknob. With a loud crash, the wood splintered, and the door separated from the frame and swung inside.

Ryder hurried inside. Scarlet rushed after him, fear clamping her throat shut, preventing her from breathing. But the moment she stood in the bathroom with the extra-large shower, the soaking tub, the double vanity and the separate toilet, she realized that the bathroom was empty.

“But it was locked from inside,” Scarlet said.

“Easy to do,” Ryder said. “Turn the knob lock, leave the bathroom, and pull the door shut, and it appears as if somebody has locked himself in.”

“But why? Why would he do that?” Scarlet said.

“He wouldn’t,” Ryder said. “Because your father was never here.”