UNINVITED

Chapter 28

I don’t have much time.

     If I wanted to find out why Amy had been lying to me, the answers might be hidden in their house. I pulled up in my driveway, unfastened the seat belt, and stepped out. Tucking strands of hair behind my ears, I walked briskly to the Bergers’ front porch and looked under the mat. Luck was on my side today. I picked up the key and inserted it into the lock, then engaged it until the door swung open.

     I girded myself and stepped into the house, shaking off the thoughts of entering without Amy’s permission. If I had kept on asking her questions, she’d have known I was beginning to suspect her of something and that would tip her off. After our first conversation at my house, I sensed right away she was keeping secrets. That wasn’t a big deal, as everyone had secrets. But something about Amy had been amiss from the very day I met her at the gas station in the car. I couldn’t wrap my head around it, so I let it slide.

     This time my gut was telling me to look closer and that Amy had been lying to me ever since we met. Why would she lie to me? Was it because she also sensed I was lying to her too? I clarified my reason for lying when I told her the truth about why I was at the farmhouse. I expected her to come clean with me too. I thought she had until I saw the locket that was supposed to be missing.

     I followed the hallway and landed in the living room. Certain I wouldn’t find anything here, I stepped into the kitchen, flicking the switch. Bright lights illuminated the place. Stainless steel appliances gleamed under the overhead light. It was easy to retrieve last night.

     Amy stood behind the opposite counter, Alec holding her neck and choking her. I pictured myself standing in the center, desperately searching for a weapon. Then something clicked. The knife! How did Amy get her hands on it? When I scanned the room, every lethal item was tucked away behind wooden cabinets.

     I moved to the counter they had stood behind and lingered my eyes across it. Empty. Stretching a hand, I opened the cabinet above it. In it were chinawares. I crossed the kitchen to the other counter and opened the cabinet. My eyes landed on several knives packed on top of each other. They kept the knives in this one. How did the kitchen knife get to the other counter? When I searched, I didn’t see it there. And they wouldn’t have forgotten to leave a knife in plain sight. Unless, of course, one of them didn’t forget and left it there on purpose for it to be handy when the appropriate time came.

     That was a valid reason. Alec couldn’t have left it there. If he had wanted to stab Amy with it, what was the point in wasting time choking her when the weapon was within grab? He kept choking her even when I barged in. He made no attempts to grasp it and use it. Amy, on the other hand, didn’t give it much thought and grabbed the knife after I entered. Had she placed it there? If so, why? Or was it a coincidence it was in handy and they forgot to put it away?

     More questions with no easy answers. At this point, my head ached from overthinking, but I kept on, passing by the locked basement and the study to the staircase. I needed answers. I couldn’t quit now. The stairs creaked as I stepped on it and proceeded to the next and the next till I was on the second floor.

     I stopped momentarily at the start of the hallway with several rooms lined up. I had no idea what I was looking for in this house. I was simply relying on luck to lead me somewhere. I walked to the first door in the hallway and tried the knob. Locked. Second door. Locked.

     When I touched the knob on the third door, a chill ran down my spine. The metal was so cold, I almost withdrew. A shadow of a hand reaching for the knob cast on the door in the glint of the hallway light. When my peripheral vision spotted it, I couldn’t stop the thoughts I was at a place I wasn’t invited to. This isn’t right. I should just head back. I stood, trapped in a dilemma. Amy wouldn’t tell me the truth, and Alec was in no condition to speak to me. Which gave me no choice but to do this on my own.

     With a little push, the door slid open to reveal a big room with a large bed sitting in the center. I stepped into the room. A feminine scent hung around the space. I inhaled, then connected it to the perfume I smelled on Amy’s clothes. This was the bedroom. Whipping my eyes to the window, I saw my bedroom. This was where she stood every night. Another confirmation it was their bedroom. Now where do I search? It would have been easier if I knew what I was looking for.

     I skittered to the wardrobe and threw it open. I stood, staring at several clothes. I did a quick sweep, then closed it. Craning my neck to the nightstand, I thought I saw something under the bed. I inhale, then exhale before nearing the bed. I went to my knees, stretched a hand under the bed, and groped the floor. It touched something stiff. A book?

     I slid it out of the bed and stared at a book, a diary actually. I flipped the front cover. Scrawled across the first page was Diary of Rachael Woods.

     Rachael Woods? The name wasn’t familiar. I resisted the urge to go through someone’s diary. But succumbed and flipped to another page. Maybe this diary would give me the answers I was looking for. My eyes widened at the sight of a torn picture of a beautiful woman with long dark hair, doe eyes, and thin lips. I picked up the picture and stared at the woman. She looked just like Amy, I wondered if they were related. Amy never mentioned having a sister. But then I reminded myself that she never mentioned a family to me, not once. All along I thought I knew her, but I didn’t.

     Who are you, Amy? It echoed in my head as I set the picture aside and opened another page, reading the first entry.