Tyler strode away, checking the bathroom on that level before moving downstairs. "Mr. Sawyer?" he shouted when he was halfway down the stairs.
Instead of an answer, he heard a cry of pain before Mr. Sawyer started cursing.
Tyler hurried down the stairs just as Mr. Sawyer flipped the switch, turning on the lights.
Tyler glanced at the glass pieces scattered across the floor and the patches of blood on some of the glass shards. "Are you hurt?" he asked when he saw the blood stains leading to where Mr. Sawyer was standing.
"Just my feet. I stepped on the glass when I tried to switch on the lights. I think someone threw something through the window."
"Did you see anyone?"
"No, I only heard the glass breaking," Mr. Sawyer said and jumped when the phone started ringing.
"Leave it. It's security." He cautiously stepped across the glass pieces and looked out of the broken window. The porch lights weren't triggered, so Mr. Sawyer was probably right.
He turned back to the floor, and sure enough, not far from the window lay a rock. He picked it up, but didn't bother examining it. Placing the rock on the table nearby, he said, "I'll do a quick check around the house. Stay here."
He moved around the house, making sure that every door and window was still locked. When he was done, the phone rang again. He ignored it and jogged up the stairs. "Where's your first aid kit?"
"Are you hurt?" Kate asked, giving him a look over and searching for his wounds.
"Not me, Mr. Sawyer. He stepped on the glass."
Kate nodded and ran into the bathroom to get the first aid kit while Marianne hurried down the stairs.
"Be careful of the glass!" he shouted after Marianne.
Shortly after, Tyler and Kate joined them downstairs with the first aid kit. While Marianne attended to Mr. Sawyer, Kate went over to cut off the alarm and asked, "Should we call the cops?"
"They should be on the way. I didn't answer the security call," he said as his eyes fell on the rock sitting on the table.
He was briefly distracted when the motion sensor lights turned on, flooding bright white lights onto the front porch. He looked out of the window and saw a few people, clad in pajamas, moving cautiously toward Kate's house.
"My neighbors," Kate said as she peered over his shoulder to see what he was staring at. Then she moved toward the door.
"No." Tyler grabbed her hand.
He bent over and looked out of the window. "We're fine. The police are on the way."
Kate popped her head out.
"Are you all right?" one of the neighbors asked.
"Yes, we're fine. Sorry about the alarm." Kate turned back to him. "I should go out and talk to them."
"No. I don't want you going outside, not until the police are here."
She peered out of the window again. "Just a prank; someone threw something through the window." She smiled and waved.
That reminded him of the rock.
When he'd first picked it up, he noticed something was wrapped around it. But he was more concerned with making sure no one had actually broken into the house.
He walked over and picked the rock up for a closer look. A folded piece of brown paper was secured to the rock by rough nylon strings.
He tugged on the string and unfolded the paper.
YOU ARE READING
Moving On
RomanceTwo complete different personalities would have to learn to get along and play nice in order to survive a will that would change their lives. For twenty years, Tyler Hayes had been ripped from his childhood home. After the horrific accident that too...
