Some Day Somebody (39 page)

She nodded,
then
went in to get her keys to lock up. During the walk to Sam’s, she stopped to look back at her house. “I don’t want to say anything to the kids about this, but I’ll sure feel better when Toto’s here.”

“Any chance that’s the big-headed Chesapeake?
I bet he’d cause someone to think twice about snooping around your house.”

“No, Lucas is Dave’s hunting dog, but Toto’s mine. It’ll be fine once he’s here.” Carrie tried to stifle a yawn.

Sam opened his front door for her. “You must be exhausted. Go stretch out on the sofa until the kids get back.”

“Maybe I will,” she replied, stifling another yawn. “Is there anything good on
t.v
. tonight?”

“Let’s check it out,” he said, sitting down with the remote.  Opening credits of
The Christmas Story
flashed on one of the cable networks.

“Ooh, leave it there, please!”

Sam grabbed a knitted afghan and a pillow from a chair before seating himself on one end of the sofa.

Carrie had nearly dozed off with her head tucked snugly in the crook of Sam’s arm when their four teenagers drove up in Grant’s truck. She groaned, giving Sam a look of apology, and moved to the opposite end of the sofa before the kids came bursting through the front door.

“Mom, we met so many people,” Gretchen told her.

“They do the same thing here as we do in Gardiner,” Grant chimed in. “They ride around and meet up in a store parking lot to talk. There are some good looking girls in this town.”

Lauren plopped herself down between Carrie and Sam. “I love this movie!”

The others planted themselves in various positions on the living room furniture and even on the floor.

Carrie reached out to touch Lauren’s hair. “Did y’all meet any kids your ages?”

“Yeah, our landlord’s son,” Lauren told her. “Nick, what’s his name?
Kyle something?”

“Kyle Martin,” Nick told her.

“He’s cute, Mom,” Lauren said.

Carrie smiled over at her daughter. “I haven’t met him, but his dad seems like a nice man.”

“Kyle’s a good kid, stays out of trouble...” Sam added.

Gretchen snorted. “He must not hang out with you then, huh Nick?”

Nick gave her a playful shove. “He’s two years younger than me, and besides...Shut up, twerp.”

Gretchen laughed as she shoved him back. “Make me, punk.”

Sam met Carrie’s gaze across the top of Lauren’s head. “You know, Kyle lost his mom to cancer a few years ago.”

“He did?” Lauren said, facing Sam.

“Yep, it was rough on him.
On all of them.
She was a real nice lady,” Sam told her.

“That’s so sad. It must be awful to lose your mom like that.” She turned to face the television set, but leaned back to place her head against Carrie’s shoulder.

Carrie cradled her daughter with one arm, and placed a kiss on her crown. Nick pulled out a gift canister full of popcorn and the six of them settled in to watch the movie.

When Lauren vacated her seat to go to the restroom, Carrie took the opportunity to snuggle close to Sam, covering herself with the afghan. When Lauren came back Carrie pulled her close to share the afghan with her.

After awhile, Sam leaned over and whispered in Carrie’s ear. “This is nice, isn’t it?”

She smiled up at him. “It is, but it would also be nice to go home, take a hot bath and go to bed, too.”

“But this is on cable and you don’t have it,” he reminded her. “You wouldn’t want to deprive our children of a great Christmas tradition?”

“What tradition?”

“Maybe we could make it our new Christmas tradition,” he whispered.

Carrie felt Lauren’s arm curl around hers and felt a moment of doubt wiggle its way into the mix. “We’ll see,” she murmured.

They watched the rest of the movie, cheering, and laughing as they watched
Ralphie
run from bullies, get caught cussing, decode a message, and finally get his bb-gun. They all sang the
fa-ra-rah’s
at the last restaurant scene and applauded as the credits rolled.

Carrie stood, holding back a yawn. “Okay, kids. We’ve bothered Sam and Nick long enough. It’s time to go home.”

“At least you don’t have far to go,” Nick said.

“Sure don’t.” She slipped on her coat and smiled as Sam reached for her.

He adjusted her collar. “Y’all are welcome here anytime.”

“Thanks, Sam.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he mumbled. “Are you ready to go, pretty girl?”

The twins, who stood off to the side, exchanged tortured looks. “Oh God, y’all aren’t going to get all mushy on us or anything, are you?” Gretchen said, as Lauren rolled her eyes.

Carrie grinned at Sam. “Everybody got their coats? It’s way below freezing out there.” She turned to Nick. “Thanks for showing them around, Nick. See you later.”

Grant and the girls told him goodbye and piled out of the door to run on ahead.

“Watch those steps!” Sam called to them just as the twins slipped on the already iced over steps and fell into a giggling heap. They recovered quickly and raced to the house on the corner.

As Sam and Carrie approached, she stopped to make sure she hadn’t left anything in her car. She locked it and turned to Grant as he addressed her in a voice tight with concern.

“Mom, did you see this?”

She walked around to the back of the car, where Grant and a grim mouthed Sam stood, staring at the rear windshield. As her gaze fell in line with theirs, her sharp intake of breath made her wince as icy air filled her lungs. In the layer of thick frost, coating the rear windshield, someone had drawn a heart with the word ‘CARRIE’ in it. Below
that,
and infinitely more disturbing to her, was the word SAM with a circle and a slash drawn through it, a universal sign for NO.

Carrie’s knees grew weak as she took a step back from the windshield and groaned.
“Oh God.”

Sam caught her and pulled her close. “This is really starting to piss me off, now.” He scanned the deserted streets. “I sure wish he’d show himself.”

The twins walked up to check out the commotion. “That’s too freaky,” Gretchen exclaimed.

“That is
not
dad’s handwriting,” Lauren said.

“She’s right,” Grant said. “I should know, I write like him.”

Carrie stood there shaking her head. “They’re right.” She turned toward Sam. “I don’t know what’s going on here.”

“Do you think you have a secret admirer?” Gretchen asked her.

“Whoever it is doesn’t like Mr. Sam too much,” Lauren commented.

Carrie was afraid to say anything about what she’d felt earlier. She didn’t want to scare her children unnecessarily, but she didn’t want to take any situation too lightly, either. She shook off a chill and stared into the darkness. “I don’t think ‘Secret Admirer’ is quite the word I’d use in this situation.”

Moments later, Doug
Courville
and his family pulled into their driveway on the opposite corner. Sam called him over, and both he and Nick joined the group gathered around the car.

“We have a situation here,” Sam said, and had Carrie explain how she’d seen someone in the back yard and felt watched. “This could only have happened in the last two hours. I walked past that car earlier and there was nothing written on it.
Somebody
was watching her on that back porch, and whoever it was hung around quite a while, waiting for her to get back home.”

Doug gave a low whistle. “Whoever it is doesn’t appreciate you being in the picture, Sam. Think it’s your ex, Carrie?”

“I thought so at first, but Dave couldn’t write that neatly if his life depended on it.”  

“Do you mind if I call someone over here to get a picture?”

“Go ahead,” she said, lifting her hands helplessly. “I don’t know what else to do.”

“Try not to worry, we’ll take care of this,” Doug told her. “Let me check out the house first, and then I’ll go make a call.”

Carrie locked tight onto Sam’s arm. “I want to go in, Sam. I don’t feel comfortable out here,” she whispered.

Sam nodded, and began herding the kids toward the door. “Let’s all go inside.”

They walked in as a group, turning on every light in the house. Sam and Doug checked out every room, every closet, and every space that anyone could possibly fit into. When Doug left to put a call in to the station, Sam checked out all of the windows to make sure they were locked. The only window without a lock was the large picture window that didn’t open.

Carrie stood in the middle of the living room, her gaze following Sam’s movements around the house. She fought back tears, wondering how a
place could go from cozy to foreboding so quickly. She placed a hand on her stomach, fighting off
a queasiness
. “I wish Toto was here,” she murmured. “Grant, would you pick him up for me tomorrow if I give you gas money?”

“Sure will, Mom. Toto may not be much for hunting, but he’s a good watch dog.”

When Doug knocked on the door a few minutes later, Sam opened up for him along with two on duty officers for the Kenton PD. One officer asked questions to verify everyone’s whereabouts over the last two hours, while a second took pictures of the windshield. Sam, Carrie and the kids had all been together during the only time it could have occurred, and none of them had heard or seen anything.

“We’ll send patrols by at least once every hour.”

“Thanks Doug,” Carrie said, as she and Sam stood out on the front porch to see them off. Enveloped by the quiet of the deserted street, Carrie frowned into the darkness.

Sam placed his hand on her arm. “What is it? Do you see something?”

She shook her head. “I don’t see anything. It’s just this feeling I have—and there’s a smell.” She scanned the area in all directions and settled her gaze on the house just north of hers. She pointed toward the house. “Someone’s over there.”

“Stay here, while I—” The look Carrie sent stopped him

mid
sentence, as she grabbed his arm.  “Okay we’ll both go. I know the neighbors are out of town visiting her family,” Sam said.