This is getting ridiculous; I punch in my response.
WHO IS THIS, AND WHAT DO YOU WANT? I’m aware I’m responding in all caps, but then so are they. I wait to get a response, but nothing comes. Whoever it is just wants to play games, and I’m ready to call their bluff.
LOOK, YOU RESPOND WHAT YOU WANT, OR I’M BLOCKING YOU
Shortly after, a message appears.
THEN YOU WILL MISS OUT ON THE ANSWER
What answer? Wait, does this person know who killed Troy? I have to know.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
IF YOU ONLY KNEW …
I abruptly stop where I am just before opening my door. Butterflies attack my stomach, and I suck in a deep breath. Just calm down, Patrice. Just because he said the same thing as Gray did doesn’t mean it’s him.
I don’t respond. Suddenly, I feel eyes watching me, and I quickly open the door to safety.
I shut the door behind me and hear Brock call out, “That you, Trice?” Of course, it’s me. Who else would it be?
“Uh, yeah.”
“I will be working late again. Court is in a few days, and I’m way behind,” I hear his yell from the attic. All he’s done is work. How can he be so far behind? But I’m tired and so head straight to bed and hope those four words don’t haunt me.
______________________________
Surprisingly, I wake up refreshed and can’t believe I slept so well. I look at my watch. It’s only 7:10 am, perfect for our walk. Hercules stretches and gets up from his doggy bed in the corner of the room. “Hey, Herc, ready …” I don’t need to finish the sentence because he jumps up, wags his tail, and darts for the door. “Hold on; I gotta get ready.”
Fifteen minutes later, we shut the door behind us, and I head down the street; however, I stop and back up after I get past Deanna’s home as something catches my eye. The yellow tape still surrounds the property, but the crime scene has been tampered with. The hole is still there, but it looks deeper now, and adjacent to it, a smaller hole has been dug, but you wouldn’t notice it unless you came close. I know the police haven’t been here since Wednesday, and I’m sure there will be a warrant to search the house after Deanna has been questioned, but I’ve been watching the house to ensure no kids try and breach the tape and get curious, but this hole is fresh. Should I contact Gray, or maybe it’s a stray dog? Pickles left with the kids, so I know it’s not their dog, and Hercules is never out front without me. I’m so fixated on the spot that I almost ignore my phone buzzing.
Another riddle. WHAT’S SMALL, GOLD OR SILVER, AND GOES ON FOREVER
Oh, yay, more games. I say the riddle in my head, but it’s like my brain doesn’t want to work. Plus, Hercules keeps pulling on the leash. I’ll have to think about it on our walk.
I start walking, and by the time I get to Jack’s house at the end of the street, it hits me: a RING!
I punch the answer in my phone.
VERY GOOD
Then a thought bursts into my head. Did the killer leave evidence behind, like a ring? And, if he did, he returned to find it last night! When just moments before, I was enjoying our walk, with a mostly overcast morning and lower temps, I suddenly feel cold, but I have to at least get in a 30-minute walk, but as I cross the street and head west, I try not to let an ominous thought that the one who was in my backyard was the same person who was digging in the Carmichael’s yard the night before.
LISTEN, I’M NOT A CHILD. STOP TREATING ME LIKE ONE, I quickly text. Whoever this is seems to enjoy playing these games, but I don’t.
YOU’RE RIGHT
YOU’RE NOT
IF YOU FIND THE RING, YOU'RE ONE STEP CLOSER
What does that mean? One step closer to what? Oh great, now I have to find a ring. What ring and where? Why don’t I just tell Gray, and then he can take it from there? But then, I would have to explain the rest of the messages, and then he will scold me for not telling him before. This person will stop texting, and what leads I have will be gone.
No, I must keep this to myself … for now.
_____________________________
It’s half past eight o’clock when I step out of the shower. I feel like I’ve been up for hours, and I need to run some errands before I need to get the Saturday chores done, which include trimming some gangly rose bushes, deadheading some petunias, and weeding – oh joy.
I told Brock I would pick up his dry cleaning. No, I don’t iron and don’t judge me. Once I’m done with my errands, I pull into the driveway and click the garage door remote control, but before I pull in, I look to my right at Deanna’s yard. How am I going to find this ring? I can’t think about that right now. And as Scarlett O’Hara says in Gone With the Wind, “I’ll think about that tomorrow.”
It’s already getting warm, and the clouds that were obscuring the sun earlier have now moved on, and it’s a mostly sunny day. Shoot, I really wanted some rain.
I slather myself with sunscreen, don my gardening hat, and grab my tool bucket. Even though it’s the weekend, I know Brock is working on his case, so I have no idea when I will see him today. I start in the front yard, getting as many weeds as possible. I trim some of the boxwoods and deadhead the flowers. Before I know it, an hour has passed, and I’m sweating. I take a big drink of my Gatorade and glance next door. What if I’m messing around trying to find the ring some night, and the killer returns and finds me? Then what? I need to speak to Leah; she could be my lookout.
Oh, hell’s bells Patrice, what are you doing?
Almost as if this person can read my mind, they text:
LET’S KEEP THIS BETWEEN US
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