Keller’s smile thinned. “That’s not very neighborly.”
“Neither was calling the city on her trash bin, or reporting her for ‘suspicious activity’ when she fixed her roof.”
“We were protecting the neighborhood.” Lydia had obviously prepared for these accusations.
“You could have dealt with things in much better ways. It was a whole group against her. Of course she needed to be underhanded about this situation.” I shut the door before they could retort.
Rios stepped out from behind the living room wall and said, “Good. They’re nervous. Do you have any cameras to watch the places where there has been activity?”
I spotted a tiny lens staring back at me from a knothole.
“No. I’ve never needed anything like that before.”
“Check the yard. Your grandmother might have.”
So I walked outside and stared at the birdhouse near the feeder.
After some investigation, I spotted a tiny lens staring back at me from a knothole. When Rios arrived, she nodded once. “That helps.”
I rubbed my arms. “I don’t want them inside,” I said. “I don’t want to be scared in the house she left me.”
Rios held my gaze. “Then we end it clean. If they come back, we’ll catch them.”
At 11:30, the backyard motion light clicked on.
Two nights later, I kept the living room lights off while I sat on the couch. Rios and an officer waited upstairs, listening through an earpiece.
At 11:30, the backyard motion light clicked on. Shadows moved along the side path, slow and practiced. The back door handle jiggled, and I heard more movement suggesting someone was up to no good.
Rios’s voice murmured in my ear. “Don’t move.”
On the camera feed, Mrs. Keller appeared in the harsh light, jaw clenched, and with a bag in her hand. Don Harris hovered behind her, eyes darting around nervously.
Sirens erupted so close they rattled the windows.
Leave a Comment