Shadow of Betrayal

Marion grabbed her sister’s keys, then sneaked a peak around the edge of the curtain in the living room. The only things she could see were a couple of cars parked directly in front of the house—neither familiar—and a third car driving by on the street. It was hard to tell, but it looked like the people inside the vehicle were gazing at her house. Probably curious about the makeshift memorial in the front yard. All the same, she watched the car until it disappeared.

Once the vehicle was out of sight, she set the box down on the couch, then ran back upstairs. Iris, still happily occupied with the old bear, look up when Marion hurried in.

“We’re leaving in a moment,” Marion said.

She crossed the room to her window. It was a view she’d seen thousands of times before, tens of thousands even. The houses on the other side of the street had changed little. Some of the trees were larger, but that was about it. And like there had always been, cars lined either side of the street, waiting for their owners to wake and need them again.

She spotted Emily’s car right away. The old silver two-door Saab was parked directly across the street. A lucky spot, they would have said. As Marion smiled, some of the tension left her body. Here was the break she needed, not just because she could take the box with them, but now they had transportation. Now they could drive to the other end of Canada if they wanted. It would free them, for a little while anyway.

“Come on, baby,” she said as she scooped up Iris and headed downstairs.

In the living room, she set Iris on the couch, then picked up the box to bring out to the car first. But Iris would have none of it. She reached out and grabbed Marion’s leg.

“It’ll just be for a minute,” Marion said.

But the child wouldn’t let go.

“Fine. You first then.” She set the box down, then picked Iris up.

Marion knew it wasn’t the best plan. But it would have to do. Iris would only be by herself in the car a few minutes at most. And it was doubtful anyone would notice her.

Marion carried the child out of the house and around the side. She was careful when she reached the front, checking twice to make sure it was quiet, then she scooted along the edge of the property to the sidewalk.

To be safe, she walked down half a block to avoid the light from one of the streetlamps before crossing the street. As she approached her sister’s car, she half expected there to be another notice from the police, marking it as part of the crime scene. But there was nothing. Either they hadn’t realized it belonged to her sister, or they didn’t care.

She slipped the key into the lock and opened the door. Inside, the dome light came on. She leaned in and turned it off.

“Okay, you’re going to stay here while I go get the box,” she said to Iris. “I’ll be right back, so you’ll be fine.”

As she put the girl down on the small back seat, Iris’s lower lip began to tremble.

“No, don’t cry, sweetie. Just play with your bear.” Marion looked around. “Where is it?”

But the bear wasn’t there. They must have left it upstairs, she thought. That’s why Iris hadn’t wanted to be left on the couch.

“Dammit,” Marion said under her breath.

She glanced around to see if there was anything that could keep Iris occupied. The best she could come up with was a map of eastern Canada, but it seemed to do the trick.

“I’ll only be a minute,” she said, then shut the door and hurried back to the house.

Once inside, she went straight for the box in the living room. She started to pick it up, but then stopped. Pauline.

She first checked around the couch to make sure Iris hadn’t dropped the bear there, then ran upstairs, her gaze focused on the steps to make sure it wasn’t somewhere along the way.

She expected to see the bear sitting in the middle of the bed when she entered her bedroom, but it wasn’t.

“Where the hell did you go?” she said, annoyed.

She got down on her knees and looked under the bed. Nothing.

She retraced her steps back into the hallway and down the stairs to the living room couch. It was nowhere. But that didn’t make any sense. It had to be somewhere between the bed and couch. She knew she should just forget it and leave, but Iris had liked the bear, and it warmed Marion to think about the connection it gave the girl to Marion’s father.

She headed back upstairs into the bedroom. She was almost at the point of wanting to tear the room apart when she spotted it wedged between the bed and her nightstand.

With a relieved laugh, she pulled it out and headed back downstairs. She put the bear in the box, then picked the container up and turned to leave. She made it halfway across the living room when she heard the noise.

It wasn’t much. Just a subtle scrape at best, but it had come from behind her, near the front door. She looked over her shoulder as she heard a second scrape. Not near the front door, just beyond it. Outside.