12:04 A.M. – December 25, 2010
632 Evergreen Lane
Hulis Township – Northern Missouri
“Checking in,” Constance whispered. “All clear.”
She was holding the two-way close, with the microphone pickup just inches from her mouth. She knew she was probably being overly cautious, but so be it. There was an old saying about discretion, and while valor might not necessarily play a part in her current situation, in her mind stealth most certainly did.
She released the talk button and heard a quiet chirp, followed by a quick hiss of muted static. She had the volume on the device tweaked barely into the audible range, so she pushed it up closer to her ear and just listened since she was number one on this Hit Parade.
The ordered cascade for the hourly check-in began, and the reports burped from the speaker, just as they had three times before. Status was announced starting with her, then Deputy Johnson, then Deputy Broderick, and ending finally with Sheriff Carmichael. Each of the men outside relayed a message that echoed hers: “All clear.”
Although it was horribly dark, it wasn’t completely pitch-black on the main floor of the house. Not like it seemed in the basement. There were several now noticeable gaps in the boards covering the windows, so a small amount of light was seeping in here and there, coming from the not-too-distant streetlamps positioned along the lane outside. It wasn’t much light at all, but once her eyes had adjusted, it was enough that it allowed Constance to make out shadows and shapes. That was all she really needed to see for the moment. Of course, a pair of night vision goggles would have been nice under the circumstances, but you made do with what you had.
She gently settled the radio onto the counter next to her, close enough that she didn’t have to fumble for it. Then she folded her arms across her chest and cupped her hands around her elbows. Twisting slowly at the waist, first right, then left, she proceeded to tense her muscles then relax them through several slow repetitions as a way of stretching with an economy of movement. The last thing she needed was to stiffen up and get a muscle cramp.
Not quite four hours had passed since Skip had reluctantly left her alone here in the house. She still wasn’t exactly sure why he had seemed so nonplussed about the arrangement, but at least he had finally dropped the subject without too many objections. His pushing had certainly been enough to make her suspicious of his motive at the time, but the more she thought about it, the less she felt it was enough to elevate him to suspect status.
Especially after enduring those first two hours alone.
They had been the worst so far, at least where her nerves were concerned. Sitting by herself in the cold and dark wasn’t a completely new experience. She had worked surveillance under disagreeable conditions before, but the history behind this house wasn’t exactly your garden variety unpleasant. She knew her own imagination was responsible for the majority of the uneasiness, but she couldn’t help the feeling that Merrie had never really left this place. Maybe that was why Skip had wanted her to have company. He had to know those feelings and thoughts himself. After all, he had been dealing with this for far longer than she.
Constance felt a sudden involuntary contraction in the muscles of her jaw and knew immediately what was coming. She reached up with her hand and stifled the wide yawn as it began. While that first two hours might have been the worst on her nerves, each subsequent minute since then had been a bolus of pure boredom injected straight into her veins. Unfortunately, the tedium was building in her system, and that could easily allow her exhaustion to take over. She knew from all-too-recent experience where that could lead.
Shoving her hand into her coat pocket she dug around then pulled out a small plastic bottle of caffeine pills she had tucked in there earlier. She had forgotten about having them until she had set about digging her flashlight from out of the glove compartment of her car and come across the container. Although she kept the stimulant on hand for emergencies, she tended to put it out of her mind because she actually hated using it. Unfortunately, sometimes it was the only option available, and right now seemed to qualify as one of those “sometimes.” She carefully popped the cap on the bottle and held her palm over the opening as she tilted it. If she remembered the directions correctly, one of the caplets should be approximately the same as a strong cup of coffee. Considering how little sleep she’d had, that probably wasn’t enough. By feel, she used her thumb to work two of them into her hand, then went ahead and swallowed both of them just to be safe.
After recapping and stowing the bottle, she pulled out her cell phone. Christmas Eve had come and gone in a town where the holiday was avoided like the plague. That was just one more thing about all of this that didn’t feel right to her, even though she knew it was just her emotions talking. Still, she didn’t have to allow their disdain for the day to stop her from at least acknowledging it.
Cupping one hand over the display, she thumbed the keypad, sparking it to life. It seemed incredibly bright to her under the circumstances, so for a second she found herself almost squinting. She selected Text Message, and then Ben’s cell number. She was keeping her right hand ungloved, just in case she needed to draw her weapon, so with practiced dexterity, by the glow of the display, she rapidly keyed in, “MERRY CHRISTMAS. LOVE YOU, C.”
She chewed on her lip for a moment, staring down at the seemingly brilliant screen while still keeping an ear out for any noises other than the occasional moan of the wind outside, which had been prevalent all along. Her thumb hovered over the send button, gently caressing it then drawing back hesitantly before brushing against it again. After a moment, she shifted the digit over and tapped the back button to erase the words of affection, effectively reducing the message to a simple Christmas greeting with no expectations or strings. Only then did she finally hit SEND.
Constance watched as the display flashed “1 MESSAGE SENT,” then she shoved the cell back into her coat pocket. It was set to silent mode, so she resolved to check it later for a reply. Surely he was still up. He was like a big kid when it came to Christmas.
She noticed a dim afterimage brought on by the relative brightness of the LCD. It remained floating in her sightline no matter where she pointed her gaze. She blinked and then stared off into space, waiting for it to disappear as her eyes readjusted to the negligible illumination making it to the interior of the house. After thirty seconds or so, she was back to seeing blue-black shadows and shapes.
The caffeine pills she had downed would probably be kicking in soon. After all, she had taken them on an empty stomach, which was probably not the best of ideas, but it was sure to get them into her system quickly. She felt a gurgle flutter through her gut as her body made an attempt to inform her of its displeasure with the aforementioned emptiness.
Annoying as it was, Ben had been dead on the mark with his admonishment earlier in the day. She was pushing herself way too hard and ignoring her body when it told her as much. However, there were times when taking yourself beyond the limit was all part of the job. If she could make it through the next several hours, then she would finally be able to give in and let go. Until that time, however, she needed to stay focused on the task at hand, so since she was doing nothing other than playing the waiting game at the moment, heeding her stomach’s call might well be a good choice.
With a quiet sigh, Constance slowly reached over and found the paper bag of sandwiches. Plucking it off the counter she began to carefully unfold the top. Egg salad for Christmas dinner, not exactly her first choice.
Still, she had to admit, at least a sandwich should be easy to eat in the dark, and better yet, it wasn’t that MRE.