Alice McMichaelson was sitting in her living room balancing her checkbook when the doorbell rang. Before she could even get up it rang again. Probably some kind of salesman. Don’t they ever give it a rest? I mean, give me a break, this is a Sunday.
Maybe if she ignored him he’d go away.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Oh, all right already.
She crossed the carpet and peered out the window. A man wearing khaki pants, a golf shirt, and a maroon windbreaker stood on her porch. When she pulled the curtain to the side, he nodded at her.
Alice opened the door, kept the chain clasped in place. “Yes? May I help you?”
He held up his wallet to show her his badge. “Ma’am. I’m Officer Lewis with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department. May I come in?”
“Is there some kind of problem?”
“It might be better if I explained it to you inside the house, ma’am.”
She looked past him to the car in the driveway. A sedan. Maybe he was off-duty or undercover.
“Please,” he said. “There’s a very dangerous man on the loose. We think he might be after you. He’s unpredictable. He could show up at any time. We need to get you out of here as quickly as possible.”
“Who is he? What does he want with me?”
The man glanced over his shoulder and then back toward her. “Think of the worst thing you can. That’s him getting started.”
She made no move to open the door any wider. Why was this officer by himself? Why didn’t he have a partner with him? He must have noticed that she was hesitant. “Look,” he said, “we believe you and your children might be in some danger. But I can’t force you to do anything. I’ll wait here on the porch for you to decide.” He handed her a card. “Here. Call this number and they’ll confirm I am who I say I am.”