Free Suspicions by Christine Kersey Page A

spider that hung near the front door.
Patricia took off one high-heeled shoe and smashed the spider
against the house. Embarrassed by her fright, Stacey didn’t say
anything.
    “All better now,” Patricia said. She turned
to go but stopped and twisted back to Stacey. “Sorry about getting
here early. Sometimes it gets so quiet at my house that I just
can’t stand it.” Then she walked out to her car and left.
    I wonder where her husband is, Stacey thought
before going back into the house.
    When she went back inside she could hear
Jason putting the children to bed. He's probably trying to avoid
me, she thought. She walked to her bedroom to change into a pair of
sweats but stopped in her tracks as she stood in the doorway.
Stacked neatly in one corner of her bedroom were several boxes with
“Beautiful You” written on them.
    Calmly changing into sweats, Stacey waited
while Jason put the children to bed. At Patricia's parting words
she had felt sorry for her and her irritation had diminished. But
now . . .
    When she heard Jason go into the family room
she went into the children's rooms and kissed them goodnight. Then
she walked into the family room where Jason was suddenly engrossed
in a television program. An unfamiliar scent of perfume lingered in
the air. She picked up the remote and turned off the
television.
    “Hey,” he said in annoyance.
    “What was Patricia doing in our bedroom? You
know perfectly well that I keep my products in the office.”
    He let out a heavy sigh. “When she got here I
offered to help her carry the boxes in.”
    “Yeah, I know how helpful you can be,” she
said.
    He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, she got to the
front door first and I just followed her in. She headed to our
bedroom and I didn't want to embarrass her by telling her that was
the wrong room. I was planning to put the stuff in our office
before you got home.”
    “I'll bet you were.”
    He was getting exasperated. “Look. She's your
boss. I was just trying to be polite.”
    Though bothered by his actions, she knew she
shouldn't jump to conclusions. “I'm sorry, Jason. It's been a bad
day. I guess I'm just on edge.”
    “By the way, your sister called. She
mentioned you sounded upset and you said it was urgent.” His
eyebrows drew together. “What's going on?”
    She was caught off guard. “Nothing. I just
wanted to tell her about Kyle, that's all.” She hesitated, thinking
about the brown car with the red trunk. “Jason?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Remember that old brown Toyota Celica you
used to own?”
    “Yeah? What about it?”
    “When did you sell it?”
    An expression of surprise flashed across his
features, but he quickly recovered. “I don’t remember.” He paused.
“I’m tired, Stacey. I’m going to bed.” He suddenly grinned and
walked over to her, pulling her into his arms. “Are you
coming?”
    Though his answer had been vague, Stacey felt
reassured by his strength and knew she had to believe he was
innocent of anything to do with Kyle’s kidnapping. He gazed into
her eyes and she felt drawn to him. She slid her arms around his
neck and whispered in his ear. “Let’s go to bed early tonight.”
    He smiled down at her, picked her up and
carried her into their bedroom. As they crossed the threshold she
couldn't help noticing the boxes stacked in the corner and felt a
little swirl of a doubt whisper through her head.
     
     
     

Chapter Twelve
     
     
     
    Day 4 – Thursday
     
    Stacey awoke to the gentle sound of raindrops
falling on the roof. Pushing herself out of bed, she smiled at the
sight of her husband still curled up under the covers. But the
smile was cut off as her gaze rested on the boxes in her room.
    Anger burned her throat as she thought about
Patricia coming into her bedroom. How dare she? Stacey thought.
She's been in the office before and I know she must have seen the
products in there. What was she trying to pull?
    Looking at the sleeping form of her husband
she wondered if he was