Free Dark Road by David C. Waldron

without the rifle.”
    “I understood nothing but ‘the scope will come in handy’.” Dan replied.
    “But you’re a quick study and I love you anyway. Now let’s go.”
    Both rifles and the shotgun had carrying cases and they took a minute to zip them up and stow them correctly. It also made carrying them easier. Dan carried the hunting rifle, and the shotgun, and both bags of ammo. Marissa carried the .22.
    On the way out of the closet, Dan motioned with the flashlight and said, “That’s where I found the,” and stopped. Marissa looked at Dan and she could see he’d gone pale, but she hadn’t followed the flashlight beam yet.
    “What’s wrong, Dan?” Then she looked where he nodded. There was another bar of Irish Spring under the sink.
    “Maybe you missed it last time?” She asked, knowing he couldn’t have. The room was white and beige and the box was green for crying out loud. She was pretty sure she could see it in the dark if he turned off the flashlight.
    “Carey put it there; he knew it was there all along.” Dan said. “No wonder he’s been suspicious of me, of us, ever since I came here last time.” Dan ran his hand through his hair which sent the flashlight beam all over the bathroom and reflecting off the mirror.
    “I told him I found two bars of soap under the sink because I had the box of bullets in my pocket.” Dan was back to calling ammo bullets. “The soap and the box were about the same size on the end so I told him I found two bars of soap.” He looked at Marissa. “I pulled out the one bar of soap that I found and offered to give him one of the bars of soap. He could still see the bulge in my pocket and he knew there was only one bar of soap in the bathroom all along. He knew I found something else up here and he’s been suspicious ever since.”
    “Let’s go home, we just need to get back and we can figure out what to do in the morning.” Marissa said. “Everything will be fine. Let’s go.”
    Dan turned off the flashlight and they left as their eyes adjusted to the dark.
     

Chapter Nine
    Getting home seemed to take twice as long as the trek to the Taylor’s had, but in reality they had skimped on some of the stealth and made it back in almost half the time. They were whispering as they got to the front of the house and Marissa was putting her key into the door. Marissa had moved the Ruger to her left hand so she could get her keys out of her right front pocket and Dan was carrying basically everything else.
    Both of them froze when the door slowly opened on its own. Keys forgotten and still in her pocket, Marissa’s initial thought was that Bekah had woken up while they were gone, and when she realized they were home had come to open the door for them. “Bekah, honey, you know you shouldn’t open the door when Mommy and Daddy aren’t home.”
    Marissa’s heart stopped cold when she heard Carey’s voice, and she dropped her keys. “A very good lesson that I’m sure she’s learned well. Maybe we should wake her up and ask her?”
    Both Marissa’s and Dan’s minds were racing. How did he know? What has he done? What have we done?
    “Now,” Carey said, “why don’t you two tell me just what you’ve been up to at the Taylor house and what you’ve found, hmm?”
    “Let’s go inside and we’ll tell you everything.” Dan said.
    Marissa shot him a look, but didn’t say anything.
    “Oh, I don’t think so. I don’t think you’ll be coming back into this house until my curiosity has been satisfied,” Carey said. “And, after all, isn’t possession nine-tenths of the law? So why don’t you start by answering my questions. What were you doing out so late at night, or should I say early in the morning, skulking about in the dark like common criminals?”
    “We’re not the ones in someone else’s house Carey!” Marissa hissed. “We’re not the ones in someone else’s home with someone else’s children without their permission, Carey!”
    “Now