Buried Memories. Carol J. Post

of the house, he was disappearing into the woods. I took off after him, but I didn’t get a good look at him.”

      “Find anything?”

      “’Fraid not. I ended up following a rabbit trail.” At the question in her eyes, he continued. “I heard something, which led me to a couple of teenagers.” He glanced back down at the knife. “We need to call the police and have that fingerprinted.”

      Another gust swept through, the rain even closer, and Nicki moved toward the front door. “The intruder must have taken the knife, then dropped it the night he broke in. I’ve been in and out this way with Callie, but I wasn’t paying any attention to the flower bed at the time. So I didn’t notice it.”

      He nodded. That was one explanation. Except he didn’t buy it. His own interpretation was much more sinister. He stepped onto the porch and opened the door for her, then followed her inside. “Maybe you’re right and he dropped it the night he broke in, or...”

      “Or what?”

      He turned her to face him and took her hands. He would do everything he could to protect her. But she needed to be armed with the facts.

      “Maybe he took it with him the night he broke in, then brought it back tonight, fully intending to use it.”