Chapter Four

"Ten-thirty tomorrow. I've got it, thanks," Alice said hanging up the phone with McCarthy. He wanted her to come back to the precinct to ask her some things about her mother tomorrow morning. Perfect, because she had some questions of her own. Like what the heck this burglar supposedly stole besides her mother's life. That sort of thing.

It was getting dark outside and Alice hoped Hatter made it through the Looking Glass to Wonderland okay. At first he was reluctant to leave her, but Alice assured him she'd be fine. She was just going to stay in bed for the rest of the evening and watch television, which satisfied him.

Hatter had been gone now for half an hour and in Wonderland time that could be a day for all she knew. Things were so bizarre in that world, and if spent enough time there as she had, those things began making sense. And that was bizarre on its own.

Hatter probably wouldn't be gone but a few more hours, which eased her mind minutely, even though she didn't think her mind would ever be at ease until her mother's killer was caught.

Alice flipped through the channels trying to find something of interest, coming up with nothing. The only thing America liked to watch in the evenings was reality shows and Alice just couldn't get in to any of them. Not that sitting in front of a TV was very appealing to begin with. Alice would much rather be up and doing something, working out, training or running errands. Tonight was not one of those nights, however. Her mother's lifeless face kept reappearing in her mind no matter what Alice tried to use as a distraction, fighting back the tears as they reclaimed her.

As soon as Alice switched the annoying American girl traveling to Russia with her sister on the television off, the sound of a cry from a door hinge startled Alice out of her bed. Her heart was pounding in her throat. But she beat the sensation back. It could just be Hatter returning from Wonderland. "Hatter!" she called. No one answered. That wasn't like him not to respond.

She walked hesitantly up to the bedroom door and peered out, listening for further abnormal noises. The forayer light was lit, but everywhere else was blanketed with darkness. Alice didn't dare go traipsing around a dark house alone. Perhaps it'd be best to wait for Hatter to return. But if she waited and someone was there, wouldn't that give them the opportunity to murder her?

For goodness sake, she thought. The doors were locked, she was alone, the lights were out and her mind was just playing tricks on her in light of what had happened recently. The stress was getting to her. That's all.

However, Alice wasn't an idiot. So she grabbed the cordless phone along with McCarthy's number, just in case and headed for the stairs. The bronze dead bolt on the front door was still locked when she reached the bottom; nothing seemed out of place either. She walked around the ground floor flipping lights as she went and noticed all windows were in tack as well—even lifting on them some to make sure they were latched. Although, she would have heard a window breaking if the murderer had wanted to enter that way.

A sweet breath of relief escaped Alice as she turned towards the kitchen where the back door was located. Flipping that light on, it too remained locked as she left it. Alice quickly sat down at the black sleek round table in front of the bay windows to rest a moment. Her body was changing quicker than she thought it would. Most mornings she felt a little queasy and assumed it had been from working too much at the dojo and would skip breakfast, but now she realized it had been morning sickness from the pregnancy. She grew tired much faster now too. Even the smallest things would wear her down like she was a tattered old boot.

After sitting a moment, she contemplated making herself some coffee, because there was no way she'd sleep with Hatter gone. Besides, she wasn't tired.

Then she tried to think of what could have made that squeaking sound. At first she had thought it was a door hinge making the noise, but now she wasn't so sure. It could have just been the boards in the floor creaking. This was an older home, she mused.

But then she realized the boards hadn't made any noises while she walked around on them earlier. Wouldn't her weight have forced a creak out of them?

Huffing with resignation she'd never figure it out, Alice stood up to fix her some coffee when she noticed a smoky round object the size of a half-dollar, nestled into her center piece on the table. It stood out like a sore thumb next to the tiger-lilies and bright buttercup flowers held in a glass vase with shards of glass pieces glittering inside it. Carol had put it together one evening and gave it as a gift to brighten her kitchen up. Now it felt like an odious reminder of what Alice had lost.

She leaned her weight on the table to reach through the stems to retrieve the object somehow wedged in the flowers, when the table made a horrible whine she'd never heard before.

Alice nearly dropped whatever the thing was from her hands shaking so bad. It had been the table making that noise! Someone had been here to put this item in the vase of flowers. But why? What was it?

When she stared down at the round thing in her hand, Alice noticed it had been burned from the odd shape it now resembled like a crumpled pear. A small metal loop hung from the tip, which must have been where it connected to a gold or silver chain. It was a burnt piece of jewelry. At one time it might have been a lovely amulet like the ones her mother used to wear. Just then it dawned on Alice, what if this was one of her mother's? Had the killer been here tonight and left this for her to find? As what; a warning?

Alice could feel the nausea churning in her stomach and raced to the bathroom under the stairs. Lord help her, it had to be a warning. Was he going to come after her next?

If only Hatter were here, he'd know what to do. But he wasn't because she'd sent him away on some silly hunch her mother's killer had been from Wonderland. Now the idea she might have been wrong pelted her mind over and over like a steel mallet. What if this was just someone else with a vengeance towards her family? Had her father done something to piss someone off in his past before he'd been taken through the Looking Glass? Possibly, but there were just too many questions bombarding her all at once to figure anything out right now. Alice didn't know what was truth and what was just guess work.

But there was one question that had her utterly stumped, if all the doors and windows were locked, how did the killer get in and better yet, back out?

A swift chill raced her body and Alice thought about shutting the door and locking herself in the bathroom from the ghosts that apparently were haunting her. But what good would that do when locked doors were no matter to this killer. She might as well walk out the front door and holler, "Come get me!" for all the good sitting inside did her.

Alice still clasped the small burnt amulet and held it up into the light, hoping that this was all a misunderstanding on her part. If Alice examined the amulet thoroughly perhaps she'd find it wasn't her mother's and it had landed in her flower arrangement by accident somehow from someone else. Yeah right. Bits of amber celadon shown through where black smudges wiped away in places, sticking to Alice's fingers instead. The parts that were distorted had a vulgar, ugliness to them making Alice wonder what had happened to it. If this was her mother's amulet then why was it burned? There hadn't been a fire when Carol was killed that Alice knew of.

All the unanswered questions and scary game of cat and mouse this killer was trying to play was giving Alice a serious migraine. If somebody was going to kill her, she wished he'd just show up already and try his damndest. Alice had been through too much in her life to go without a teeth baring, snarling fight.

The bathroom door flung open and Alice screamed as a hand grabbed her arm yanking her off the floor she'd slunk down on from exhaustion. "No!" she yelled, kicking and punching every bit of flesh she could connect with. So he was still in the house, she thought.

The man grunted and pulled away from her flailing arms, stepping into the light of the bathroom in the hall, "What in God's name woman are you doing?"

Stopping herself from throwing another punch near the man's face, Alice stood in shock a moment to see an anxious Hatter hesitating before her.

"Hatter!" she yelled and fell into his arms. "I thought you were…" Tears were rolling down her cheeks again. Damn them. Alice hated crying, but she couldn't help it. For a moment she thought the killer had come for her.

"Alice," he started. She hugged him once more overwhelmed and relieved to no end it was Hatter instead, but wanted to make sure he was truly standing in front of her, flesh and all. It was one-hundred percent him and she could smell the woodsy scent of moss and dirt that reminded her of the Wonderland forests, where Charlie lived.

Hatter pulled her away at arm's length and said, "We need to talk." His expression was serious, but not so much worried. Alice wondered what he'd found out on his trip. But she also wanted to tell him about the killer's little gift he'd left her. Wouldn't he be surprised to find out someone was really after her like she thought. They had to be. The amulet was proof. Right?

AN/ This chapter took me awhile because I needed to work out some details. I'm not sure if I'm happy with it, but I would have never posted it if I just kept thinking about how to make it better, which would be horrible for you. Haha but I need to make sure I have everything right in order for things to make sense later. Does that make sense? lol Anyways, thank you so much for the reviews! Some made me laugh so hard :). Hope this chapter didn't drive you too crazy...you know how I love to leave you guys hanging ;) ~Eisac