CHAPTER 2
When she arrived, Sara felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand as a shiver ran down her spine.
'Hmmm, maybe it's cold,' Sara thought, grabbing her kit from the trunk.
As she walked toward the house, her mind turned to its occupants. Their home had been burglarized, violated by someone who only wanted some material object. In the meantime, their sense of security had been obliterated like a house of cards in a hurricane.
Her mind was so occupied by those thoughts that she barely heard the detective introduce himself,
"Ms. Sidle?" he inquired.
Sara looked up at him, her brown eyes studying his features.
"My name is Jeff, this is Barrett," he said, gesturing to his partner and extending his hand in greeting.
"Sara Sidle, nice to meet you," she said, her eyes flickering over the visible tattoo on Barrett's arm.
"Point of entry appears to be the guest bedroom window," Jeff said. "Must've been some damn kid. Clumsy as hell."
'Nice,' Sara thought. 'Open and shut.'
"Alright," she said, "I might be awhile."
As Sara walked through the front door, her first thought was that this house had been abandoned, like an old person had gone on an errand and died, leaving their possessions behind. The air smelled stale and a layer of dust covered most surfaces.
"That's odd," she said quietly to herself.
She climbed the stairs, nothing with mild surprise that none of them squeaked. Old houses always had creaky stairs.
The pictures on the walls were yellowed. A young woman with long blonde hair stared out at her from the 1970s. Her bellbottoms and peasant top reminded Sara of her own mother.
'Not time for a walk down memory lane, Sidle,' she thought, peaking into the bedrooms.
In the last bedroom in the hall, Sara saw white lace curtains fluttering in the breeze flowing through the open window. She set her kit down and examined the room.
'One window, one door. A bed, but no dressers,' she thought to herself.
She stuck her head out the window. The wall was brick beneath her. 'God, if someone broke in this window, they needed wings or a ladder,' she thought, making herself chuckle.
"What's so funny, doll?" a male voice asked from behind her.