CHAPTER NINETEEN
David felt strange walking up to Linda’s house. He replayed the strange story of the Bradfords in his head, and thought about what life would be like to never have to worry about money. He considered himself a simple man. He wanted nothing more than to have a satisfying job, and a happy marriage that lasted forever. For as long as he could remember, he knew that he wanted to get married and have kids. He had been looking for “the one.” Now that he had met Ellie, he was pretty certain that he had found her.
He smiled as he remembered Ellie sleeping comfortably in front of her fireplace. The more he learned about her, the more he just wanted to wrap his arms around her and protect her. He was dismayed at how aggressive her ex-husband had become and wanted to do whatever he could to help that situation.
David spotted the mailbox at the end of the driveway on the side of the house that led around back. He made his way there and pulled out the stack of mail that had accumulated. He glanced at it quickly, but there were only circulars and other assorted pieces of junk mail.
As he made his way back around to the front of the house he frowned. It looked like a light was on in a room on the third level. He remembered Ellie telling him over dinner that she and Kevin had explored the house during their visit the evening before. They must have forgotten to turn off one of the lights.
He went to the front and was unlocking the front door when he heard heavy footsteps behind him. He whirled around. The man approaching him put up his hands with wide eyes.
“Who are you?” the man demanded.
David peered closer at the man’s face. He looked familiar. “Mr. Klein?” he asked.
The other man looked confused. “Do I know you?”
“We met the other night, Mr. Klein, at Linda’s dinner party? I was here with one of Linda’s friends, Ellie? Remember, you told us the story about the house.” David stepped closer to the agent. The man looked disheveled and like he hadn’t slept in days. David noted the deep circles under the man’s eyes and the glassiness of his pupils. He wondered if the man was taking drugs.
“Oh yes. The house.” Joe Klein ran his fingers through his thinning hair and looked up at the house. “I forgot about the party.”
There was a moment of awkward silence, and David cleared his throat. “Can I help you with something, Mr. Klein?”
“I’m here to see Linda,” Joe said, glancing over his shoulder.
David wondered if this had anything to do with the glances and furtive looks he had seen the two exchanging at the dinner party. He had been sure there was more to the story than just a simple real estate agent and his client. David thought Joe Klein may be cheating on his wife, and he was disgusted.
“She’s not here, and won’t be here again for a while based on my understanding,” David said, crossing his arms.
“What are you doing here then?” the other man hissed.
David realized with a start that he was being considered competition. “I’m helping my girlfriend house-sit for Linda. I was just stopping by for a few minutes to pick up the mail,” David said, holding up the stack of circulars in his hand. He realized that it felt great to call Ellie his girlfriend. He hoped she wouldn’t mind.
Joe grunted, and David wondered what the man was hoping to accomplish. He watched Joe study the house. His gaze kept going up to the room with the light on.
“‘I guess I’ll just stop back some other time,” Joe said, backing away from David.
David was going to repeat that Linda was out of town indefinitely, but the man had already fled down the steps and was moving out of sight.
“Strange,” David said to himself.
He turned back to the house and slipped his key into the lock. He pushed open the heavy doors and stood in the foyer. He felt a rush of warmth through his body, all the way to the tips of his toes. He took a deep breath. He felt incredibly relaxed, like he was at home.
He flipped on the light on the panel next to the office and tossed the mail onto the table just off to the right at the bottom of the stairs. He admired the cherry wood paneling that lined the walls moving down to the library. He gently tapped the side of the wall as he walked down the hallway, intending to do a quick sweep of the first floor. He stopped when he realized one of the knocks sounded different.
He knocked again on that part of the wall with his ear close to the surface. It was hollow. He examined the wall closer and saw that there was an outline for an opening. He started pushing on the edges when suddenly the door swung open.
David looked into the dark opening. Was it a storage area? He felt around inside the doorway, trying not to think about how jumpy this secret entrance made him. He sighed in relief as he found the switch and flipped it on. He was standing at the bottom of a staircase that wound up into the air. David couldn’t see all the way to the top, but it appeared to go all the way to the top floor.
“Interesting,” he out loud, just to hear something other than the silence of the house.
He started to back out of the doorway when he thought he heard movement at the top of the stairs. He remembered the light on the third floor. Did Linda have someone else watching the house as well?
“Hello?” he called out.
There was no answer. David shook his head. “I’m hearing things.”
Did he really expect someone to answer? David knew that he was alone. “Screw it,” he said, and then he started to climb up the stairs. He had to go to the third floor anyway to turn that light off and this seemed like a shorter alternative.
Ellie’s face popped into his head, and David felt the tension ooze out of his body. Ellie was his ideal woman, and he was so lucky to have found her. He wondered how she would react if he went back to her place and pulled her into his arms so she could sleep against his chest. He could feel her hair tickling his nose, and he would stroke it and wish her happy dreams.
David found himself standing in front of two French doors on the landing of the top floor. He turned around, confused about how he had gotten there. What was he doing up here? He had been thinking about Ellie and then time seemed to go all hazy. David opened the door but was greeted with a deep darkness.
If he remembered correctly, this was the empty master bedroom that Ellie mentioned. He closed the door and looked across the hall. “Ellie’s Room” was written on a gaily colored piece of paper. He briefly considered taking a look inside, but it felt a bit like invasion of privacy even though he knew Ellie hadn’t moved any of her things in yet.
David glanced at his watch. He had been gone for almost twenty minutes, and he didn’t want Ellie to wake up and find him gone. He needed to get back. He took the stairs down to the front foyer two at a time and glanced one more time around the front entryway and down the hallways. Everything seemed intact and in place.
He looked up at the elaborate chandelier and thought again how nice it must be to have this kind of money. He sensed that a house like this was in his future; something about it just felt right. He left the light on in the foyer and then slid out the front door whistling a happy tune. He couldn’t wait to see Ellie again.