He reached the bottom of the steps and stopped, noticing the second odd thing.
It was a cake.
Or it looked like a cake, anyway, a thick, brown, round thing on a wire cooling rack, sitting at the top of the front steps. He climbed the steps and stopped near the top, bending down to take a closer look. Yes, it was a cake, a homely-looking one, no icing, but someone had clearly baked a chocolate sponge cake and left it here, on Aubrey’s front step.
Thom looked around. Nobody out on the block.
He looked back at the cake. He reached down, laying a finger on the side of it. Still warm.
He moved it carefully to the side, stepped up to the mat, and opened the screen door. He thought he detected a flash of movement through the sliver in the living room curtains, and he snapped his head that way. There was light inside, maybe the flickering of a candle.
Thom shifted, adjusting the jacket he was wearing. It was too hot for the sultry evening, but he’d put it on to cover the Glock, which he’d shoved into the back of his pants. He’d had to tighten his belt an extra notch to keep it there, and it was uncomfortable as hell. With any luck, about thirty seconds from now he’d realize he didn’t need it. That this had all been a big overreaction.
He knocked on the door.
A long moment went by. He thought he heard movement inside, but no one answered.
He was about to knock again when the door opened, leaving his hand hanging in midair.
Aubrey looked at him for a long moment, then forced a strained smile. “Hello, Thom.”
“Hey, Aubs.”
“Thank you for coming,” she said. But she didn’t move to admit him, just stayed standing in the two-foot gap of the open door, her body blocking the entrance to the house.
“Least I could do,” he said. He tried to look past her, into the house, but she didn’t move.
“I know Rusty called you. He didn’t have to do that, but I’m glad he did.”
He looked back at her. If he had suspected something was wrong before, he knew it now, and not just from her stilted tone. She was glad Rusty called him? She hadn’t been glad about anything Rusty had done for years.
Thom thought he heard a footfall inside. His eyes flicked toward the living room, but he couldn’t see into it from this angle.
“Is that Todd?” he asked.
“Who?”
“Scott. I’m kidding, you know, I always get his name wrong?”
“Right. Yeah. Scott’s here.”
“Can I say hi?”
“Not right now,” she said. “He’s in kind of a mood.”
Thom nodded. “Teenagers. Always trouble.”
“Exactly.” She looked at him, holding eye contact. “Trouble.”
“I heard Brady came back and threatened you,” he said.
“Yes. Three or four days ago.”
“I’m sorry that happened,” Thom said. He shifted his eyes toward the living room and inclined his chin, silently asking her if there were others inside.
Aubrey nodded in answer. But out loud, she continued their conversation. “I’m pretty pissed at you, Thom,” Aubrey said. “You never should have sent him, and you probably never should have sent so much money in the first place.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Did you bring the money Rusty asked for?”
“I did.” He held up a single finger to her, mouthing a silent question: one?
Aubrey shook her head no. He held up two fingers, another question. She shook her head no again and looked him up and down. “Where is it?”
“I had to keep it somewhere safe,” Thom said. “It’s nearby.”
He held up three fingers and, finally, Aubrey nodded.
“Well, then you’d better go get it,” she said. “He could come back at any time.”
“OK. I can be back in a couple hours.”
“Please hurry,” Aubrey said, and stepped back. She swung the door, holding eye contact with him until the last possible moment.
The door clicked shut, and he heard the dead bolt turn.
Thom hesitated, listening, but heard nothing more from inside. He turned, walked down the steps, and moved off down the sidewalk.
He thought, as he rounded the corner at the end of the block, that nothing in his life had even remotely prepared him for what he was going to do next.
Forty-five minutes later, night had fallen. There was a half-moon, enough to see by, but barely. Thom was grateful for the lack of street or house lights as he crept back around the corner and moved toward Aubrey’s house. He stayed out of the street, crossing as close to the other houses as he dared. Far enough away to not be seen from a window but close enough to be lost in the shadows.