Page 108 of Our Little Secret

“I do.” She nodded. “I just didn’t think that he’d go to the course today. Not with what’s going on with Marilee and Shep missing. I mean, we were up all night worried sick about our daughter.”

Leah let out a huff of disbelief. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. But you know that boys will be boys, especially when it comes to boys and their toys,” she said before taking a sip from her cup.

Brooke slammed down a carton of milk. “I hate those old expressions! They’re just antiquated excuses giving men a free pass. You know, to play or to get out of responsibilities or chores or even be sane. Whatever happened to women’s lib?” Under her breath Brooke muttered, “‘Boys will be boys.’ Ugh!” She stuffed the carton of milk into the refrigerator.

“Tell me how you really feel!” Leah tossed back. “Why are you so touchy?”

“Why are you?”

Leah just glared at her. Sipped from her cup.

“Okay, okay, I’m on edge, okay. It was a long, hard night.”Harder than you know, Brooke added silently. “And it’s not just Neal, it’s . . . everything.”

Leah’s voice softened. “I get it. We all feel it. It was a long night.” Frowning, she glanced out the French doors. “Looks like it’s gonna rain again. I think I’d better go for a walk now before the skies open up. Maybe I’ll find Shep in the park.”

“I hope so,” Brooke said without much hope. “Neal tried last night. I’m sure he scoured the place.”

“Yeah, I know, but dogs wander. And a lot can happen in eight hours.”

Amen to that,Brooke thought hopefully as she emptied the grocery sack and folded it. “Has Marilee been down?”

Leah shook her head. “Still in her room as far as I know.” “Okay.” Brooke stuffed the bag into a cupboard, then headed upstairs. Quietly, she poked her head into her daughter’s bedroom. Breathing evenly, Marilee had burrowed herself under the covers as if she were blocking out the world.

Now wasn’t the time to disturb her.

What was the old saying from one of the Roosevelts?Speak softly and carry a big stick?Something like that. So maybe in this case it was walk softly and let sleeping dogs lie, or some such amalgam of words of wisdom. In any case she closed the door.

Hearing the front door close, she made her way to the guest room and picked her way around Leah’s scattered clothing to the window. Looking out, Brooke spied her sister wearing one of Brooke’s jackets. With the hood up against the rain, Leah had crossed the street and was hurrying into the park.

Marilee was dead to the world for all intents and purposes, so Brooke was alone in the house.

She took advantage of it.

She didn’t have much time because she wasn’t certain how long Leah would be out. Marilee could sleep forever, and Neal wasn’t going to return from the country club for hours, so Leah was the unknown. She could be gone for two hours or return in fifteen minutes.

Remembering how Gideon had made comments about her and Neal making love, she went to their bedroom. If, as she suspected, he’d somehow invaded her home either physically or electronically or both, she wanted to find out how he got in, what surveillance equipment he’d installed, and where.

As rain drizzled down the windows, she stood in the middle of the room and scoured the walls and ceiling for any hint of a tiny camera or microphone. Slowly, she rotated, surveying every inch in the plaster walls and dark window casings with her eyes. If there was a camera hidden, she’d certainly see a flaw, something disturbed in the room.

Nothing.

And time was ticking by. She wouldn’t have the house to herself forever.

She looked under pictures and lamps and searched beneath the bed, where she came up empty. But there had to be something here.

Undeterred, she studied the closet doors and the line of sight when they hung open.

Again, she didn’t find anything obvious, nothing seemingly out of place.

If the spying equipment was in this room, it was well hidden or, conversely, hidden in plain sight and she was missing it.

Where, where, where?

“Come on, Brooke,” she said under her breath.

Her cell phone buzzed and she jumped. Leah’s number appeared on the screen. “Hey,” she answered, her eyes still scanning the room. “What’s up?”

“I thought I’d walk over to that little restaurant for a deli sandwich. It’s almost noon and my coffee’s wearing off. Want anything? I could bring it back.”