Chapter Six

Chapter Six
Jill went to bed since she worked earlier than I did. I always had to unwind at night after coming home at ten thirty. I took a left over pasta salad out of the fridge and decided that would be my dinner. There was nothing in the house to drink except the grape soda we bought for Lincoln. I can assure you pasta salad and grape soda is not a match made in heaven. 

I watched the monitor for any activity at the John McKinley household but all was quite there just like at my house. I did have to hand it to John; his house always looked well kept. I didn’t see any grape soda stains anywhere. John had gone through the house turning out the lights and it looked like he was headed to bed. I knew Lincoln would be up early and that meant I would be up early as well. 

I tiptoed into Lincoln’s room to kiss him goodnight. When I came home after he had gone to bed, he seldom woke up when I kissed his forehead. He would wiggle a little and maybe turn over but never did he wake. I always left his door slightly open in case he woke up and got scared in the night.

I went to my room and got ready for bed. It was a tiring and trying day and I was ready for sleep. I brushed my teeth and changed clothes and was under covers in five minutes. Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep but this wasn’t one of those times. I fell asleep quickly and was sleeping soundly within minutes.

I don’t generally wake in the night after I have gone to sleep but this was a special occasion. I don’t normally have someone’s hands over my mouth in the middle of the night either. I could feel the pressure of someone sitting on the bed with me under them. I hadn’t felt that since Charles was killed. I don’t know who was in my house but I was too gripped by fear to ask. I wanted to scream and opened my mouth but sounds never came out. 

I didn’t recognize whoever it was. He wore a mask and was dressed in black. He held the sharp edge of a knife against my throat and my fear was indescribable. I worried they might do something to Lincoln too so I didn’t resist anything they asked or did. 

The man leaned forward and put his mouth close to my ear. I heard a rough deep voice talking. 

The intruder asked, “Do you know John McKinley?”

I played dumb and said, “I don’t know anyone by that name.” 

Technically I didn’t know him even though I knew of him. I thought that would be the end of that, but the intruder spoke again.

The Intruder said, “He knows you have been to his house and parked outside. He recognized your car. He knows you have talked to his neighbors. He knows you recognize him when he comes into your store.”

I didn’t respond to his questions because I still couldn’t. The lump in my throat felt as big as a bowling ball when I finally managed to swallow it. He was close enough for me to tell he had been eating something spicy. His breath was bad enough to make me turn up my nose. I only spoke when spoken to but my heart was pounding so loud I was sure he could hear me. 

He said, “Stop spying on him and leave him alone.”

I didn’t say anything, I just nodded my head and he stood up to leave. I felt some relief to have his weight off of me. He left quickly and quietly like a ninja. I lay there for several minutes before I could move my body. I had heard about being paralyzed with fear but I had never experienced it. I could now say I knew what it felt like. 

When I was able to move, I ran to Lincoln’s room to make sure he was okay. He was still sleeping quietly without a care in the world. I peeked in at Jill and she was sleeping soundly too. I went to the front door and it was locked, and all of the windows were locked as well. 

Nothing was disturbed and I would have thought it was all a dream until I saw the slightly muddy footprints across the floor. There was one set from the door and one set to the door. I opened the door and could see the trim on the frame had been pried apart where the latch was and someone had slid a card or other slim object into the slit and unlocked the door. It hadn’t been a Ninja, it was only a third rate crook using a credit card to get in. I was still shaken from the incident and would have loved to talk about it but didn’t want to wake anyone up. 

I took a look at our surveillance monitor but it was dark. Evidently John was still sleeping and whoever came here was one of his representatives. There was not much left to do so I decided to go back to sleep if I could. I was trembling from the visit so it would take me some time before the adrenaline rush subsided and I could get doze off.

My alarm clock was working and I could always depend on him. He stands about three feet tall, has blonde hair and yells my name when he jumps in bed with me. I knew he was ready for breakfast and I would tell Jill about our intruder later when Lincoln wasn’t around to hear the story. 

I made breakfast for Lincoln and got him ready for daycare. I would take him and drop him off then I could talk to Jill when I got back. It all went according to plan; I dropped Lincoln off and when I got back Jill was making herself something to eat.

I told Jill, “We had a visitor last night.”

Jill responded, “Who was here? I didn’t see anyone.”

I said, “Someone was in my room last night. He held a knife to my throat and told me to leave John McKinley alone. He held his hands over my mouth and he told me it would be a shame if something happened to my boy.”

Jill said, “I never heard anything or saw anything. You must have been dreaming.”

I replied, “Dreams don’t leave muddy footprints across the floor.”

The revelation about the footprints at least made Jill look across the floor. When it finally hit her that we had an intruder come in last night, she was obviously shaken. I had some things to do today.

I said, “I am going to go buy some better locks for the windows and doors.”

I was having thoughts about buying a gun but I would have to figure how to keep it out of the reach of Lincoln’s hands. I was already dressed from having to take Lincoln to daycare so I told Jill I would be back after I ran a few errands. 

I went to a home building store to look for locks and the gentleman there showed me some good stout locks and one that had a bar that allowed the door to be opened a couple of inches but that was all until it was released. 

After I got all of my locks and security hardware together I noticed some self-installing no wiring alarm systems. It was just what I needed. It would send a signal to the alarm which would emit a loud beeping sound like a smoke detector. 

I would have to use a credit card to purchase everything I picked up, but it would be well worth it. The alarm system also had a doorbell camera system and that would be good to have as well. I put it all in my shopping cart and headed for the checkout. I guess there is some irony to the story. The intruder used a credit card to gain entry into my house and I was about to use one to try to prevent him from doing it again. 

After I got everything loaded, I decided to stop by a friend’s house I knew. He was actually a friend of my late husband but he knew about guns. He had several and would be perfect for me to ask questions about their use. Dave was about the same age my husband was. At the age of thirty, he had become quite an expert on firearms of all kinds. 

The advantage of talking to Dave about guns was that he also sold guns and had a license to do so. It would be completely legit and he would do the background check needed to register the firearm purchase. I picked out a nine millimeter that he said I could learn to use with practice and he gave me a coupon for five free trips to a gun range he owned. He suggested I take the course for a conceal-carry license which would teach me some of the legal things I needed to know.

He told me, “Remember, every bullet you fire at someone has a lawyer attached to it.”

I replied, “Okay, I will take the course.”

I headed home with all of my new security devices ready for installation. I started installing and knew I would have the locks in place before Jill came home with Lincoln. I didn’t have work today so I had plenty of time. I sent Lincoln to daycare because I had a lot of errands to run. 

I took my new pistol and went to the gun range to practice. I didn’t want to be caught off guard. The nice young man who worked there gave me tips on loading and how to hold the pistol for the best accuracy. I started off pretty bad but I got a lot better. I was determined and that helped with a little time and effort. In the final round I was able to hit headshots and full mass easily even with the target moving. He told me the conceal and carry training would help me even more and I would have to demonstrate proficiency in order to pass their test along with a bunch of written questions about the legal stuff they would teach me.

I left for home and before I pulled into my parking spot I got a notification of an alarm trip at the apartment. I checked my alarm app’s camera to find it was Jill coming in through the front door. I was hoping to be home before her, but I didn’t make it and it scared her and Lincoln half to death.

I ran up the stairs and pushed the code into the keypad and the alarm stopped. Nobody monitored the alarm, it just annoyed you till it was shut off. Fortunately most tenants were still at work and I was able to turn it off before it had gone very long. 

Jill asked, “What’s going on?”

I said, “I took some measures for our safety after our late night visit.”

Lincoln asked, “What late night visit?”

I said, “Someone came by while you were sleeping that was not invited and I sent him away. There is nothing to fear now.”

That response seemed to satisfy Lincoln’s normal curiosity. Jill didn’t say anything and after I gave Lincoln a hug he went to watch cartoons on television. I had also shopped today and picked up some frozen pizza. That was what single mom’s usually have for pizza because money was always an issue.

Jill looked at the deadbolt locks I added to the doors and new locks for the windows. My security system was a couple of wireless motion sensors connected to the alarm. The doorbell camera was also wirelessly connected and fed to my phone. I could save the video or view the video at any time. 

I showed everything to Jill so she could disarm the alarm when she was coming or going at any time. I told her the code for the alarm was 4254, which was the house number of our suspect. I thought that was appropriate given the circumstances for me acquiring the system to begin with. My new pistol didn’t go unnoticed by Jill. She saw it in my purse. 

I yelled at Lincoln, “Do you want pizza for dinner?”  

Lincoln replied, “Yes mommy, of course.”

I knew the frozen pizza would be fine, it was the only kind he had ever had. Jill didn’t say anything about the gun, but I knew there would be a conversation about it later. I knew she had some fears about it but I had also bought a gun safe to keep it away from Lincoln and a combination would be needed to open it. 

I had pizza in the oven and that would keep everyone quiet for a while. I had a small one with just cheese because Lincoln wasn’t a big meat eater yet. I had an extra-large-barely fit in the oven pepperoni and sausage one for Jill and I to share. We didn’t get to have dinner together very often and I was looking forward to it. I wasn’t looking forward to the conversation Jill and I would be having later. 

I had the oven warmed up and knew it wouldn’t take long to cook the pizza once I removed it from its cardboard container. I picked up the small pieces of meat and cheese that had fallen into the box and placed it back on top of the pizza before putting it into the oven. I had also added a few things like bell peppers and mushrooms that always add to the cost if you buy it already there.

The smell of the pizza spread throughout the room and helped to fuel everyone’s appetite. I always attempted to get Lincoln to eat salad with his pizza but it seldom worked. He liked fruit and would eat any kind of berry but was not a big fan of salad. He did like tomatoes and would eat the little cherub tomatoes by the handfuls.