A Penny for your Thoughts (On Hold)

Chapter Three

The taxi’s dashboard clock read 4:11 AM when it pulled up outside the cottage.  “That’ll be fifteen dollars, Caroline,” Joe Carbone said, hooking his elbow over the seat, and half-turning around where he could see Caroline. “Do you need any help getting into the house?”

“Nah. I think I can do it. Thanks anyway, Joe,” Caroline said, handing Joe a twenty dollar bill. “Keep the change. I appreciate you getting up to come get me at such an ungodly hour.”

“Did they find that man you stumbled across yet?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Caroline mumbled and slid out of the back seat. The pain medicine they gave her at the hospital still had her a little woozy. She clutched the top of the car window to keep her balance.

Guilt overwhelmed her. She should have done more to help the man. She could have tried to drag him further up on the beach, out of the reach of the outgoing tide. Called on one of her neighbors to help. Instead, she had done nothing. She never thought about doing any of those things. Did that make her a bad person?

“You all right, Caroline?” Joe asked.

“Yeah. Just a little tipsy from the pain shot they gave me at the hospital.”

“Lucky girl!” Joe laughed.

“Yeah right. See you later, Joe. Give Allison my love.”

“You ought to come over sometime. Allison can’t get out too much with the baby so close. She’d welcome the company. It might do you some good, too.”

“I might do that, Joe, as soon as my wrist gets a little better.” Caroline made her excuses as she shoved away from the car. The disadvantage of living in a small town. Everyone knew your business, Caroline thought to herself.

She closed the car door behind her and stood there in the dark. Joe tooted his horn as he slid away from the curb and headed down the street. Caroline faced the driveway. It seemed two miles long right now. She gritted her teeth and wobbled towards the front door.

She didn’t remember leaving so many lights on. She slid the key into the deadbolt, thinking could Gran have come home early? If so, she was probably worried sick, Caroline grimaced as she opened the door and stepped inside.

“Gran?” She called out and closed the door. She stepped into the living room. “You home, Gran?” Caroline flipped switches off as she walked through the house, heading towards the guest bedroom she had been calling home of late.

The further through the house she walked, the more she sensed something wrong but in her befuzzled state, she laid it to a bad case of nerves. People didn’t just sense a presence, did they? She asked herself.

Her shoes sounded loud on the tile floor of Gran’s galley kitchen, so she slipped them off. The refrigerator hummed into life, causing her to jump. A drop of water plopped loudly in the sink, adding a cadence to the refrigerator’s hum.

Automatically, Caroline turned the faucet on, then off quickly; the only way to keep it from dripping. A trick very few people knew, so whenever anyone other than she or Gran used the kitchen sink, they always knew. Had the paramedics used the sink while they were here? Caroline couldn’t remember. Shrugging, she headed towards the back door.

She nearly convinced herself that she had been imagining things when she saw the drop of blood on the floor by the back door. That hadn’t been there earlier. A rhythmic murmur caught her attention. She glanced to her left.

The door to the laundry room stood ajar. The sound of clothes tumbling in the dryer was deafening in the silent house as she approached it. It lifted the hair on the nape of her neck.

Taking a deep breath, Caroline pushed the door open all the way.