“He didn’t dupe you,” Noah said. “There were inconsistencies. Saul was lurking around.”
“I took it too far.”
Noah squeezed her hand. “It’s been a long day. A long week. You’re in bad shape. Let’s go home and regroup.”
Lick her wounds was more like it. Reluctantly, Josie let him lead her through to the living room. There was a weight on her chest that she wasn’t sure she’d ever be free of. Outside, several vehicles still lingered. Two ambulances, a few cruisers, and a couple of unmarked vehicles. The daylight was fading.
“Is he here?” Josie whispered.
Noah sighed. “He’s at the bottom of the driveway. I told Conlen not to let him past under any circumstances.”
“Does he know?”
“No, but I’m sure he’s figured it out by now.”
They’d pass Turner on the way out. She’d have to face him again. His pain, her failure.
You have my family’s blood on your hands, Quinn.
Noah’s hand pressed into her lower back. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
Josie started to trudge toward Noah’s vehicle but stopped when she heard the soft pop of glass breaking. From her periphery was a flash of light, dim but visible. Stopping in her tracks, she turned back toward the house.
“What was that?” asked Noah.
“The sconces,” she said absently.
Through the living room windows came more flashes and flickers.
“All those junction boxes were open,” Noah said. “I didn’t see any exposed wires, but this doesn’t seem good. If this place catches on fire up here, with the drought, it could be bad. We can turn off the breaker but maybe we should get an electrician up here just in case.”
From inside the lights flickered again.
“Yes,” said Josie, feet carrying her back toward the house. “Call one.”
She listened as Noah made a few phone calls, stopping at the threshold to the house. The sconces continued to dance with light.
“I’ve got someone coming up,” he told her, joining her in the doorway.
Flicker, flicker, flash, flash, flicker.
“Noah,” said Josie. “Did these flash like this at all while we were searching today?”
She hadn’t seen them, but she’d been in the other parts of the house or outside.
He scratched the side of his head. “A couple of times, yeah, but nothing like this.”
Flicker, flicker, flash, flash, flicker.
It was a pattern and it was getting faster.
“Jesus,” Noah muttered. “I should go hit the breaker now.”
Flicker, flicker, flash, flash, flicker.
It was a pattern. She was sure of it. Excitement stirred in her belly as she followed him to the basement. She’d already been down there three times. It was filled with old furniture and boxes of books. No evidence of Dani and Cassidy.
But there was a pattern.
