Page 20 of Midnight Creed

“Did you forget something, Buddy?”

Will dug in his backpack, emptying items onto the seat.

“I think I forgot my markers.”

“We can stop and buy some.”

“These aren’t the regular kind. Miss Rosa usually helps me pack my bag.”

He didn’t seem upset. Just frustrated. Already, he was stuffing everything back inside, but doing it haphazardly. She packed for him when it was time to leave her apartment. She didn’t mind. He was seven. But she didn’t realize this was something Dora had left for the housekeeper to do. Now she wondered if Miss Rosa was the one who reminded him to comb his hair and make sure he chose a shirt that wasn’t wrinkled.

“Miss Rosa wasn’t there today to help you?” she asked.

“No.”

“Is she on vacation?”

“I think she’s dead.”

“Will! That’s not funny. And it’s not a nice thing to say.”

“I saw her fall down the stairs last week, and she hasn’t been back since.”

“I’m sure she’s probably taking time off to recover.”

“Her body looked all weird.” He pantomimed, flinging his arms out and twisting his body. “She didn’t get back up. She didn’t even move.”

“Did the ambulance come?”

Will shrugged and went back to drawing. “I don’t know,” he said. “Nanna made me go to my room. It looks out over the backyard, so I couldn’t see.”

“Did you ask Nanna about her?”

“She just said Miss Rosa wouldn’t be coming back.” Another shrug. “Hey, are we gonna see Jason? I did some drawings I want to show him.”

“I don’t know, Will. Maybe. We’ll see.” She wasn’t sure what she was going to do about Jason. She wondered about the housekeeper. Would he make up such a story?

“I’m doing a whole new series with him as the superhero. It’s so cool. His mechanical arm can lift cars and shoot death rays. I wanna show him the first drawings.”

“That’s great, Will. I’m sure he’ll be excited to see the pictures.”

“Not pictures, Mom. They’re drawings, and when I add color, they’ll be illustrations.”

Then it occurred to Taylor. “Did you show them to Nanna?”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t always like my stuff.”

And now Taylor understood the reason Dora might not want Jason around. Could it be that simple? She didn’t want another man replacing her son in her grandson’s life.

14

Florida Panhandle

Creed had texted Hannah earlier, so he knew she was in the kennel when he arrived. He let Bolo into the fenced yard to stretch his legs, but the dog headed for the electronic dog door, ready for a meal and rest.

He barely stepped into the warehouse-sized facility when he heard the skittering of nails trying to gain traction on the floor. The Jack Russell terrier raced at him across the wide expanse. Other dogs followed in her wake. Grace slid into his legs. Her backend wiggled so fiercely her tail almost thumped against her head.

“Hey, Grace! Hey guys.” He dropped to his knees and elbows and gave her his face.