CHAPTER 33
THE EERIE SILENCE of the house was getting to Riley. She’d thumbed through the magazines and grown bored with the coffee table book detailing the history of designer labels. She stood and paced beside the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the inlet and wondered if, during daylight on a clear day, Mt. Rainier would be visible. The atmosphere in the house was oppressive. She could no longer sit and it felt like there wasn’t enough air to breathe. She stepped out onto the front patio, removed her surgical draperies, and walked across the lawn to the west side of the house, drawing in great gasps of fresh air, waiting for the pent-up frustration to seep out of her.
Here, she could see the last of the sunset, deep red streaks running through a rusty orange. The sky was dirty. Sh
