We all walked back to the house, where everyone was waiting for us after having seen the sheriff sprint out the back gate. I told everyone what had happened and watched all the color fade out of my mom’s face.
“We’re okay, Mom.”
She pulled me to her and then grabbed Daniel with her other arm. “This has to end,” she whispered to me. “Tomorrow, you and I go sleuthing.”
The next morning I woke with a start to find my mother standing over me. That alone was a surprise, but when my eyes finally focused and I saw that she was dressed completely in black with a knit cap on her perfectly styled hair, I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep and pretend this was a dream.
No such luck. Mom was up and ready to “look for clues” as she said, and I had to really restrain myself from saying, “G
