The lights snapped back on forty seconds later. Every bulb in the east wing lit up at once. The footsteps in the west wing stopped, and the house was quiet again.
I checked the door, the window, and the hallway to see if someone was out there, nothing was there. Then, I walked to the ground floor quickly and found Mrs. Delacroix in the kitchen.
“Power fluctuation,” she said. “It happens in the older wing sometimes.”
I nodded and went back upstairs. Power fluctuations don’t make footsteps. I said to myself.
I didn’t sleep.
Nathaniel Cross showed up the next morning, his car pulled in at ten forty-five. He hadn’t sent a message before coming.
I was in the sitting room pretending to read when Mrs. Delacroix brought him in. I had been expecting him since that phone call. I just didn’t
