24
There were no lights on in the house. Shawn walked up the sloping path, his pace slowing as he craned his neck, searching for any sign of life. A single lamp was lit in one of the bay windows in the front room, but he knew that Elisabeth would have left the lamp on if she had gone out, so that wasn't proof of anything. The other windows were dark, and the porch light was on.
He stomped up the porch steps. There was a new film of light snow coating the walkway, and more snow was predicted for the evening. Not much, apparently, only an inch or two, but this was considerable for pre-Thanksgiving weather. And it was cold, bitter cold. The mercury would be dipping down to zero that evening.
He was a day early because he couldn't stand to wait. Beth had agreed to see him tomorrow, but afte
