A sharp rapping on the door snapped him into alertness. It was loud, and seemed to echo throughout the entire house. Chap lifted a corner of the drapes again and looked at the man. He had to be making a mistake, surely. The car parked in front of his house could not be the same car that had been following him. Through the fog of confusion, he knew it was. He dropped the curtain, crossed back to his chair and sat facing the door.
His visitor knocked again. Chap raised the weapon and aimed at a point just above the middle of the door, about chest height. He moistened his lips with his tongue and softly cleared his throat. “It’s open,” he called loudly.
He watched the knob begin to turn and then the door swung slowly open.
Stony-faced and determined, Chap watched Dr. Lee Richardson enter t
