“What’s that noise?” Rusty asked, wild eyed. His right hand hovered dangerously above his holstered weapon.
“That’s why I called you,” Mimi said. “It started about ten, maybe fifteen minutes ago.”
A man wearing sweatpants and a Florida State Seminoles T-shirt walked up behind Rusty. Mimi recognized him as Hank Brewer, one of Whispering Bay’s volunteer firemen. “What’s going on, Mimi? I got the call for a code orange and I came over as fast as I could,” Hank said. Two more members of the fire department were walking across her lawn and an ambulance came to a screeching halt in front of the mailbox.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Rusty placed his hand up in the air signaling everyone to stand back. “Until the chief arrives, I’m in control here, people!” he yelled to the gathering crowd. He turned to her, “Mimi, you get on back in the house and let us take care of this. I’m going to divide a team up, swat style, to case the perimeter of the house. No matter what you hear going on, even if it’s screaming or shots or anything else dangerous sounding, don’t open the door to anyone unless you recognize them. Got it?”
Shots? Oh my God. “Okay, got it.” Mimi locked the door behind her. She hated leaving Rusty and the rest of the group alone outside but they were the professionals here, and besides, what could she do? She’d just get in the way.
She looked out the living room window to count the cars in her yard. It
was now up to four patrol cars (half the Whispering Bay squad), an ambulance, a fire truck and at least five civilian cars. Mrs. Manley from across the street stood in her front yard wearing her pajamas with her hair in curlers. She held up a cell phone toward Mimi’s house, like she was filming the whole thing.
Another patrol car drove up the street, but instead of parking along the curb, it pulled straight into her driveway. Her phone buzzed. It was Zeke.
“Mimi, are you okay?” he sounded hoarse with worry. Their gazes locked through the living room window as he got out of the police cruiser. “I’ve tried calling you the whole drive over but I keep getting the busy signal.”
“Sorry, I was on the phone with Ellie. And yeah, I’m okay. But I think Toby’s on the verge of a heart attack.”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
“Do you hear that?” Mimi asked.
“I hear it.”
“I think it’s coming from the right side of the house, somewhere near our bedroom window. Why is someone still trying to get in? Can’t they see all these cars? Why haven’t they run off, for God’s sake?”
“Keep the phone nearby and stay inside the house. I’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as I do.” She wanted to tell him to be careful, but he’d already hung up.
Mimi began to pace the living room. Between the noise from all the cars and all the people, Toby’s persistent barking, and that horrible thumping sound, she felt like her ears were going to explode.
And then, she heard another noise which sounded suspiciously like…laughter?
She peered out the living room window again. The fire engine was taking off, as well as a couple of the police cruisers. She saw Rusty shaking hands with some of the paramedics and the neighbors were going back into their houses.
Thump! Thump!
What was going on? Obviously, they hadn’t caught the culprits yet, so why were they were leaving?
Rusty and Zeke exchanged some words, and then Rusty began motioning for everyone to go home.
Okay. This was it. She’d had enough. She deserved to know why everyone was abandoning her. She went to go outside, then realized she was barefoot and wearing nothing but a camisole and a pair of baggy flannel pajama bottoms. She grabbed a robe and some flip-flops and went out the front door. Zeke was the only one left in the yard.
“What’s going on? Why did everyone leave?”
Thump! Thump!
Zeke grinned.
“What the hell is going on here, Zeke? I’m glad you think this is funny, but—”
He took her by the elbow and led her around to the side of the house.
“What? Where are we going? Is it safe to—”
Thump! Thump!