Outfox

“Roger that. Eyes peeled.”

“I’m on my way back to the house.”

He decided to go in through the screened porch, the obvious reason being that it couldn’t be seen from the street. But, also, that was the area of the house with which he was most familiar.

The latch on the screen door didn’t present a challenge. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and had the flimsy lock busted within seconds. The lock on the solid back door took longer to pick, but he managed it easily enough. Then, with Mike’s foreboding about booby traps in mind, he held his breath and pushed open the door. The alarm began to beep. He punched in the new code as he’d heard Talia recite it the night before.

The beeping ceased.

He closed the door. Moving from window to window in the kitchen, he scanned various sections of the property, looking for a sign that he’d been spotted. But there was no movement except for rainwater dripping from the eaves and causing ripples in the puddles beneath.

Satisfied that he’d gotten inside without detection, he let out his breath, and that exhalation was the only sound in the house. The silence was absolute. No ticking clock or hum of an electrical appliance, no gentle whirring of air passing through a vent. Nothing.

Adding to the eeriness of the silence was the gloom. Blinds and shutters had been left open, but the dreary day had created a premature dusk. The light that did leak into the house was so feeble, Drex had to give his eyes time to adjust to the dimness.

When Mike had recovered the real estate listing for the house, he’d printed out the included floor plan. Drex had familiarized himself with it so, even though he’d only been in a few of the downstair rooms, he knew the layout of the house. He made his way from the kitchen, through the formal dining room, and into the two-story foyer where the main staircase curved gracefully upward to the second floor.

He had decided to begin upstairs, do a general walk-through to see what each room consisted of and determine what it might yield, then search the spaces one by one in order of priority.

He climbed the stairs to the landing. Extending from it was a wide hallway, and midway down it, a set of double doors. He pushed them open and stepped into the master suite. Moving his gaze from left to right, he took in the entire room, mentally cataloguing the furnishings. The bed was positioned even with the double doorway and directly in front of him. He walked over and stood at the foot of it.

They’d left it made, decorative throw pillows attractively placed. Identical night tables bracketed the upholstered headboard. The items on them indicated who slept on which side of the bed. On Jasper’s were a lamp and alarm clock only. On Talia’s were a matching lamp and alarm clock, but also a crystal tray holding several pieces of jewelry, which she must have removed just before climbing into bed. Drex recognized the bracelet and a pair of gold hoop earrings that she’d worn to dinner on Thursday night.

A crystal pump bottle contained what appeared to be hand lotion. He told himself not to, but he rounded the end of the bed, leaned down, and sniffed. It was her fragrance, and it caused a twinge of longing. He cursed himself for being a damn fool.

Not allowing himself to dwell on the evidence of marital domesticity, he rapidly looked through the drawers of her night table. A hardcover fiction book, a paperback travel book on Norway, a box of personalized stationery in the name of Talia Shafer. Not Ford. That gave him a small sense of satisfaction.

The drawers contained nothing remarkable or intensely personal. Thank God. He couldn’t have borne that. But maybe Jasper kept the sex toys in his nightstand.

Drex moved to that side of the bed and opened the drawers one by one. He didn’t find items used for sexual enhancement or kinky bedroom antics. He didn’t find anything. Nothing. Nada. The drawers were empty. He tapped on the back of the piece to see if it was false. It seemed solid, and the inside dimensions of the drawer matched those of the outside.

He looked under the bed. No doubt Jasper would find that highly amusing. There was nothing there.

Next he went to a chest of drawers. The first drawer he opened attested that it was Jasper’s. Undershorts—an expensive name brand—were folded and lined up in rows that a seasoned valet would have been challenged to match in terms of straightness. The sock drawer was the same. In one drawer, the arrangement of silk pocket handkerchiefs looked like a canvas of modern art.

Drex was tempted to upend each drawer on the floor, if for no other reason than to make a mess in Jasper’s pristine environment. He decided to wait until he had finished his overview, but damned if he wasn’t going to start with this drawer of fancy hankies.

Jasper’s closet looked like a men’s store on Rodeo Drive. Impeccable. Every garment was perfectly hung with an inch of space in between. Shirts, pants, jackets were grouped by color. His shoes were aligned as though he’d used a ruler to make sure the toes didn’t extend beyond the edge of the shelf.

Had Jasper arranged everything with such precision so he would know if somebody had touched his things?

Drex was pondering that when his cell phone vibrated, startling him and causing him to jump. He pulled the phone from his jeans pocket and answered in an unnecessary whisper. It was Gif.

“They didn’t show.”

“What?”

“They didn’t show.”

“What’s that mean?”

Gif made a sound of impatience. “They didn’t check in or go through security.”

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“You must have missed them.”

“No, I didn’t. Security is in plain sight.”