Too Close to Home Read Free Page A

basement had windows, the kind that came down about a foot from the ceiling. He jumped up on the couch so he could see outside.
    It was the Saab. The Langleys’ SUV.
    “Shit!” he said under his breath. “Shit!”
    He had to get out. He had to get out fast. He ran up the stairs to the back door, was about to open it when he realized that if he did, the house alarm would probably be set off. He’d have to enter the code first, but the keypad was by the front door.
    He started running down the hall, thinking maybe he could get to the front hall and enter the code before anyone came through the door, then run back through the house and out the back door.
    But then he saw shadows beyond the front door. It was Adam, with his mother right behind him.
    Derek stopped, turned, ran back for the basement. He could hear the front door opening, voices, Donna Langley saying, “I said I was sorry. You think I wanted to ruin everyone’s vacation?”
    He dropped to the floor in front of the crawlspace opening and was about to slide the door open when the basement lights went on. He knew there was a switch at the top of the stairs, which meant someone was coming down. Derek scurried into the narrow space between the back of the couch and the wall, figuring he was pretty well covered, but Jesus, what if someone came down and decided to watch TV?
    Someone did come down the stairs right then. Derek heard the beer fridge open, a couple of things get put into it, then Adam, shouting upstairs, “Should I refreeze the ice packs?”
    Derek wondered whether to get his attention, fess up, enlist Adam’s help in getting him out of the house. Adam might be pissed, but there was no way he’d tell. His parents would find a way to blame him. But before he could make up his mind what to do, Adam was going back upstairs. But the light stayed on. Derek thought maybe he’d come back. Derek could make out some of the conversations upstairs.
    Mr. Langley: “Honey, just go to bed. We’ll unpack.”
    Mrs. Langley: “Maybe, in the morning, I’ll feel better.”
    Mr. Langley: “Yeah, well, whatever. Maybe Adam and I will go up, you can join us when you’re feeling better. Honestly, your timing.”
    Mrs. Langley: “For Christ’s sake, you think I wanted to get sick?”
    Mr. Langley: “I’ll be up in a minute.”
    Okay, so if they went to bed, the only one to worry about was Adam. And if he went to bed, Derek would wait till they were all asleep, sneak upstairs, enter the code, get out the back door. So long as Penny didn’t change her mind, sneak out of her own house and come over, Jesus, let’s hope
that
didn’t happen—
    Mr. Langley: “Who the hell’s that?”
    Derek thought,
Shit, is he talking about me?
How could he know Derek was down here, how could he see—
    No, someone outside, tires crunching on gravel, then stopping. The sound of a car door closing.
    Christ, no. Not drop-in company this time of night.
    Adam: “I don’t know who it is, Dad.”
    Derek thought he could hear footsteps outside, then Albert Langley saying something, probably with the door open.
    It sounded as though someone else, maybe two people, he wasn’t sure, had come into the house.
    Some muffled talk. Mr. Langley saying, “Who did you say you are?”
    A new voice. Just snippets of sentences. Then one word, really clear: “Shame.” And then: “Son of a bitch.”
    That was when Derek heard the first shot. Then Adam, screaming. “Dad! Dad!”
    Mrs. Langley, sounded like from up on the second floor: “Albert! Albert! What’s going on?”
    And then Adam: “Mom! Don’t come—”
    That was when Derek heard the second shot. The sound of something—someone—falling down some stairs.
    Then, footsteps running through the house. At least two sets, frantic running, from the front of the house to the back. Only lasting a second or two.
    Derek heard a third shot, then someone tumbling down the half flight of stairs toward the back door.
    After that, it was very