Silent Footsteps

"Mr. Armstrong, please, I'm going to need you to calm down."

"Calm down? How the fuck are you going to tell me to calm down. This person was in my house, watching my wife sleep, while my kids were home for Christ's sake!" I bellowed at Finley. He raised his hands, defensively.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be upset, I'm just asking you to-"

"I'm a little more than upset, Detective," I spat. He sighed. I groaned as I rubbed my eyes. "Look, like I said, the alarm was set, but didn't go off. The doors were locked and none of the windows were open, what else do you need to know?"

Finley stared me for a second, holding his pen and notepad. He dropped his eyes, shaking his head.

"Nothing, uh, nothing, that should be enough," he muttered, frustratedly. I nodded and turned towards the road. The whir of an engine caught my attention. I watched as the familiar truck turned into the driveway. Mike stepped out, his normally spiky hair laying flat against head. I could tell he had rushed over here, and felt a pang of guilt looking again at his disheveled hair and sleepy eyes. He jogged across the lawn to where I was standing, seeing as our house was now a crime scene.

"Billie, what happened? Is everyone all right, I came as quick as I could-" his words seemed to blur together, he was speaking so fast.

"We're all fine, everybody's fine." I saw the worry fade a bit from his eyes.

"What the hell happened? You said somebody was in your house?"

"Yeah, the fucking freak left another note saying they watched Adrienne sleep," I felt my rage returning, and judging from the way Mike's face twisted in disgust, he felt the same way.

"That's sick," he growled. "What do Joey and Jakob think is going on?"

"We told them that someone broke in, we didn't tell them that it was while we were home though," I looked up at Mike. "I know they'll be safe with you, but can you just...just make sure they feel safe, I mean, they don't really understand what's happening here, and I just don't want them to be scared, y'know?" Mike stared right back at me, never breaking eye contact.

"Absolutely, I'll make sure they're okay,"

"Thank you." He nodded at me, brushing it off. "I mean it," I said. "For everything, I really appreciate it." He gave me a sad smile.

"So where are the car seats?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head and glancing back towards his truck.

"I'll grab 'em, they're in the garage," I walked along the side of the house to the garage. A cop stepped in front of me, blocking my way. I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn't in the mood to be locked out of my own garage, but one of the other detectives, Tyre, I think his name was, nodded at him to let me through.

I paused for a moment, after walking through the door. My eyes swept the room. The lawn mower, Joey's scooter, a skateboard, a ladder, some old paint cans, all the other shit we never used. Nothing seemed out of place. I shivered, somehow this room was always colder than it was outside. I opened the car door and struggled for a moment trying to undo Jake's carseat. Joey's was easier because it was smaller, really just a booster seat more than anything else. Once I had them both, I started back the way I'd come, nodding at the detective.

Mike saw me and walked over, keys in hand. I helped him secure the seats into his truck, neither of us speaking. Finally, everything was situated and I went to grab Joey and Jake. The two of them were sitting on the sidewalk talking to a plain clothes officer, one of the first responders. He seemed to have calmed them down quite a bit, I could hear Joey giggling and Jake was smiling at him, shyly.

"Hey guys, how ya holding up?" I asked, crouching down in front of them.

"Good," Joey mumbled. Jakob didn't respond.

"That's good. Are you guys ready to go to Uncle Mike's?" Joey shrugged, but Jake nodded this time.

"Are you coming, Dad?" Joey asked, nervously. I squeezed his shoulder.

"Not just yet, buddy. Me and your mom have to answer a few more questions for the police officers." He nodded, slowly. I stood up and held out my hand.

"All right, let's go," I said. Jakob grabbed my hand and Joey shuffled along behind us. Mike smiled and helped Joey up, while I plopped Jake into the seat.

"Are you guys ready to have a totally awesome time at Uncle Mike's?!" Mike joked, enthusiastically. Joey and Jake laughed in agreement.

"All right, be good. I'll be over before you guys go to bed, okay? I love you," I said, shutting the door.

"Love you, too, Dad," Joey said.

"Love you, Daddy," Jakob practically whispered. Mike nodded at me and began to back out of the driveway. I waved until they were out of sight, my heart sinking. Looking back towards the house, I could see Adrienne talking with yet another officer. She kept shaking her head and gesturing towards our room in the top corner of the house. After a few more seconds, she walked away, throwing her arms up in the air.

She stormed over to me from across the lawn. Anyone could see that she was upset, but there was something else in her eyes. Guilt.

"They made me feel so stupid!" She cried. Her hands balled into little fists at her sides. I could tell she was fighting off tears.

"Adie-"

"They kept saying 'how could you not have seen anything, he was right next to you!' And I know that now, but I was half asleep, I wasn't thinking clearly-"

"Adrienne, this wasn't your fault. I was sleeping right next to you, and I didn't even wake up!" I protested. She sat down on the lawn, crossing her arms. The tears squeezed out of her eyes and rolled slowly down her cheeks. I sat down next to her and tried my best to wipe them away. She leaned her head into my chest.

"Why is this happening to us?" She sniffed. I wrapped my arms around her.

"I don't know," I whispered, and rubbed her back as she cried.