The Silent Places by Skyla Dawn Cameron

Author:Skyla Dawn Cameron [Cameron, Skyla Dawn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyla Dawn Cameron
Published: 2020-12-01T16:00:00+00:00

October 30

5 Days Before the Storm

I don’t really sleep.

After bringing down blankets and pillows for Owen, I go upstairs and shuffle Nadia over to squeeze in the bed next to her. Convincing her to sleep in my room would be better for the space, but she’s sound asleep and the only way I’ll get any rest is if I’m with her so I know she’s safe.

When I get up in the morning, Owen is gone already. The blanket and pillow are folded up on the end of the couch. The door’s bolted because before I went to bed, I gave him the key to lock up in the morning. It’s something I debated, but even if he took it and copied the key, there would be new locks soon, and I’d see them come out of the packages to ensure he wasn’t alone with the keys. I’m planning to hit Canadian Tire myself today get a replacement for the current deadbolt.

It’s not a trip I want to take Nadia on, so I text Janelle. She’s not home but Easton is, and he’s happy to have Nadia there while I run some errands.

It takes me an hour but it’s still before noon, and everything is packed discreetly in the back when I pick my daughter up. We hit a drive-thru for lunch on the way home.

I’ve kept her from seeing the graffiti on the house. When we left in the morning, I made an excuse to move the SUV and turned it so the back was to the door and got her right in without looking back. Now I back in again and make some excuse about mud and pick her up, carrying her for the door so she can’t see the vandalism. Once she’s inside, I head back and start carting bags and boxes in.

Nadia settles with the TV and her lunch—she jumps at a rare chance to eat in the living room, even though a TV and couch hardly qualify—and is occupied while I take two trips upstairs.

First, I install the gun safe.

I drag out Nick’s tools and carefully bolt it to the floor inside the master bedroom closet. It’s out of sight but can be accessed by brushing my clothes to the side. I’m aware of the risks of a gun in the home, but just about everyone in Red Fox Lake has at least one, and there’s no way Nadia will get in the safe. Nick and I went over the pros and cons, the logistics, and I’ve settled on what our plan had been—except I’ve installed the safe in the closet instead of the basement. The safe needs a combination as well, and I dwell on that. I know all the reasons for not choosing a significant date—too easy for someone else to guess, primarily—but the code needs to be something that is ingrained in my memory, that I won’t trip over in the heat of the moment. I move my hands over the number pad

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