Two Steps Back (Moving Forward) by Emily R Pearson

Author:Emily R Pearson
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2014-07-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Jenny didn’t mind staying back at my place while Dawson, Sterling, and I went to search Richard’s house—my old childhood home. The home I hadn’t been to in so long that I’d lost count of the years. Dawson called the department and had a car come sit watch over the place so Jenny wasn’t left unguarded. James might have stayed silent lately, but he wouldn’t forever.

When we pulled up the redbrick three-story prison, I stayed silent. This house was full of mixed memories. Some good, others not so good. The worst ones of all didn’t even consist of Richard. They were of my mom dying right before my eyes. I went and stayed at my grandma’s permanently, what was now my house, when I was nine, not long after her illness had really kicked in. It was easier that way for all of us. I didn’t have to watch my mother struggle and Richard could continue to hide all of his secrets. After seeing the doctor’s notes in his safe, I knew that things were much worse after I’d left than I could have ever imagined.

The house was just as haunting as I remembered. The bricks were chipping away and faded from the sunlight. The windows were dirty, and they held a sense of darkness when I looked at them. An eerie feeling crawled across my skin by just looking at them. The poor upkeep of the landscape didn’t do much to keep the eeriness of the place at bay. Most of the grass was dead and the flower beds were consumed with weeds. The garage door looked like someone had attempted to paint it red but changed their mind halfway through and power-washed the fresh paint away. It was dented and worn, and the lights on either side were hanging on by a thread.

We parked in the driveway, and I took a deep breath before getting out of the car.

“How long has it been since you’ve been here?” Dawson asked.

“Too many years to keep track of. I sure as hell don’t remember it ever looking this poorly taken care of. We had a maintenance team that kept up the yard and outside appearances. He must have gotten rid of him by the looks of it.”

“Yeah. It looks abandoned or some shit,” Sterling said.

“Might as well have been. Richard spent most of his time at the firm. The room just past his office is a makeshift bedroom. He has a bed back there and everything. If I had to guess, he didn’t stay here much at all.”

Jenny had even mentioned to me before that he’d rarely ever gone home. I wondered how long that had been going on.

“That’s shitty. What are we looking for?” Sterling asked.

“Anything that might look helpful. Paperwork, contracts, pictures—anything,” Dawson answered. “There isn’t anything specific we came to look for. Seth figured it wouldn’t hurt to check it out since we didn’t find much at his office.”

“If you don’t think he stayed here, why do you think he’d leave personal shit lying around?” Sterling had a point.

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