Home Invasion Read Online Free PDF Page B

her fingers. “I love you,” she whispered to him.
    “Did you say something?” Bobby asked. He was staring at the floor.
    Again Kathy held her breath. Had Bobby noticed the broken glass on the carpet? Had he figured out what she was up to?
    Bobby lifted his feet off the table and stretched out on the sofa. He laid his head against one of the sofa’s soft brown pillows and took another sip from the whisky bottle. He closed his eyes. “I’m watching you,” he said.
    Was he? Kathy wondered. Or was he about to pass out from all the liquor he’d been drinking?
    Kathy began gently rubbing the piece of glass in her hands against the rope. Back and forth, back and forth. Soon gentle snoring came from the sofa. Seconds later, the almost-empty bottle slipped from Bobby’s hands and fell to the floor.

Chapter Six

    Kathy waited until she was sure that Bobby was asleep. Then she pushed herself onto her knees. “Bobby,” she called softly. Then again, a little louder, “Bobby!”
    Bobby said nothing.
    “Bobby,” Kathy called a third time. She wondered if Bobby was really asleep or if he was just playing with her.
    Bobby snored again.
    I don’t have much time, Kathy thought. I have to move fast. Bobby might not sleep for long. Steve would phone any minute to tell Bobby he had the money. It would be Bobby’s turn to “take care of the rest.”
    Kathy tried harder to cut through the rope at her wrists, but she had no luck. She kept losing her grip on the glass. “It’s not working,” she cried. “I can’t do this.”
    Bobby flipped over onto his side. Now he faced her. Are his eyes open? Kathy wondered. Does he know what I’m doing? Does he think this is funny? Kathy stared through the darkness. She was afraid to move.
    She sat still until she knew for sure that Bobby was asleep. Then she tried again to cut through the rope. But her hands were shaking. Once again, the glass slipped, cutting into her skin instead of the rope. Kathy cried out in pain as she dropped the glass.
    Bobby stirred with the sound of her cry, but he didn’t wake up.
    I’m so stupid, Kathy moaned. No wonder my stepdaughter hates me. Lisa thinks I’m stupid and silly and not worth her time. And Lisa is right. I’m useless. I can’t do anything. No wonder Lisa hates me.
    Guilt suddenly stabbed her. When the two masked men had grabbed her in the hall, Kathy’sfirst thought had been to blame Lisa. Steve and Bobby had likely got into the house through Lisa’s open window. She had felt pretty sure that the men were friends of Lisa’s. For a few seconds, Kathy had even wondered whether Lisa might be the brains behind this home invasion.
    And all the time, it was my fault, Kathy thought now. I’m the one who let Bobby inside the house when he delivered my groceries. Kathy remembered leading Bobby through the front hall and dining room into the kitchen. She’d told him to put the groceries on the counter. She said she liked the spider tattoo on the back of his hand, even though she really found it creepy. Bobby, in turn, had pointed out the ants, just as he had in her dream. He even gave her the name of a product that would get rid of the ants. “Nice house,” Bobby had said before he left.
    At the time, Kathy thought he was a very sweet young man. Which just goes to show what a great judge of people I am, Kathy thought now.
    She pictured Michael. Hadn’t she once thought Michael was very sweet, too? In high school, she’d been crazy about him, bragging about their greatlove to all her friends. And then he’d dumped her without warning for one of those friends. What a jerk Michael had turned out to be.
    And yet I answered Michael’s emails, Kathy thought. I met him for coffee, not once, but twice. After all these years, I let him steal back into my mind and my heart and my life. Why? Because Michael is handsome and charming and I’m restless and a little bored? Because I’m tired of trying to win over my stepdaughter and want to return