There's an Invisible Man Sleeping in My Bed

Chapter 45

            A soft clatter near the window drew Colt’s attention away from the book he’d been reading. Frowning, he stood, laying a stray hair in the book’s crease to mark his spot. He turned off the lamp before gently moving the heavy curtains to one side. Moonlight streamed over him, dyeing the lawn silver. It also revealed three shadows hovering by the back door.

            Colt’s eyes narrowed, recognizing the shapes as being of three men. He let the curtain fall and slipped through the house until he was standing by the same door they were. Pressing one ear against the wood, he strained to hear more than the indistinct muffled noise that was all he was getting. The rattle of the door handle being tried answered his question about what their intentions were.

            He hurried up the stairs, glad that Thalia’s parents were off on another of their trips. It saved them both from awkward explanations. Reaching Thalia’s room, he stopped just beside her bed, taking in her sleeping form. As always, she’d managed to contort herself so she was lying diagonally across the bed, one foot pressed against the opposite knee and one hand dangling right off the mattress.

            He hesitated for a second about waking her, but knew she’d be safer alert. He reflected that this would be the second time he’d had to wake her this way. One hand laid gently on her shoulder, he clamped the other over her mouth, in case she screamed at the sudden touch.

            Her eyes flew open and jumped around, looking for him. “Sshhh,” he said, voice barely audible. “There are men outside attempting entry. Stay here and lock the door behind me. I’ll deal with them.”

            Colt stepped away, letting his hand slide off her but stopped dead when he felt a hand scrabble at his back. He turned to look back at her. Her eyes searched the darkness for him in vain. “Wait,” she whispered. “Stay here for a few minutes and let them try getting in.”

            “Why? It’s dangerous.”

            The light coming in through her window made her eyes shine silver. “I trapped the doors and windows on the first floor. I want to see if they trigger them. If they’re Builders, as I suspect they are, then it’ll be better if I wait until they’ve actually broken in to call the cops. I want a record of what they’ve been doing, if it’s possible.”

            He shook his head. “I don’t like it.”

            “Please,” she said, holding her hand out to him. “If they’re Builders, they might have something that could hurt or trap you. Just wait a few minutes with me?”

            Colt looked down at her hand, then towards the door, the back at her hand. He sighed, taking it and sitting down beside her. Feeling her shift closer, he decided he’d made the right choice. “How long are we going to wait?”

            Thalia leaned her head against his shoulder, the faint tremor I his hand telling him that she wasn’t anywhere near as calm as she was pretending to be. “Just a few minutes. If they set off any of the traps, we’ll know.”

            About to ask how, Colt jerked his head towards the door when he heard a massive crash come from downstairs. It was followed almost immediately by a scream from the other side of the house. “Looks like someone tried the front and back doors,” Thalia said, straightening. “I’m going to call the cops now.”

            She grabbed her cell phone where it lay on her bedside table, fingers tapping out 911. A moment later, Colt couldn’t believe his ears. Voice filled with fear and tears, hand trembling in his, she said “Someone just tried to break into my house. My parents are away and I set up traps because they’ve been gone a lot lately and I just heard someone set them off. I’m really scared. Please, can you send the police?”

            One last shriek rang out from below them, drawing Colt’s attention to what Thalia was saying, though he did squeeze her hand. He heard clattering and running footsteps, followed almost immediately by the back door slamming. He frowned, wanting to see what exactly had happened, but not wanting to leave Thalia alone.

            “Yes,” he heard her say. “I’ll stay on the line.”

            That decided him. Giving her hand another squeeze, he leaned in and kissed her cheek, whispering into her other ear “I’ll be right back.” He shut her doors as gently as he could before hurrying downstairs to where he’d heard the screams.

            The living room was the easiest trap to see, the white bins laying just under the windows obvious, even in the dark. Colt leaned over the one by the open window and studied what was inside. The milky liquid didn’t look threatening until he caught the scent of a familiar substance. It was filled with lye. Colt whistled silently and made a mental note to never anger Thalia if this was how she got revenge.

            Moving to the back door, it took him several minutes to spot the trip wire set at ankle height just inside the doorway. That explained the crash he’d heard. The last trap was the hardest to find and if it hadn’t been for the spots of blood on the welcome mat, Colt didn’t think he’d have found it. Jammed pointy side up through the mat were handfuls of very long nails. Whoever had tried the front door probably had had a lot of issues just getting away.

            Feeling a lot more relieved about Thalia and her ability to defend herself, Colt turned away from the approaching flashing blue lights and slipped back upstairs. He sat back down beside Thalia, took her hand again and kissed the top of her head.

            She smiled at him, tear tracks still visible on her face. He reached out with his free hand and rubbed the near side of her face free of them until she pulled away. “I can hear them,” she said into the phone. “I’ll go downstairs. I don’t want the officers to get caught in any of my traps.”

            Colt stood with Thalia, his hand still around hers. Even if she had put up effective traps, even if Ruth claimed she was an evil genius, he still wasn’t letting her out of his sight until the house had been secured again. Anyone after her was going to have to go through him first.