Maybe he had a bite on his ankle.
She sat quietly and shivered at the sound of someone wandering through her home, sure that it was the same man who had killed her mother and probably attacked Savannah. He probably had a gun. She offered up a silent prayer that he didn’t decide to shoot Marie.
Why was he back here? This was the third time. He hadn’t found anything on his previous visits so the only reason she could think of for this one was that he wanted to kill her. There was no other motive she could think of and so far, no one had found a motive for any of the killings. Why?
Maybe Connor was right – maybe she should move to a hotel.
No, she wouldn’t let them chase her out of her home. Besides, she was safer here anyway. If they wanted her dead, they could find her in a hotel. They had the first night. And she might not have the same safety she had here, in Perrine’s secret room. Still shivering she listened to the steps move downstairs and out the door, Marie barked at his heels.
There was silence, then a scratching at the closet door.
“No, Marie – go away.” Julie Ann whispered.
Marie continued to whine and scratch. Julie Ann jumped up, opened the door and let the dog in. “Shh, be quiet.”
Marie jumped up on the cot and snuggled next to Julie Ann. Julie Ann patted her absently, “Good dog, good girl.”
Everything had gone deadly quiet.
She waited for another few minutes. There still wasn’t a sound. “Okay girl, let’s check and see if he’s gone.”
Julie Ann slid the door open and slipped out into her bedroom. She stopped, pressed her back against the wall and listened.
Silence.
“Okay girl, we’re going downstairs to make sure he’s gone, so no barking.”
The house was in total darkness. Julie Ann crept out into the hall and down the stairs. Silence echoed through the house.
She flipped the light switch. A soft yellow light flooded the room. There was no one there. The front door had been closed and locked. He’d picked the lock. She should get a new one with a bolt.
Julie Ann noticed a scrap of paper caught under the front door frame.
He must have dropped it when he left.
She scuttled across the room and grabbed it. It was folded in squares. She opened it and read it. Blindly she reached for a chair and collapsed into it, the note clutched in her hand.
I can’t continue. The guilt is too much.
I don’t want to live without her.
This is the only way I can escape.
Julie Ann
I can’t believe April is here. We’re a quarter of the way through this year. Spring was supposed to be March 21, but we brought April in with a snow squall. I was raised on the prairies and I’d never heard of a snow squall. I couldn’t believe the wind warning and the heavy blowing snow. We had a fifty – seventy vehicle accident that morning. Winter appears to have passed and spring may be popping its head up occasionally. (fingers crossed) 
