Chapter Thirty-Eight - Fletcher

“We saw no one all night. Not even a squirrel,” one of our guards said the next morning. I moved my neck around to loosen the tension residing in my shoulders. I didn’t want Lucinda, my employees, or Ava afraid to be here. They needed to know that they were safe. For the sake of my sanity, I needed to know they were safe as well. “Nothing out of the ordinary?” I asked again. He shook his head. I couldn’t see behind his black glasses but I imagined he was irritated at my persistence. “No, Sir." I stepped back from the front door and nodded. “Okay. Thank you. Let me know the moment anything happens.” He nodded. I slipped back inside the house to find Ava. She’d been asleep when I woke that morning. She seemed to sense my unease and asked if I was okay ten times before bed the night before. The bathroom door was open when I walked into the bedroom to an empty bed. She was washing the shampoo out of her hair when I knocked on the glass. “Good morning,” I said. She looked over th