Home Invasion (2 page)

And then Jack met Kathy.

And everything changed.

Ruth hated Kathy on sight. “She looks like a cheerleader, with her cute little nose and those
big blue eyes,” Ruth had sneered. “I don’t think there’s much room for a brain under all those blond curls.” It didn’t matter that Kathy had a degree in English from the University of Toronto or that she had a good job working for a major publishing firm.

Kathy’s job meant she had to travel a lot, so she gave it up soon after she and Jack got married. “Kathy wasn’t very good at her job,” Ruth told Lisa. That was the first of many lies Ruth fed Lisa about Kathy. “She got fired.”

For the next year, little Lisa had stared at Kathy as if she were afraid Kathy was about to burst into flames.

As the years went by, the lies got worse. Ruth did everything in her power to make sure that Lisa would never love her new stepmother. If Kathy bought Lisa a new dress, Ruth would tell Lisa that the dress made her look fat. If Kathy offered to pick Lisa up from school, Ruth would get to the school first. If Kathy got tickets for a play, Ruth would take Lisa to see it first.

“Don’t worry,” Jack told Kathy. “Soon Ruth will get tired of playing these games.”

Except Ruth didn’t get tired of playing games. If anything, she got even better at them.

“Things will improve as soon as Ruth meets someone else,” Jack said. “You’ll see.”

Except Ruth never did meet anybody else. None of the men she’d dated since the divorce stayed around for very long. As the years went by, Ruth grew more and more bitter, and her dislike of Kathy grew stronger and stronger. Ruth spread that dislike to her daughter. By the time Lisa turned sixteen, she rarely spoke to Kathy unless Kathy spoke to her first. Sometimes not even then. Sometimes Lisa acted as if Kathy wasn’t even in the same room.

To make matters worse, two months ago, Ruth got a new job and moved to Ottawa. Lisa had moved into her father’s house in order to finish high school with her friends. Kathy had hoped that she and Lisa would now have a real chance to get to know each other better. But it hadn’t worked out that way. Lisa still treated Kathy as if she didn’t exist. Sometimes Kathy felt as if her home had been invaded by a hostile alien. At other times, Kathy felt her house now
belonged to Jack and Lisa. “I’m the alien,” Kathy said out loud.

“What?” Jack asked from beside her in bed. “Did you say something?”

“I’m thirsty,” Kathy said, although she wasn’t really thirsty at all. She got out of bed and walked across the hall to the bathroom. The bathroom tile was cold on her bare feet. She poured herself a glass of water. Then she stared at herself in the mirror above the sink. She wore a long white nightgown, and her blond hair fell around her shoulders in loose curls. Her skin was pale and her blue eyes sad. I look so tired, Kathy thought. Tired and old at forty-two.

Again, Kathy remembered her high school boyfriend, Michael. “You look so beautiful,” he’d told her this afternoon. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

Kathy sighed again.

Then she heard the whispers.

This time Kathy knew she wasn’t dreaming. She knew the sounds were real. She knew that someone else was in the house.

Kathy heard footsteps on the stairs. She listened as those footsteps grew louder, came
closer. She stepped back into the hall. “Jack,” she was about to call out when she felt something cold against the side of her head.

Even without looking, Kathy knew it was the barrel of a gun.

“Don’t do anything stupid and you won’t get hurt,” a man said. The man’s voice was low and as cold as the metal of the gun pressing against Kathy’s skin.

Despite the cold metal, beads of sweat broke out across Kathy’s forehead. Her legs went weak, and her hands started to shake. She stared at the floor, afraid she was going to faint.

“Who are you?” Kathy asked. Her voice trembled. “What do you want?”

“Shut up,” a second man ordered. A gloved hand pushed Kathy toward her bedroom with such force that she tripped over her feet. The man grabbed the back of her nightgown to keep her from falling flat on her face.

Kathy tried to make sense of what was happening. She told herself she was still dreaming, except her dream had turned into a nightmare. She tried to convince herself that there weren’t really two strange men in her house. Men with mean voices. Men who were wearing dark woollen ski masks and black leather gloves. She tried to tell herself that these men didn’t have guns pointed at her head and back. She closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was still asleep in her nice warm bed. Her husband’s arms would keep her safe. But one of the men pushed her again, and Kathy knew she was wide awake. Her nightmare was real.

“Kathy,” Jack called from the bedroom. “What’s going on? Who are you talking to? Is Lisa home?”

Before Kathy could even think of an answer, she was pushed into the bedroom.

“What’s happening?” Jack asked. He stretched to turn on the lamp beside the bed.

“Move and you’re a dead man,” one of the men warned.

Jack froze. He was wearing a grey T-shirt and a pair of old pyjama bottoms. Even with
the lamp off, Kathy could see his face turn white with fear. “Kathy,” Jack said, “are you all right?”

Tears ran down Kathy’s cheeks. “I’m okay,” she told him.

“Hey, that’s enough chit-chat. Just do what we say and no one will get hurt. Sit down on the bed,” one of the men told Kathy.

Kathy quickly sat down at the foot of the bed and lifted her eyes to the two strangers. Both men were tall. One was much thinner than his partner, but his arms had more muscles. Kathy thought that he must spend a lot of time at the gym, working out with weights.

The sound of the men’s voices told her that both of them were young, maybe even teenagers. She wondered how they’d gotten inside the house. Lisa liked to sleep with her bedroom window open. Had the men come in through Lisa’s open window?

“What are you staring at?” the thinner of the two men growled.

Kathy lowered her head. She didn’t want to upset the men. They seemed angry enough as it was. They were probably very hot under those
heavy woollen ski masks, too. Kathy wondered if they were also high on drugs.

The thin man pulled a piece of rope from his backpack and threw it at Jack. “Tie your wife’s hands behind her back,” the man ordered Jack.

“What? No,” Jack said.

“You have a choice,” the thin man said. He bit off each word as if he were chewing on a piece of raw meat. “Either you tie your wife up or I’ll shoot her. It’s up to you.”

“No. Please don’t hurt her,” Jack begged. He moved quickly to Kathy’s side and tied her hands behind her back as gently as he could. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to her.

“Tighter,” said the thin man. He waved his gun at Jack.

Jack tightened the rope around Kathy’s wrists. “Are you okay?” he asked Kathy.

“Shut up,” the thin man said. “Now turn around.”

“What are you going to do?” Jack asked.

“Has anybody ever told you that you talk too much?” the thin man asked. He quickly tied Jack’s hands behind his back. Then he made
sure that the rope around Kathy’s wrists was tied tightly enough. “Okay,” the thin man said to his partner. “They aren’t going anywhere.”

There was something about the thin man’s voice that was familiar, Kathy thought. Was it possible she knew this man? Who could he be?

Think, Kathy told herself. Who is this man? How do I know him?

“Okay. Just tell us where the safe is, and we’ll be on our way,” the thin man said. His partner began pacing back and forth in front of the bed.

“The safe?” Jack asked. “What are you talking about? We don’t have a safe.”

“Don’t lie to me,” the bigger man said. He suddenly raised his gun and slammed it against the side of Jack’s face. Jack fell back against the bed, blood gushing from his head.

Kathy screamed.

The thin man slapped her, hard, across the mouth. “Shut up,” he said.

Kathy saw blood pouring from the wound to Jack’s head, and she started to cry. She was afraid he might be dead. Holding her breath, she watched for some sign that he was still alive.
Then Jack moaned. Thank God, she thought, wishing she could take Jack in her arms and comfort him. She glanced back at the two men.

They’re going to kill us, she thought.

“Where is the safe?” the thin man asked again, seconds later.

“There is no safe,” Kathy told him.

“Don’t make us tear this house apart,” the other man warned. He stopped his pacing and walked across the room to a painting of pink flowers. He knocked the painting to the floor and checked the wall behind it for a safe. But there was no safe behind the painting. There was no safe behind any of the other paintings that the two men ripped from the walls, either. Kathy could see the men’s dark eyes narrowing in anger behind their masks.

“Where is the safe?” the thin man demanded again. His voice was even meaner than before.

Kathy lowered her head, afraid he was going to hit her again. “There is no safe,” Kathy said. “I swear to you.”

“Where do you keep your jewellery?” the thin man demanded.

“In the top drawer of the dresser,” Kathy said.

The second man quickly walked to the dresser and pulled open its top drawer. The drawer was filled with Kathy’s underwear. The man tossed the frilly bras and panties to the floor and pulled out Kathy’s red leather jewellery box. He opened the box and emptied its contents onto the top of the dresser. “What’s this garbage?” he snarled.

“It’s all the jewellery I have,” Kathy told him.

“It’s garbage.” The man spat on the floor in disgust. “Where’s the good stuff?”

“That’s all I have,” Kathy insisted.

The thin man hit her again.

The slap stung the side of Kathy’s mouth. She tasted blood.

“Don’t mess with us, Mrs. Brown,” the thin man warned. He raised his hand to strike her again.

How does he know my name? Kathy wondered. “My other jewellery is in the bank, in a safety deposit box,” she said.

The thin man swore.

“Take her rings off,” his partner said.

The thin man grabbed Kathy by the shoulders and spun her around. Then he pulled the rings
off Kathy’s fingers, tearing at her skin. First he took her diamond engagement ring, then her gold wedding band. He stuffed them into the side pocket of his jeans. Meanwhile, his partner went through the rest of the dresser drawers, dumping their contents on the floor. “There’s nothing here but clothes,” the man sneered. He stomped on Kathy’s T-shirts and blouses. Then he marched from the room.

Moments later, Kathy heard the man moving around in Lisa’s bedroom. Drawers opened and closed. Things crashed to the foor. Glass broke.

“What’s going on?” Jack asked. Jack’s voice was so weak that Kathy could barely make out what he was saying. Blood still dripped from the wound to Jack’s head. He was as white as a ghost.

“My partner is getting angry,” the thin man warned. “And it’s not a good idea to get my partner angry.”

“Jack, are you all right?” Kathy asked.

“Shut up,” the thin man ordered. He slapped Kathy again.

“No!” Jack cried. “Please. If it’s money you’re after, my wallet is in the pocket of my pants.”

“Hey, Steve,” the thin man called to his partner. “Get back in here.”

“Are you crazy?” the second man asked as he returned to Kathy and Jack’s bedroom. “Now they know my name, you moron.”

The thin man shrugged. “So what? They aren’t going to tell anyone. Are you?” he asked Kathy, with a cruel smile.

Kathy shook her head. “No. We won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

“See? They won’t tell anyone,” the thin man said. “She promises.” He laughed.

Kathy knew he didn’t believe her. “I swear we won’t tell anyone,” she said again.

“Did you hear that?” the thin man asked Steve. “She swears they won’t tell anyone.”

Steve grabbed Kathy’s chin. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s not polite to swear?” he said. He turned to his partner. “Why did you call me back in here?” he asked.

The thin man pointed at Jack. “Man says his wallet is in his pants.”

“Where’s your pants, old man?” Steve asked.

Jack slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked toward the small green velvet chair next to the window. “Hanging over the back of that chair.”

Steve crossed the room in three quick steps. He grabbed Jack’s pants from the back of the chair and began going through the pockets. Then he held up Jack’s wallet. “Bingo,” he said, dropping the pants to the floor. He opened the wallet and pulled out a small wad of twenty-dollar bills. “A hundred and forty bucks!” Steve shouted. “That’s it? A hundred and forty lousy bucks?” Steve pointed his gun at Jack’s head.

“I have money,” Kathy cried.

“Well, now, what do you know?” the thin man said with a laugh. “Looks like the little lady has been holding out on us.”

“Better tell us where it is,” Steve said. “Or the old man gets it right between the eyes.”

“The money is in my purse. In the den. Downstairs,” Kathy said.

Steve stuffed Jack’s wallet into the pocket of his pants. The thin man grabbed Kathy by the elbows and yanked her to her feet. “Lead the way,” he said.