Page 5 of Security and Submission
That probably meant Sarah hadn’t gone anywhere.
Should she try to look inside a different window?
Now that she was here, she didn’t like the idea of going away empty-handed. Especially because she didn’t really have anything to report to Grace. It hadn’t occurred to her that she might come out here, and Sarah wouldn’t answer the door.
Veronica’s warning rose up again in her mind, but so did other possibilities. What if Sarah had tripped and fallen? What if she was in trouble, lying on the floor somewhere with her phone out of reach? If she needed help and Yasmine walked away now, and Sarah died because of it… Yasmine would never be able to forgive herself.
Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck.
Taking another deep breath, Yasmine smoothed down her pencil skirt and walked around the side of the house. Her heels sank into the soft ground just a touch, and she shifted her weight to her toes, trying to peek in the windows.
The gate to the backyard was easy to open, and she went around to the back porch she remembered was there. If she remembered correctly, there was a big sliding glass door she’d be able to see into.
Five steps up and she was rewarded with the best view into Sarah’s house she was probably going to get. She could see the kitchen and most of the living room through her reflection. Leaning in, she pressed her face against the cool glass.
Yasmine’s heart sank as she saw the pet bowls that were still out on the floor. There was even a tiny bit of water left in the water bowl and a few bits of kibble lying around the food bowl, as if Sarah hadn’t been able to bring herself to put them away. From where she was standing, she could see a few pizza boxes on the table as well, and a paper plate with a crust left on it.
There were no flies, though, not even on the crust. So, that was something, right?
Yasmine knocked on the glass door.
Waited.
Knocked again.
No sign of movement.
She sighed and reached for the handle, fully expecting it to be locked… but the door slid open.
Yasmine stared at the opening into Sarah’s house.
Well… fuck.
She leaned in, her heartbeat starting to pick up as she did so.
“Sarah? Sarah, it’s Yasmine, Grace’s friend… Are you there? Can you hear me?”
Nothing. Silence.
Shit.
What if she had fallen trying to get out of the tub or something? What if she’d been knocked unconscious?
Closing her eyes, Yasmine took another deep breath. She reached into her purse to pull out her cell phone and dialed Grace’s number. Thankfully, Grace answered immediately.
“Is she there? Did you find her?” The fear in Grace’s voice reminded Yasmine of why she was doing this.
“I rang the doorbell and knocked, and no one came, so I went around to the back. I couldn’t see her through the sliding glass door, so I tested it, and it wasn’t locked.” Yasmine squared her shoulders. Her heart was still racing, and it felt like she was breathing harder, too, but she knew what she had to do. “I’m going in, but I guess I just wanted, like… permission? Someone to know I’m doing this. Technically, it’s not breaking and entering, I guess, but it’s entering...”
“You have my permission,” Grace said quickly. “Sarah will back me up, I promise. You won’t get into trouble.”
“Well, that’s something. Just… stay on the phone with me?”
“Of course.”
Taking another deep breath, thankful she didn’t smell anything that would make her think ‘dead body’, Yasmine stepped into the house. It felt so wrong to be walking in without someone there to greet her, to invite her in. There were some dishes piled up in the sink and another pizza box on the counter to her right, which hadn’t been visible when she was outside. Poor Sarah. Obviously, she’d taken the loss of her dog really hard and hadn’t felt up to cooking.
“Sarah? Can you hear me?” Yasmine waited for a moment, but she couldn’t hear anything other than Grace breathing on the other end of the phone. She held her own breath, lifting the phone away from her ear just in case Sarah was only able to make quiet noises. Then she shook her head and brought the phone back. “Nothing. I’m going to walk around the house.”
