Dive into a Good Book this Weekend!

8/14/2025

A weight sat on his chest, vibrating. Dipping his head side to side, Val sighed when it cracked and popped. He looked down at his chest. Toby lifted his head, shifted his weight, gave Val a dirty look, and put his head back down. His paws kneaded Val’s chest, sharp pinpoints gouging through his shirt.

Val picked the cat up from his chest and dumped him gently on the floor. He sat up and groaned, then rubbed the back of his neck and swung around to sit up. After a few twists of his back, Val felt better. He yawned, shook his head, and ran both hands through his hair.

A quick glance at the clock, and Val saw there was less than two hours before his alarm would be going off. “Yeah. Good thing the bad guys didn’t break in, ’cause I would barely be able to get off the couch.” Val heaved a sigh and stood up, rubbing his knees as he did so.

He went to the kitchen and got something to drink, then moved the blinds aside, looking out the window as he did so. Leaning forward, he squinted into the dark. “Shit,” Val exhaled. He let the blind fall back into place. “You’re letting your imagination get to you.”

He turned around and glanced through to the living room and his three dogs, still asleep in their respective spots. “You guys are no help,” Val said. He relaxed, however. The dogs were actually quite a bit of help and normally barked when anything got near the house.

The gate to the small pasture was standing wide open. Val hadn’t seen anyone or anything, yet he knew for a fact that gate had been closed when he entered the house. Every day for all the years he lived in this house, he’d checked to make sure that gate was closed and latched. He’d replaced the latch twice, so he knew it was always functional.

Now that same gate stood open and swaying gently in the breeze. Val didn’t see anything else. It was too dark. It struck him then that the light mounted over the barn door, the motion sensor light, wasn’t shining. Every time that gate opened at night, the light went on. He tried to remember when the last time was he changed the bulb.

Val moved from window to window, standing to the side of each and carefully looking outside. He didn’t see anyone. Nothing looked out of place around the barn, at least not that he could see from the house. The door looked as if it was still closed. Grabbing the baseball bat he kept handy, Val whistled once. “Come on,” he said to the dogs and opened the door. “Hope whoever this is hasn’t switched to guns,” he muttered and stepped out of the house.

After locking and double-checking the door, with the bat firmly in hand, Val jogged to the barn. He confirmed that the door was indeed shut, and opened it slowly. Inside the barn all was as it should be, other than Sig’s disgruntled expression, no doubt from being woken up. The horse was fine, the barn was fine, and Val’s dogs sniffed around casually, giving no clue there was anything around that shouldn’t be. Val went back outside and looked up where the light should be attached. It was no longer attached to the building, but had been yanked off and was lying on the ground. He started back to his house, stopping dead in his tracks after a few steps.

“How the hell did I miss this?” Val whispered.

His hand tightened around the bat until it cramped. Twisting on his heels as quietly as possible, Val looked around the yard. No one was there. He walked quickly to his truck. He’d parked it on the side of the barn, as normal, but it wasn’t easily visible from the house. It was probably a good idea to rethink that habit. The hood stood open, and where the battery should be only wires dangled freely, attached to nothing. On the ground near the rear of the vehicle were his gas cap and a hose laid on the ground next to the tire. Val replaced the gas cap and picked up the hose.

Stolen gas he could chalk up to the current bad economy and high gas prices. Though it was unlikely someone unfamiliar with the farm would get back here and then find Val’s truck. There had to be easier places to steal gas from, but still it wouldn’t be impossible. The battery he couldn’t dismiss so easily. He paced around the truck and found the battery on its opposite side and a few feet away. A shiver crawled up his spine.

Slapping his hand against his leg, Val called to his dogs. They bounded ahead to the house and stood at the door, tails wagging. Once inside Val made sure the locks were in place before he headed to the kitchen and started coffee. He leaned against the counter and let his head drop back, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds before he started to shake. Whoever did this hadn’t bothered to hide their tracks—whether it was because the dogs were barking or for another reason, Val didn’t know.

It didn’t matter. Intentional or not, the message was clear. Val’s perception of his home being a secure haven shattered. He glanced at his watch. It was still too early in the morning in California to expect Wyatt to be awake. Val didn’t think Wyatt would mind being woken up, but he wasn’t going to call. Doing that would only cause Wyatt undue worry until he was back in Kentucky.

Wyatt would be home later that afternoon, and Janelle by the end of the next week. Val wasn’t going to let anyone make him feel afraid in his own home. He’d lived almost an entire year feeling like that—never again.