Dead in Bed by Bailey Simms, The Complete First Book by Adrian Birch

out.
    “Well,” I said, “call
the house number if you need anything. I lost my phone.”
    “Oh, shit,” Morgan said. “Really?” Then she laughed. “What a night. I’ll
be fine. Call me tomorrow.”
    She closed the car
door. I kept my headlights shining on her porch until she was inside and had
the lights turned on.
    The house I rent with
Shawn isn’t far past my parents’ ranch. I was there in a couple of minutes.
    None of the lights
were on. My house was as dark as Morgan’s.
    Shawn’s pickup must
have been inside the garage, because the driveway was empty. I hurried to the house.
    The door was locked.
    We almost never locked
our front door. I knocked.
    I waited. I knocked
again, louder, and this time I called Shawn’s name.
    Nothing. My husband
wasn’t home.
    Shawn was always at home if he wasn’t working.
    I tried not to panic.
I’d been so apprehensive about confronting him that I’d just assumed he’d be
there.
    I got back into my car
and drove straight to Ian and Danielle’s house, which was only a couple of
miles past ours.
    But there were no
lights on at their place, either. Their door was locked, too. When I knocked I
was met only with a deep, disquieting silence.
    I regretted not making
Morgan come home with me. I’d never felt more alone. The sky was perfectly
clear and moonless, and all of the stars shone down on me icily as I walked
back to my little car.
    My parents’ house was
my last bet. I tried not to think about the possibility of finding their place
abandoned and silent, too.
    I drove back up the
highway, still not passing a single car.
    I turned and drove
under the big Travis Ranch sign
spanning the dirt road. I’d always thought the sign was tacky and worn out, but
now I found it comforting in the dark of night.
    The old farmhouse I
grew up in sits just over a low rise. As I followed the road up the hillside,
the house’s upstairs windows became visible first. None of them were lit. I
braced myself.
    But when I reached the
top of the rise, I saw vehicles crowding my parents’ driveway. The front porch
light was on. Shawn’s truck was there, and so was Ian’s SUV.
    I’d never been so happy
to be home. I sped down the driveway and pulled up behind my dad’s hay truck.
    Then I remembered
Haley and what had happened last night.
    What if everyone had
gathered here at my mom and dad’s because it really had been Haley who’d been
attacked at the fair? What if she’d been hurt, or worse? And what if, while all
this had gone on, I’d been out partying, sleeping around with God knows who and
out of reach all day?
    I knew I was probably
overreacting, but I ran up the steps and threw open the front door, bursting
through the entryway.
    The first thing I saw
was Haley, lying at the bottom of the staircase.
    Her head was resting
against the lowest step. She was in her pajamas.
    In each of her hands
was a small bronze horse. These were the prizes at the horse-racing pinball game at the fair. Every time you won, you traded up for a bigger horse.
Danielle and my parents must have taken her to the carnival last night, then
brought her home as planned, safe and sound. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
    “Aunt Ashley!”
    My niece sprang to her
feet and ran toward me, a toy horse in each hand.
    “She’s here!” Haley
shouted. “Aunt Ashley’s here!”
    I knelt down and right
away, before even hugging me, Haley sat on my knee.
    “Look,” she said,
carefully displaying the pair of bronze horses as if they were small birds
perched in her hands. “I got one, and grandpa got one,” she whispered. “But he
gave his to me.”
    My dad rushed into the
entryway.
    I’d never seen him
look this way. He had an expression of utter relief when he saw me. I’d had no
idea what I’d been putting them all through.
    He was in the same clothing
he always wore—a striped farmer’s shirt and faded jeans—with no boots
on, and his eyes were misty as he strode toward me and put his arms around