Intrusion in the Night

By early December, the pattern of displacement in the garage became impossible to ignore. It wasn't just the

10mm socket anymore; it was a calibrated tamper, a heavy stainless steel tool weighing

nearly two pounds, which I found sitting on top of the refrigerator in the main house kitchen,

a room I rarely brought work tools into. I stared at the object,

the cold metal sweating slightly in the warm air of the kitchen, and felt a cold

flush of adrenaline wash over me because the implication was no longer forgetfulness, but intrusion.

I changed the locks on the garage and the house that afternoon, driving to the hardware store and buying

heavy-duty commercial deadbolts, spending four hours installing them with three-inch