Bailey nodded a curt thank you, then straightened with the help of his cane and closed the car door. He walked stiffly to the fence gate and reached over to unlatch it, easing it open carefully lest it creak. No creaking. He couldn’t have taken that. He stepped through and eased it shut with the same care. He was still in the pale wash of the security light. But the shadows waited just ahead. Straighten up, you old fool, he cursed himself. You’ve lasted this long. Don’t go to pieces just because of the dark.

He started up the walk. His cane pecked a solitary cadence.

He had stayed with people as long as he could. He knew his fellow housemates would be in bed early—they invariably were—and the idea of whiling away the night in his room with only his imagination for company was unacceptable. So as soon as he’d gotten home that night he’d cleaned up and went right back out, ending up at the diner for the last few hours. He seldom went there and could barely identify anyone present, but at least they were there. That was important. He felt safer with people.

But now the diner was closed.

A branch swayed overhead. He heard it just as he stepped under the tree. He put a hand over his heart to keep it from bursting from his chest. It subsided only after the squirrel chittered down at him, apologizing for the disturbance. Calm down, old man, he thought. Slow and steady. But not too slow.

He made it to the steps and felt for them in the gloom with his cane before daring them with his fragile weight. Creak. He flinched but kept going, wringing equal racket from each step until he was at the top. He groped in his pocket and found his keys and had them ready when he stepped up onto the porch. He could make out the shape of the door now.

Made it. You’ve made it.

The cab driver barely tapped his horn, and Bailey jumped as if shot. The keys slipped from his hand and clattered to the planks underfoot. He looked back to see the driver wave and pull back onto the road. Leaving him alone. No . . . I dropped the keys, don’t . . . But the words wouldn’t come. He stood there silent and shivering, watching the taillights shrink down the hill and disappear. The night quickly settled around him.

Find the keys. Find the keys!