Then another.
The stranger was still outside.
He called through the house.
“Mrs. Carter, your daughter is worried about you. I'm only here to help.”
I wanted to scream.
He was using my love for my mother as a weapon.
Then, from somewhere outside, a siren sounded.
The knocking stopped.
A car engine roared.
My mother began crying.
“He's leaving!”
Detective Ortiz kept speaking with the responding officers.
A few minutes later, she received confirmation that they had reached the house.
My mother was safe.
The stranger had fled in a dark delivery van before officers arrived.
But he had left something on the porch.
A small white business card.
Printed across it were the words:
SILVER HEARTH HOME SUPPORT
Compassionate care for independent seniors.
Underneath was a telephone number.
And on the back, written by hand:
We will return when your daughter is less suspicious.
I drove to my mother's house accompanied by an officer.
