Secret Light by Z. A. Maxfield Read Free Book Online Page A

1955
    Some unexpected noise woke Rafe. Whatever it was roused Mooki too—and, given
    recent events, every muscle in his body tensed. He rose to sitting in the still darkness of
    his bedroom and listened. When he heard a soft tap at the back door, he froze. A fresh
    flood of adrenaline caused his muscles to tighten. Even Mooki froze. She scampered up
    onto his chest, quivering with fear. Instinct so old it had no name kept them both silent.
    No one ever came to his back door. They would have to walk up his drive, past his
    car and the hedges that secluded his house from the front, and up the back porch stairs.
    Even the milkman never came up his drive.
    While his imagination ran wild, Rafe peered out the window but saw nothing.
    There was no car parked outside. The half-moon cast enough light that he could move
    through his house without switching on the lights inside. He grabbed the Spazierstock —
    walking stick—he used when he walked Mooki, and with her slinking along at his
    heels, he headed for the service porch.
    There was definitely someone there. The lace curtains—hung there by the home’s
    previous owner—bore the silhouette of a large man. Standing to one side as if he were
    in some kind of gangster movie, Rafe twitched the curtains back and glanced cautiously
    out.
    At first he didn’t recognize his visitor’s profile, but then it became clear from the
    cropped, dark hair and chiseled face that Ben the cop, once again dressed in civilian
    clothing, was peering into his house and tapping lightly on the window glass.
    “Rafe?” came the whispered query. “It’s me.”
    Z. A. Maxfield | Secret Light
    41

    Fear held Rafe utterly still. Mooki whimpered at his ankles, nosing his bare skin as
    though she wanted to crawl inside. He was really going to have to make more of an
    effort if he couldn’t be brave enough to reassure his dog.
    “What do you want, Officer Morgan?”
    “I need to talk to you.”
    “Why?”
    “What do you mean why? I have something to say, and I wanted to say it in
    person.”
    Rafe didn’t move. “What is it?”
    “I did your detective work. I found out what happened to Walter Hart. I—I think I
    know what you were trying to tell me.”
    Rafe clutched his stick in his hands. Now what? He hadn’t thought this far ahead.
    What had he expected to feel? Vindication? Relief? What had he expected Ben to do
    with the information?
    “What about it?”
    “I’m so sorry, Rafe.” The flat of Morgan’s workmanlike hand pressed against the
    glass. “I know that’s all I seem to say to you. But for what it’s worth, I know about
    Walter Hart, and I’m sorry.”
    “Walter Hart was like family to me.”
    “Was he?”
    “He taught me to ice skate.” Rafe said this through the door, like confession.
    “Did he?” Ben leaned in, waiting.
    “I was afraid to skate when I first came to this country. I’d had a mishap on some
    ice—I fell into a pond when the ice cracked and barely got out alive—so I never really
    learned. But when I came here, I used to go to the ice rink with school friends. I slipped
    and slid and smashed myself to smithereens. Or I would cling to someone and die with
    shame when I took them down with me.”
    Z. A. Maxfield | Secret Light
    42

    “And Walter Hart helped you?”
    “He took me under his wing. Skating. Skiing. Baseball. He was a tremendous
    athlete, and he made me his protégé. He was such a big, burly man. It was astounding
    to watch him skate. He was all muscle but on the ice…like a swan.”
    “Look, Rafe. Can I come in please? I’d like to talk about your friend.”
    Rafe hesitated. Did he dare let Ben in, even that far? Talking to him about this,
    about Walter Hart, could be the first fatal step toward sharing Walter’s fate.
    “Mooki, ich bin so ein Idiot.” Rafe swallowed hard and reached for the doorknob. “I
    hope I shall not regret this.”
    When Ben entered, Mooki seemed relieved enough to brush his leg with her
    abundant fur,