Suddenly, a door at the side of the house swung open, the hinges protesting.
Mrs. Saunders stepped out, her chest rising and falling quickly, one hand pressed lightly against it as if to steady her breath.
"What's going on?" she demanded, her voice sharp, edged with confusion.
"He saw me!" Leo shouted, rushing past her, his footsteps hurried, uneven as he darted inside.
"Who?" Mrs. Saunders asked, her brows drawing together.
Her gaze shifted and landed on the phone first, the camera, and the small red light blinking. She froze. For a fraction of a second, something flickered across her face: fear, calculation, recognition maybe.
Then it hardened. She didn't even need to see who it was, only one thing mattered, they had been caught.
She stepped back almost instinctively. Then, without another word, she slammed the door shut, and the lock clicked, loud and final.
