The boys looked at him, and for a second, there was a quiet hesitation in the hallway.

Then Lucas let go of my arm and took a step toward Alexander.

“Did you fix it, Daddy?” Lucas asked.

It was the first time he had called Alexander that without prompting.

Alexander froze for a fraction of a second, his chest rising as he took a slow breath.

Then he knelt down on the wooden floor, bringing himself to their eye level.

“I fixed it,” Alexander said, his voice softer than I had ever heard it. “No one is going to disturb you here again.”

Noah walked over too, standing close to his brother, his small hand resting on Alexander’s shoulder.

“We saw the red lights on the wall,” Noah said. “They went away when you came.”

“They won’t come back,” Alexander said, reaching out to touch Noah’s cheek.

I watched them from the top of the stairs, the cold knot of fear in my stomach finally starting to loosen.

Below us, the front door opened, and Margaret Wells walked into the foyer, holding a leather briefcase.