Tanglewood Road

Chapter 1 Sixteen year old Cody Langdon pulled a chair from the kitchen up to the bay windows in his living room. He angled himself so he wasn’t too visible from the street as he began his stakeout of the neighbor’s house at four in the afternoon. He had a six-pack of soda within arm’s reach and his laptop open so he could surf the net while his eyes darted up every so often to make sure he didn’t miss a gray sedan pulling into the driveway on the other side of the suburban street. The house looked similar to most of the others in their Southwest Floridian home—one story, garage on either end, palm trees in the well-mowed lawn. He spent over an hour on movie news message boards, having little to do three weeks before school started in a new city where he knew absolutely no one. He finished his third soda as he watched out the windows, but the sedan never showed. He expected it any minute, but the street remained perfectly calm until his mom arrived near six. “Hey, not playing video games?” his mom asked. “Huh? Oh, no, working on something,” Cody replied, his eyes still on the empty driveway. “What’s that?” She looked pleased that he wasn’t moping around like usual when she got home. She kicked her high heels off and gave her son a hug. “The cable guy got me thinking yesterday. We moved in, what, eight days ago? And I haven’t seen a single person outside yet.” “So what? People don’t roam around like they do in Michigan. It’s a hundred degrees out.” “I get that, but people mow their lawns—” “Which I need you to do this week.” “—check the mail, walk the dog, enter and leave their houses,” Cody said. “I haven’t seen a living soul in the entire neighborhood. Have you?” “Sure,” she said. “I mean, I must have seen somebody.” “Think about it,” Cody pressured her, his eyes flicking back to the window. “Can you remember actually seeing anyone on this street?” “I guess not.” She shook her head. “Did you take your medication today?” “This isn’t—yes, Mom, I remembered. And I spent twenty minutes on the phone with the doctor’s office transferring my script.” “Thank you. I would have done it when I had a chance.” “You’re already stressed out enough. And it’d probably be too late.” “A backhanded compliment—how sweet of my child.” “I need to go to the bathroom. Can you watch out the window for me?” “Looking for what exactly?” She asked as she eyed the empty soda cans on the tiled floor. “The neighbor’s car is gone every day when I wake up, and it’s back in the driveway every afternoon. So someone must get in and drive it, right? I want to see who that is. That’s all.” Cody scrambled into the bathroom, ignoring his mother’s confused look. He relieved himself and washed his hands as quickly as he could, then hurried back to the living room. His mom stood in the kitchen, pulling a package out of the freezer, her back to the bay windows. “Mom!” “What? I’m keeping an ear out. It’s fine.” Cody approached his chair to resume his stakeout when he spotted the gray sedan already parked in the driveway. No one was in sight. “Damn it, the car’s back already.” “Sorry.” “This is really important, Mom. God!” Cody slumped in his chair and closed his laptop. His whole plan had been ruined because the neighbor got back the one second he wasn’t looking. There was nothing left to do but skulk back into his room and watch a movie. He always planned better with a scary movie on in the background. He figured the car outside was always gone when he woke up, so he had another chance to catch the owner leaving. He came out for dinner and scooped up a bowl of cheesy macaroni and a salad while his mom laughed on the phone with his dad. He ate in his room and returned to his movies. He’d barely unpacked, leaving the square room cluttered with clothes on the floor and boxes in the closet. After his mom went to bed, Cody put the first DVD of his favorite show, Random Reasoning, into his laptop and resumed his stakeout. Online, he pulled up a map of Tanglewood Road. The wide street snaked, forming an S between a park and a road leading back to the nearest main street. He zoomed in on the image and counted forty-two houses. Not counting their own home, or those that were second houses currently unoccupied, or the few for sale, there were still over thirty houses that should be full of families coming and going. Yet he saw no traces of life. The hours ticked by as he went on to the second and then third DVDs of his show and through most of the soda in the kitchen. He frequently flicked his eyes up from the screen to check out the sedan. The summer night was lit by streetlights and a nearly full moon, but nothing stirred outside save for the occasional car passing. The last thing Cody remembered before passing out was checking the time—five of six. “You slept out here all night?” his mom asked as she shook him awake. “I fell asleep watching DVDs,” he replied groggily. “What time is it?” “Six ten. I’m going to hop in the shower and then head to work.” Cody turned to the window. The gray sedan was gone.