Brannon had assumed, as Ari had, that it had been Katia at the door and had paid the noise little attention other than making a note to teasingly chide her for knocking (do you feel like a stranger here already? Perhaps you should be bringing my grandchildren around for visits more often!) He was engaged in conversation when the other man appeared in the doorway to the room, and didn't notice right away that he wasn't Katia or her husband — or, in fact, anyone that Brannon recognized at all.

Who was this fellow? Some sort of door-to-door salesman? He wasn't making much of an impression if that was the case, with his hair that was far too long and the way he was just staring from the doorway. Besides, if he was just a salesman, Ari would have explained that the family was busy and waved him away at the door, not shown him in.

"Can I help you?" Brannon asked, politely but a bit impatiently.