Spirited Away
Angela Campbell
‘Campbell has a snarky sense of humor’ USA Today’s Happy Ever AfterPerfect for fans of the Sookie Stackhouse & Stephanie Plum!Who knew pet-sitting could be so dangerous…or so sexy?!Socially awkward Emma “Spider” Fisher prefers her laptop to people, so she’s more than happy to oblige her boss when he asks her to pet- and housesit while he honeymoons in London.But it doesn’t take long for accident-prone Spider to lose a dog, get locked out of the house, and set off the house alarm!Thankfully, her hot new neighbour is more than happy to come to her rescue. But Noah West is a mystery to Spider—and one she intends to solve.
Spirited Away
ANGELA CAMPBELL
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First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2014
Copyright © Angela Campbell 2014
Cover images © Shutterstock.com
Angela Campbell asserts the moral right
to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are
the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is
entirely coincidental.
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and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
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written permission of HarperCollins.
Ebook Edition © September 2014
ISBN: 9780007543076
Version 2014-09-08
Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.
This book is dedicated to my wonderful critique partners, Pamela Hearon, Abby Niles, and Cynthia D’Alba. Without their encouragement and feedback, I would have never made deadline or spotted the weak points in my writing. Ladies, I love you.
And to my incredible editor Charlotte Ledger and the entire team at Harper Impulse, who helped me bring this series to the world, I give many, many thanks and chocolate kisses because, hey, chocolate kisses!
To all of my friends and family who put up with me while writing and encouraged me in the process, you guys rock! Cindy H., Cindy S., Christy, Tammatha and all my furry friends, too. Don’t know what I’d do without your support.
Also, I dedicate this story to Felicia Day, simply for being an excellent geek ambassador for women. I doubt Spider could have existed without you first paving the way.
Finally, to my loyal readers — this one is for you. I hope you enjoy it!
Contents
Cover (#udbbc937c-1215-519d-aa4f-69d25ccb56e2)
Title Page (#u644b32bd-7804-57c5-b404-1fce1f9b9765)
Copyright (#u48189658-c6dc-5012-8495-1f2ae0742001)
Dedication (#u07e96a06-be1a-5da2-a65f-a7e5fbfeb738)
Chapter 1 (#ud3124893-738b-5a03-86b2-08703b17e64c)
Chapter 2 (#ue380e320-7026-5e2d-8608-d23ccd8d299f)
Chapter 3 (#u3ad9e487-021f-59a2-9cc4-e7c318af31e7)
Chapter 4 (#u196137fd-346e-56f0-8561-eccf1e1f4d16)
Chapter 5 (#ub3c4fac2-06fb-51cf-a5fa-bfd9af845198)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)
Also by Angela Campbell … (#litres_trial_promo)
Angela Campbell (#litres_trial_promo)
About HarperImpulse (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1 (#u86a3a1d8-1b86-549d-bd3e-80db5b2ceca2)
Oh yeah. She was gonna kill that mutt when she got her hands on him. And the cat too – just because.
Emma “Spider” Fisher rattled the locked doorknob one more time and glared at the animals watching her from the other side of the front window. Costello, the dog, panted happily and gave her a tongue-lolling, open-mouthed grin. Abbott, the cat, stood in the bay-window beside him, watching her with disinterested, narrowed eyes, as if she were the stupidest human he’d ever met – a distinct possibility.
“Ugh!” She rattled the front doorknob again and slapped the doorframe. Yeah, as if that would make it open.
It was the morning after her first night of house-sitting for Zach and Hannah, and she’d already locked herself out. Correction: one of the dogs had escaped the fence, she’d given chase in her jammies, and when she’d ran back to call for help after not being able to catch Charlie, Costello had bumped shut the door she’d left open. Locking her out. Without a key. Without a phone. Without a hope of not being killed by her boss when he returned from his honeymoon.
His beloved blind dog had disappeared after she’d chased him into some trees on the other side of the street. No telling where Charlie was now. God forbid, he could be lying dead on the highway. Might have fallen down a well somewhere. Joined a gang. Who knew?
In fact, who knew a blind dog could run so darn fast to begin with? She’d bet that dog had some cheetah in his genes.
Heaving a half-laugh, half-sob, she turned and slid down the door until her bottom met the cold concrete of the front doorstep. A quick scan of the other houses and manicured lawns lining the quiet subdivision was no comfort. Well, maybe it was. No one seemed to peek out of curtains to witness her humiliating predicament, although she’d have to start pounding on doors soon to see if someone would let her use their phone.
Who would she call? One of the so-hot-they-could-melt-her-panties-off guys she worked with? She groaned.
This could not be happening to her.
A flash of brown movement to her left caught Spider’s attention and sent her heart thumping wildly against her ribcage again.
Charlie was sniffing the grass and following an invisible trail beside the sidewalk in front of the house. Near the freaking road! Uttering a squeak, Spider sprang to her bare feet and hurried down the driveway, muttering “owww” and “ouch” every time she stepped on a rock or something sharp in the grass.
She had a hard-and-fast policy against swearing, but she was seriously reconsidering that rule this morning.
“Charlie!” Her voice carried down the street. She clicked her tongue. “Com’ere boy!”
The dog lifted his head but kept prancing forward as a car came around the curve toward him. Panic seized her chest, releasing its grip only when the vehicle slowed and turned down a side street. The too-smart-for-his-own-good canine perked his ears up and looked in that direction. Ohmygosh, he was blind and following sounds. She had to catch him. She had to. If he got out of the subdivision and found a main road—
She whistled and jumped up and down, hoping the noise would divert his attention. “Charlie!”
He turned and took three slow steps toward her.
“Good boy!” She whistled again and patted the front of her thighs.
The long-legged retriever mix lowered his head, wiggled his raised butt, barked, and darted in the opposite direction.
“No, no, no!” Spider gave chase. “Charlie!”
He thought they were playing a game. Oh, for the love of—!
At least he was running in circles, not straying outside the neighbourhood. She had no idea how long they ran up and down the suburban street lined with a mixture of classic Georgian, English cottages and modern houses. It was mid-morning, and no one had come outside to see what she was causing a ruckus about. Geez. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. What kind of neighbours were these?
“Char…Char…Charlie!” Winded, she had to slow down until she was barely moving at all. Hands on her thighs, leaning over, she watched, helpless, as Charlie plowed headfirst into a neighbour’s bushes. Startled, he hunched low and took slow, careful steps around the hedge. His tongue dangled out of his mouth, but otherwise he looked ready to resume his marathon sprint. What the heck did Hannah feed that dog? Crack-cocaine?
One step. Two steps. Spider inched closer. Charlie turned, and she used all of her reserves to leap toward him.
Yes! Their bodies collided, and she rolled with him onto the grass, the forty-pound dog using her as his personal cushion – not that she cared. Not as long as she had a tight grip on him.
She laughed in triumph and then groaned when a wet tongue found her mouth. Ewww! Disgusting. Doggy slobber. So gross.
It took a few more minutes of her wrangling him on the neighbour’s lawn to get into a position where she actually could pick him up. New rule. The dogs were going to wear their leashes twenty-four seven while they were under her watch.
She’d once thought she might like to have a dog, but uh-uh. Not anymore. Cats were so much easier than dogs.
The two of them lumbered back to the house and collapsed together inside the fenced yard. Oh, thank heaven.Now she just had to figure out how to get back inside the locked home she was supposed to be protecting.
Chest heaving, she sprawled on the grass for a few minutes, thinking about it.
Man, she had to pee.
Pushing herself up on her elbows, she considered each of the windows. She’d already checked most of them. Her gaze fell on one. The bathroom. Had she locked it back after cracking it open last night when someone whose name rhymed with Costello had pooped mushy stuff all over the floor?
She made a mental note to never give him part of her burrito again. Ever.
Struggling to her feet, she glared at Charlie as she made her way to that side of the house. He was happily prancing about the yard again as if the past hour had never happened. Insane dog.
Spider nearly burst into tears when she saw through the pane that the window wasn’t latched. Yes! She pushed it up as far as she could, lifted herself up, and…
A pulsating siren startled her so much she squealed and fell backwards, landing flat on her butt in the grass.
“Oh, no, no, no.” The house’s high-tech smart alarm system was programmed to automatically arm itself after fifteen minutes if the doors and windows remained inactive. Zach had warned her about it at least a dozen times. It was a new system he was testing for clients of his private security firm.
It took Spider a few tries to pull herself up so her waist was aligned with the windowsill. A pair of almond-shaped eyes were there waiting for her when she did. Perched on the sink, Abbott’s black and white feline body was drawn back and ready to spring as he stared at the opening in the window.
“No!” Spider yelled at him as she grappled to lift her left leg up. “Don’t even think about it, mister.”
With a growl, the cat took a leap in the opposite direction and darted through the bathroom doorway as she managed to get her leg over the windowsill. She was half-in and half-out. Basically. Almost. Her foot was inside the bathroom anyway. That was progress.
“Hello?” a man’s deep voice called from not too far away. “Everything okay back there?”
Oh, for the love of Pete.
Straddling the window, Spider wiggled, trying to swing her other leg over and into the bathroom. Much harder to do than she’d expected. Her left side was pressed to the pane of glass on the outside of the house. No matter how hard she pushed, she couldn’t get the window to raise high enough to let her manoeuvre inside.
The house phone began ringing and seconds later, the alarm stopped. Well, that was something at least.
Furry legs grabbed onto Spider’s calf inside the house.
“Hello?” the man called again.
“Uh, yeah! We’re okay.” Still trying to shove the window up, she glanced down and saw Costello humping away at her leg.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
She tried to jostle the dog off, which only managed to get her stuck in a more awkward position. Uh. She was wedged in there pretty good now.
The back fence moved inward. Spider reached a hand out and screamed, “Don’t let the dog out!”
A man she didn’t recognize grabbed Charlie’s collar just as the dog ran toward the gate. That mutt must have some superpower for detecting openings he couldn’t see. She’d swear her life on it. Her body sagged against the window frame with a loud sigh of relief that he hadn’t escaped again.
The stranger snapped the gate shut behind him and gave Charlie a generous rub on both ears. Spider snorted when Charlie lapped the man’s face with his tongue. Some guard dog he was.
“Are you sure you don’t need help?”
Seriously? He wanted to help her now?
The guy lifted his delicious green gaze, which widened when it found her. He swore. “Are you stuck in the window?”
She stifled a groan. He would have to be a total hottie, wouldn’t he?
Please, someone shoot me now.
***
Noah West rubbed the playful dog behind its ears and considered the sight before him.
Young woman, scantily dressed. Half-in, half-out of the window at a house he knew she didn’t live in.
He probably should have called the cops like he’d almost done when he’d looked out the window and seen the unfamiliar redhead chasing the dog up and down the street. He’d been sleeping when he’d heard someone yelling “Chaaarrrlie!” over and over outside his bedroom window. By the time he’d fumbled into his jeans and found a shirt, his neighbour’s alarm had been shrieking out the formula for a migraine.
He lifted a hand and scratched at the heavy stubble on his cheek.
He’d had a late night – something that was becoming more and more common lately – or else he wouldn’t have been home right now. He wished he hadn’t been home right now.
For one, his house gave him the creeps, and he wasn’t sure whether the sounds he’d been hearing, the objects he’d seen moving, meant he was roommates with Casper the not-so-friendly ghost. There was always a logical explanation for that stuff, but until he figured out what it was he preferred to avoid the place. For another, he needed to be working right now, not playing hero to a young damsel-in-distress.
He cleared his throat and approached cautiously. She’d probably locked herself out, but you never knew.
“Name’s Noah. I live across the street.”
Her body was shaking unnaturally, as if she were having spasms or doing something really, really naughty with that windowsill. He was afraid to ask.
“Spider.”
He jerked back. “Where? What kind?”
“No, my name is Spider. I’m a friend of Zach and Hannah’s. I’m house-sitting, and I got locked out.”
He hurried over and shoved the window further up, giving her some extra space to move. Through the opening, he spotted a furry blond mutt humping her other leg.
A startled bark of laughter escaped his control. The girl – Spider – narrowed her eyes at him before manoeuvring the rest of her body through the widened opening. She tumbled onto the floor with a thump and a squeal.
“You okay?”
She lifted a hand and waved back at him dismissively as she found her feet and scurried out of the room. A few seconds later, the ringing telephone stopped. He could hear her talking, but he couldn’t make out what she said.
The blond mutt’s head popped up in front of him before he could lower the window again. Weird-looking dog, but she sure was cute. He reached a hand up to pet her, but the creature growled and showed a long snout full of some serious-looking teeth.
Whoa. The window slid down with a hiss as Noah jerked his hand back and let it fall. The dog’s barking grew muffled as the animal disappeared into the house.
The back door swung open, and the ginger-haired girl poked her head out. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Thanks for your, um, help.”
He nodded and tried not to stare at her shapely legs when she stepped onto the back deck. She was only wearing skimpy shorts and a tank top that left little to the imagination. Full, perky breasts pressed against the light green shirt that read “Gamers do it all night.” He focused on her feet. Blue toenails. That was kinda hot.
“Excuse me, sir,” a gruff voice called out. “Do you live here?”
Noah turned and saw a uniformed officer pushing his way through the fence. He reached and constrained the other dog before it had a chance to get out again.
The gray-haired cop’s face was set in grim, stern lines as he approached, one hand hovering over the gun holster at his hip.
“Eeek!”
Both men turned toward the woman who’d made the sound.
“Emma?” the officer asked.
She was doing her best to cover her front with one arm while her other hand tugged the hem of her shorts down. “Hi Jack. How’s it going?” She fidgeted from one foot to the other.
Emma? He thought she’d said her name was Spider.
The officer returned his confused look to Noah. He unsnapped his holster. “This guy bothering you?”
Noah released the dog and stepped back. Last thing he wanted was to give the officer more cause for concern.
“No!” The girl risked a step forward. “He’s a neighbour. He came over to help.” She heaved a sigh. “I got myself locked out and the alarm went off when I was crawling through the window and—”
The officer hiked a thumb in Noah’s direction. “This his house? Does your daddy know you’re here?”
“What?” She shifted a look between the two men. “No. I’m house-sitting for my boss. He just got married and is on his honeymoon.” She gestured toward Noah and spoke her words slowly. “This man is their neighbour. He came over to help. I already told you that.”
Officer Jack settled both hands on his hips, his lips twitching as his gaze looked her up and down. “Got yourself locked out, huh?”
“Please don’t tell my dad.”
“I gotta call this in, kiddo. You know that.”
“Yeah, but do you have to mention my name?”
Noah hooked his thumbs on his belt loops and hung back. If he hadn’t thought the situation interesting before, he was fascinated now.
The officer shook his head, but smiled. “Alright, verify the homeowner’s information for me, and I’ll try to keep your name out of it.”
She rattled off a few details about Hannah Dawson – now Hannah Collins – while the officer scribbled them down. It wasn’t anything Noah didn’t already know. Hannah was a pretty nurse who’d lived here for about a year. Her then boyfriend – husband now – had moved in a couple of months ago.
The cop glanced up and returned his attention to Noah. “I’m gonna need to see your identification, son.”
Clenching his jaw muscles, Noah pulled out his wallet and handed over his driver’s license. He’d had the ID updated a few weeks ago. He matched the dark-haired picture of himself perfectly, which was a good thing since he’d had blond highlights and glasses in the last one. While the officer jotted down his information, Noah glanced toward the girl. He tried to guess her age. Late teens, he thought. Cute. Had great legs. Probably jailbait, knowing his luck, because he didn’t mess with teenagers.
He realized in a fleeting moment of self-consciousness that he was acting like a true male member of the West family, trying to judge how easy it would be to take a woman who’d caught his eye to bed. Well, so what? Something about her eyes had him rethinking she was at least early twenties. Not jailbait at all. This was a woman who stirred his blood, and there was no fighting heredity. Noah intended to find out more about her.
The officer grunted and handed the ID back. “Thanks for coming to help, Mr. West. Why don’t I walk you back to your house now?”
Not that he needed the escort. Didn’t take a genius to read this situation.
Noah tipped his head toward the young woman anyway. “I live in the two-storey stone house if you need anything while you’re here. See you around, Spider.”
She flashed him an awkward wave. “Seriously, thanks for your help!”
Officer Jack followed him to the edge of the yard before saying, “You lived around here long, Mr. West?”
Noah sighed and turned to face the man. Last thing he needed was to capture the attention of a snooping cop. “No. I’m renting the house across the street. Moved in a couple of months ago.”
The officer squinted against the early afternoon sun. “Tell you what. That young woman in there is special. Make sure you don’t get any ideas while she’s here. Got that?”
“Sure.” He held back the smile that would have betrayed the fact that it was too late.
“Good.”
The officer started to move away, but Noah couldn’t resist asking: “Her dad is a cop, right?” It was the only thing that made sense. It would be a helluva reason to keep his distance, but, then again, he loved a good challenge.
Jack nodded, but a smile played at his mouth as he opened his car door and looked back at Noah. “Not just any cop. Chief of police. You have a good day now, you hear?”
Chapter 2 (#u86a3a1d8-1b86-549d-bd3e-80db5b2ceca2)
“Let’s see how long it takes to crack their system with this baby.” Smiling, Spider tapped ENTER on the script she’d spent the afternoon writing.
Leaning back on the sofa, she watched the computer code whiz past on the screen. A glance at her watch sent the thrill of victory racing through her veins. Thirty minutes earlier than she’d expected – new record. “Who’s awesome?” she asked the cat stretched out on the floor watching her. “I am. Uh huh. That’s right.”
Call her crazy, but it looked like Abbott rolled his eyes before he looked away. His tail thumped against the carpet. Translation in kitty speak: You’re a loser.
“Don’t be a hater, cat. You know I’m awesome.”
Well, except for that whole getting locked out of the house thing.
Spider loved her job, but it was still weird to think that Zachary Collins had hired her in the first place. She’d gone on the job interview to meet him and ask for his autograph more than anything. Not only had the gorgeous star of The Psychic Detective – now a private security guru – hired her to work as the cyber security specialist for his firm, but she was sitting on his sofa right now, drinking diet soda and about to log into Days of Adventure to kill some trolls on his big-screen TV.
Life was good.
Setting the laptop on the coffee table in front of her, she fired up the game console she’d brought with her. It only took a few minutes more while she waited for the multi-player game to connect to grab her controller and slip on the headset she used to swap insults and accolades with her guild.
No one in the house yelled for her to get the phone, do the dishes, or grab the laundry out of the dryer. There was no loud shouting at the football game on the television or chatter from the poker game going on upstairs.
Just sweet, awesome silence.
Oh yeah, she could get used to this.
Just as she was logging into her account, a knock at the door interrupted her. Yeah, but no; she wasn’t expecting visitors, and that’s how she wanted to keep it.
The pounding on the door intensified.
Yanking off her headset, she hurried over and peeked out. Kellan Murphy stood on the front porch.
She punched in the code to disarm the alarm and flung open the door. “What are you doing here?”
A brown blur whizzed past her, but Kellan snatched the dog’s collar before he could escape. Again.
Spider sighed. “You heard what happened, didn’t you?”
Charlie jumped up against the blond hunk in greeting, and Costello meandered over to inspect their visitor before sitting on the man’s feet. Kellan, another private investigator employed by Zach’s firm, glanced up from petting them, his forehead crinkled. “No. Something happened?”
Feigning ignorance, she lied. “No. Nothing happened.” With a shrug, she shut the door behind him. “Nothing at all. Just me and the boys hanging out. Getting lots of work done. That’s all.”
He arched a brow. “Uh huh.” His gaze dropped to her shirt, and he curled his sinfully gorgeous lips. “That’s a good one; I like that one.”
She glanced down at the royal-blue t-shirt she wore that declared: “Dear Math, I’m not a therapist. Solve your own problems.” It was one of her favourites.
“So, something happened?” Kellan asked, sauntering into the room.
“Guess what?” She pointed out the laptop. “I wrote a script for our new client. It’ll keep trying to log into their website with randomly-generated usernames and passwords. I should be able to run a report and tell them by tomorrow how strong their online security is, and how to fix whatever holes I find in there.”
“Sounds great.” The tall, muscular Adonis walked over to the couch, glancing around as if he was looking for evidence. He plopped onto the cushion beside where she’d been sitting and put his heels up on the coffee table. “So you want to order a pizza or something. Maybe watch a movie? I think The Lord of the Rings trilogy is on-demand.”
Watching LotR with an Adonis would normally not be an unappealing way to spend the evening – but seriously? Spider resisted the urge to stomp her foot and scream, “No! This is my time! My privacy!”
Instead, she crossed her arms and pursed her lips. Her voice was laced with accusation when she said, “You stopped by to check on me.”
His hands lifted. “Can’t I stop by and check on a friend?”
“You’ve never stopped by my house and checked on me before.”
“Well, I mean, you live with your dad…” He shifted uncomfortably. “Spider, come on. You’re a young girl who—”
“I am twenty-five-years-old!” She stomped her foot. “All of you treat me like I’m twelve or something.”
Each one of the hottie private eyes employed by the agency – Zach, Brian, Kellan, E.J. and even the freelancers – acted as if she was his little sister instead of another kick-butt and take-names colleague. Alexandra did too, but at least Spider had never had a crush on the woman. Truth be told, she’d always wanted a sister, so she didn’t mind Alexandra’s overprotectiveness quite as much as the men’s.
And to be fair, there was a lot about her they didn’t know. A lot that she didn’t want them to know.
Kellan eyed her foot meaningfully. “Whoa. Don’t get offended. It just means we all care about you. Besides, you weren’t around when someone tried to kidnap Abbott and Costello. Hannah has a lot of money. You can never be too safe.”
Spider tapped her foot, wishing he would leave. Her Adonis wasn’t making her feel any better.
“Call me crazy, but I doubt Zach or Hannah would have left their beloved pets in my care if they thought I was incompetent.” That reminded her: she’d forgotten to feed the animals their lunch. D’oh! She needed to make notes or something, like putting a reminder in her phone. Her breath came out in a huff as she moved toward the kitchen.
Kellan sighed and rolled to his feet. “Alright, I’ll leave, but I’m gonna stop by every now and then. That’s just a fact.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure Brian and E.J. will be stopping by, too.” She jerked the plastic container for the dog food out of the cabinet with more force than was necessary. Empty. Seriously?
As the only child of a cop, she’d grown up with a hundred brotherly types in the men who worked with her dad. She’d been hoping to escape all that brotherly concern with the men she worked alongside. Guess she’d been wrong.
Why wouldn’t people just give her some credit already? She could take care of herself, and a cat and two goofy dogs too.
“I’ll make sure no one stops by but me,” Kellan assured her. “Although, I think Dylan is coming to spend the weekend with Alexandra soon, so Zach’s little brother might drop in. I can’t make any promises there.”
Since Spider had an even bigger crush on Dylan Collins than she did on Kellan, she wouldn’t mind a quick visit from Alexandra’s hunky boyfriend. He didn’t treat her with the same kid gloves everyone else did. Plus, she didn’t stand a chance with him, and that somehow made him … less intimidating. Not that she stood a chance with any of them, but still.
The new forty-pound bag of dog food was heavy as she dragged it out of the pantry. A ripping sound preceded a rush of pellets scattering across the tiled floor in every direction. Darn it! She frowned and scrunched her shoulders as Charlie and Costello charged into the kitchen and gobbled up food like they were starving vultures. Abbott sprang out of somewhere and started playing soccer with the hard nuggets.
Spider took a deep breath and looked at the man watching. Amusement lit up his eyes. She pointed at the floor. “To be fair, that could have happened to anyone.”
“Yep.” He tiptoed around pieces. “Know where the broom is?”
She gestured to a closet. He was closer to it anyway.
Fifteen minutes later, she closed the door behind him, reset the alarm and slid down the back of the door.
She could do this. Right?
***
A loud knock jolted Noah out of the doze he’d finally succumbed to. Blinking away the blurriness from his eyes, he glanced at his clock. Eleven p.m. The only light in the room was the flickering of his television.
Thump.
He glanced up at the ceiling, his heart pumping like a hydraulic piston in his chest.
It was happening again.
Thump.
His hands squeezed the edges of the recliner. Ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away, or at least it hadn’t the other times. He sucked in a breath and cold air froze his lungs. When he exhaled, a white puff dissipated in front of his face.
Thump.
He forced himself to his feet. Even though he knew what it would read, he checked the thermostat anyway. It was still set on seventy degrees, but the room felt like a meat locker. Even the slick wood of the baseball bat he’d propped against the wall was cold to the touch, and—
Thump. Thump.
At the sound, he spun. This time it had come from downstairs. The kitchen? His feet felt heavy as he moved slowly in that direction.
He kept his voice loud and confident as he called out, “Hello?”
No answer.
The volume on the television jumped to a deafening level. The alarm clock in his study began screeching like a banshee. The clanging of metal-on-metal made it sound as if a marching band had invaded the kitchen. Covering his ears, he peeked into the room. All the pots and pans hung on the rack swayed to an unseen force, violently knocking into one another.
The kitchen door slammed shut in front of him. Noah was plunged into darkness as the television shut off, and seconds later the alarm clock did the same. Only a slither of moonlight penetrated the black room.
His heartbeat struggled to calm itself as he looked around. Nothing but shadows.
Soft, feminine whispering teased his ear, but for the life of him, he couldn’t make out the words.
The television flickered to life again at normal volume. Warmth chased the chill on his arms away.
As quickly as it had started, it was over.
After settling the baseball bat back in its spot against the stairs, he hurried over to one of the video cameras he’d set up the day before. It still flashed red, so he removed it from the tripod and carried it into his study. He removed the memory card and inserted it into his laptop, wondering if he’d captured anything through the night vision lens.
“Come on,” he muttered as he waited for the video to pull up. Rubbing at his eyes, he set the video to play at a fast speed. A pixilated version of himself sank into the chair and changed positions a few times before he jerked awake. He slowed the speed so he could watch, listening for the activity.
It was all there, caught on tape.
Noah ran a hand down his face, a breathy chuckle of laughter escaping his chest. There it was, all on tape this time. He wasn’t crazy. Holy mother. He wasn’t imagining it.
After rewinding the video, he stuck in earphones and jacked up the volume near the end. The soft whispers were audible. Barely.
Two explanations seemed plausible.
Either someone was pranking him, or there was some natural phenomena causing the lights and power to malfunction in the old house. Could be some kind of electromagnetic anomaly in the area that had caused his electronics to go haywire and the pots and pans to act possessed. Those type of things messed with brain waves, too. Some of the things he’d seen could have been hallucinations.
An electrician was supposed to come out tomorrow and check the wiring. That would probably explain things.
A bark outside drew his attention.
He groaned and pushed to his feet. “Don’t tell me she’s lost the dog again.” As he peeked through the blinds, he saw the ginger-haired girl being pulled into his yard by not one, but two dogs. At least she had them on leashes; although, from the look of things, it wouldn’t take much for them to get free.
They stopped at the edge of his front yard, and one of the dogs scrunched into the required catcher’s position to do his business. Thankfully, the girl pulled out a bag to pick it up.
And just his luck that they’d stopped under the streetlight.
He flipped the light switch off, raised the blinds and reached for the Nikon he had set up on a tripod. The camera angled until she was in the frame, zoomed in and captured a few shots. Might come in handy later.
The zoom tightened on her face as he focused the lens.
He hadn’t realized how pretty she was until now. Oh, he’d noticed she had a great body. He whistled. Girl was a looker that was for sure. And not a girl at all. She was a young and sexy woman. Exactly his type, but, then again, every woman was his type.
“Darling, too bad your daddy’s the chief of police. We sure could’ve had fun together.”
The short mutt lifted its head and glanced toward the window. Noah muttered a curse and froze. The woman – Emma – chewed at her lower lip and glanced around before bending to pick up the dog’s poop.
The phone behind him rang, and dread settled in his gut. Noah had a feeling he knew who it was, so he reluctantly tore himself away from the window to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Just checking in, West,” a raspy voice drawled. “I was starting to think you were avoiding my calls.”
“I told you. I prefer email.”
“Haven’t gotten any of those from you either. You’ve been there more than a month. I expected to have something by now. Talk to me.”
Noah closed the blinds and flipped the lights back on. His gaze fell on the collection of photos pinned to a corkboard. Photos of Hannah Dawson and Zachary Collins getting in their cars, walking their dogs and moving around inside their house across the street. Alexandra King and Zach Collins’ younger brother sitting at a table at one of those sidewalk cafes.
“Collins just got married,” Noah said. “He’s on his honeymoon. I’ve been tailing King today.”
The gruff voice swore. “You got anything yet?”
“No.”
“If Collins isn’t there—”
“So what?” Noah reviewed the pictures he’d just shot on his camera. “Give me another week or two. I’ll have enough evidence to make you happy.”
“We’re paying you a hell of a lot of money to prove those two so-called psychic detectives are frauds. You’d better get us something soon.”
The other man abruptly ended the call, but it was the paused image on his laptop that gave Noah more reason to worry. He didn’t have time to figure out what was going on in this house.
He had a job to do, and the sooner he finished it, the sooner he could address the problems in this house and get a decent night’s sleep.
Rubbing his eyes, he risked another look through the blinds. Emma – he preferred the name to Spider – and the dogs were still lingering in his yard. It was late. Dark. Didn’t the young woman know it wasn’t smart to be walking the dogs alone at this hour? Granted, it was a nice neighbourhood, but … he couldn’t help but think about his sisters doing such a ridiculous thing.
With a harsh curse, he reached for the keys sitting on the desk. It would do as an excuse to go outside and see that she made it safely home.
He pretended not to notice her as he stepped out on the front porch, trotted down the steps and headed for his car. Good thing his garage was still filled with moving boxes. Otherwise, he’d have parked inside. The dogs began barking and Noah lifted his gaze in their direction, acting surprised to see them.
Strange thing was, both dogs and the woman were looking up at his house. Emma smiled, directed an awkward wave toward his second floor, and then tugged the animals back before dropping her gaze to where he stood. “Come on, guys. Our night time walk is over. Shhh!”
Noah followed her gaze up toward his bedroom window.
“Sorry,” she called, drawing his attention back to her. “We didn’t mean to bother you or your, er, wife.”
The irony of that idea tugged at his mouth. “I’m not married.”
“Oh.” She glanced back toward the window. “Girlfriend?”
A chuckle tickled his windpipe. “Don’t have one of those either.”
If this was her idea of fishing to see if he was attached, she was doing a lousy job of being subtle.
She bit at her lower lip. “Point is, we didn’t mean to bother you and your friend then.” She turned and practically had to drag the growling dogs after her. “Come on.”
Noah scratched at his neck and followed her. “Wait. What do you mean, me and my friend?”
With a nod toward his house, she seemed more preoccupied with the dogs than him now. “The woman in the window.”
He jerked his gaze toward the upstairs bedroom window. The light was on. What the—? His muscles froze, rooting him to the spot. He hadn’t been in the room tonight. No reason for that light to be on.
All thought of his new red-headed neighbour fled his mind as he bounded up the stairs and back into his house. This could be his best chance to catch the person who’d been messing with him.
But there was no one in the bedroom, nor any other room in the house. He searched them all. Nothing.
The house was empty.
Chapter 3 (#u86a3a1d8-1b86-549d-bd3e-80db5b2ceca2)
Mornings sucked.
After letting the dogs out, Spider lumbered like a zombie from the kitchen back to bed and groaned when she saw that it was an hour-and-a-half earlier than she’d planned to get up. Only six hours since she’d fallen into blissful slumber. She faceplanted into bed and pulled the sheets over her head.
Working from Zach’s house. Can set own hours. Sleeeeep.
A heavy weight settled against the back of her neck. She was drifting toward unconsciousness so she ignored it until, a few seconds later, the sheet tugged at her hair, exposing part of her face to cold air and the light in the room. A tiny claw nicked her scalp.
“Stop it, cat!” She swatted over her shoulder and connected with fur. “Y’all are seriously messing with my beauty sleep,” she grumbled and dug deeper into the pillow.
The cat’s weight shifted away from her.
She started to doze, but a sharp prick at her ear followed by “Mreeeoow” shocked her awake again.
Spider flung the sheets off her head and glared at the animal. “You have a litter box! What do you want?”
Abbott shifted on his front paws on the pillow beside her, watching her with big, rounded kitty eyes that rivaled those of Puss in Boots. “Meow.”
“You’re hungry?”
He stood and brushed against her. “Meow.”
She glanced at the clock. “According to the note Hannah left, it’s not time for you to be fed yet.”
“Meow.”
“Will you let me get some more sleep if I feed you?”
“Mrreeow.”
“Don’t make a habit of this, cat.” With heavy-lidded eyes, Spider padded into the kitchen and set the cat’s food out. Charlie and Costello came running, and Spider shrugged. Why the heck not? After pouring them some food, she shuffled back to bed, nudging the bedroom door shut. Darn animals could entertain themselves for a while.
She glanced at the clock again before tugging the sheets over her face and snuggling into the pillows. Ah, sleep.
Her muscles relaxed as her mind sank into a comfy dream. A lake glistened beneath bright sunlight as birds chirped in the distance. Music and singing grew closer. Wearing one of his trademark suits and over-sized glasses, Elton John sat on the lounger beside her cooing out a song about unicorns and elephants – Wait, what? –while the hot neighbour from yesterday peeled his shirt off and dove into the gleaming water, revealing a set of abs so chiseled Michelangelo would have drooled.
The hottie from the lake surfaced right in front of her, slicked back his wet hair exposing arm muscles so defined she wondered if he was for real, and, smiling, asked her, “Do you wanna—?”
Spider’s eyelids jerked open as the bed sheet pulled at her hair and slid toward her shoulder. Something sat on her feet, so she kicked toward it, hoping to dislodge whichever animal was making a nuisance of himself now.
And she’d been having such a delicious dream, too.
“Abbott!” She flung the sheets away from her, sat up, and glanced at the foot of the bed.
No cat. No dogs.
She blinked as she stared toward the door, which was still shut.
“Guys?” she whispered, and glanced around.
Something or someone had just tried to tug the sheets off her – right? She patted the bedding to make certain she was alone. Totally alone.
Hmmm. Dream? That kind of didn’t make sense though. About as much sense as Elton John belting out a song about unicorns and elephants. Then again… She snickered and shook her head.
Sighing, she pushed the hair away from her face and decided she might as well get up. It was almost nine. Time to get up anyway.
She was wiggling her feet out from under the covers when the sheet she still held in her right hand ripped free of her grasp and landed in a heap at the end of the bed. Ripped. Right. Out. Of. Her. Hand.
And then she saw—
Holy crap!
Heartbeat racing to a near explosion, Spider screamed and bolted for the door, throwing it open and darting for the living room. Charlie and Costello started barking and nearly tripped her in the hallway as they ran like maniacs toward the room she’d just deserted. Abbott sprang to his feet and disappeared into one of the rooms in the opposite end of the house.
Spider pounced onto the sofa, grabbed the phone and hugged a pillow to her chest as she stared in the direction from which she’d come.
The dogs were barking like a pack of wild things.
“Be careful!” she called out to them from where she huddled at the edge of the couch.
She punched in 9 and 1 to her phone, then hesitated. Dang it all, what if she was overreacting?
In what seemed like minutes but was probably only seconds, the two dogs quieted to a few huffs and came trotting down the hallway. Costello poked his head around the corner and looked at her as if he was thinking, “Exactly why were you screaming again?” Charlie sprinted toward her, leapt onto the couch, and began slathering her face with yucky dog kisses.
The pillow made a great shield against yucky dog kisses. “Was someone in there or what?”
Probably not, since no one had tried to kill her yet.
Costello jumped on the couch beside Charlie and panted hot, stinky breath in her face in reply. She pushed his nuzzle away.
Oh yeah. She was so not a dog person.
“You’re right.” She petted both dogs as she glanced wide-eyed down the hallway. Had she seen what she’d thought she’d seen? “I was probably dreaming or something.”
Probably.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
She squealed and both dogs went berserk, jumping off the couch and charging towards the source of the noise – the front door. Her rib-cage almost broke from how hard her heart slammed against it. Heaven help her, she was going to have a heart attack before this day was finished. Hand to her chest, she followed the animals, nudging them aside so she could see who on earth had just bypassed the doorbell and banged on the door so darn early … and with such force. Was it The Hulk? Sheesh.
No, not the Hulk.
Hello! Hottie neighbour alert.
After hurriedly punching in the alarm’s deactivation code, she jerked open the door and flung herself at Noah. “Thank goodness you’re here!”
Charlie whizzed past, but Noah reached down with one hand, grabbed his collar and pushed him back into the house before he could get far. She seriously needed to remember that dog did that. Realizing her arms were still twined around the man’s waist, she pulled back.
“I would have come sooner if I’d known I’d get that kind of a greeting.” Bent over now, Noah scratched the dog behind his ears and didn’t seem to mind in the least when Charlie slipped him some tongue.
Eww. Just eww.
“Would you please come in and check the bedroom for me?” She nudged Costello back with her foot and gestured down the hall. “I think someone might be in there.”
“What?” Noah straightened and stepped inside, pushing the door shut behind him. “Where?”
She led him part of the way and then pointed out the room. “There.”
“Stay here.” He disappeared through the doorway, both dogs trotting after him. He finally reappeared, hands held out. “I don’t see anyone.” He checked the other rooms before declaring, “Nope. I don’t see anyone else in the house.”
She released her breath in a rush.
He stopped a few feet away from her, so close the scent of soap teased her nostrils. “What happened?”
With Noah so close, she was aware of how her nightshirt clung to her free breasts and even more aware she’d been having an inappropriate dream about him less than fifteen minutes ago. She crossed her arms, not that he hadn’t already seen her in her pajamas, and shrugged. “I thought someone pulled the sheet off me while I was sleeping. I guess I was dreaming.”
“Maybe.” His forehead creased as he glanced back toward the bedroom. “It could have been one of the pets.”
“No. They were shut out of the room.” She shook her head. “Anyway, I’m sorry. Did you need something?”
His gaze fell to her chest before flicking back up to meet hers. Heat engulfed her face. Her tank top’s statement “Gamers do it all night”probably seemed a little provocative. Yeah. She really should go put on some more clothes.
“I wanted to ask you about the woman you saw in my house last night.”
“Oh.” She lifted a hand and played with the end of her hair. “What about her?”
“Did you get a good look at her?”
“Why?” She smiled. Was he harboring a criminal or something? Trying to decide whether Spider had seen too much?
Her smile slid off her face. Or he could be one of those crazy men who kidnapped women and kept them chained in the attic. She took a step back.
“This is going to sound strange, but there shouldn’t have been anyone in my house last night. Are you sure you saw someone?” He watched her carefully, drawing her attention to the vibrant green of his eyes, shadowed by dark lines underneath. Even darker hair fell in shaggy waves that framed his face. He had that McDreamy Patrick Dempsey haircut going on. Stubble highlighted a strong jawline and luscious mouth.
He looked hot, but edgy. Kind of dangerous.
Serial killer dangerous? The way her luck was going, probably.
“I could have been mistaken.” But she wasn’t. She remembered everything about the woman she’d seen. Young – college age, probably. Long, dark hair and a pretty face. She’d been wearing a jean jacket over a white shirt. Something Spider wished she was wearing right about now. “Um, do you mind if I go throw some clothes on?”
“Go ahead.”
She glanced at the dogs and wondered how exactly her boss Zach communicated with them – apparently he could, being a pet psychic and all. Costello lifted his beady little eyes towards her, and she tried sending him the thought: Attack him if he follows me. Good boy.
Costello opened his mouth and grinned.
She held up her finger and managed a smile for their guest. “Give me one minute.”
Hurrying into the guest room, she shut the door behind her. Abbott was sprawled on the bed. Wait – she could have sworn the cat had disappeared into the office on the other side of the house.
“How did you get in here?” She shook her head. “Never mind. Safety in numbers. Don’t move.”
She yanked a pair of jeans and a Captain America t-shirt out of her suitcase and tugged them on as fast as she could manage. In case she got kidnapped, her cell phone was turned on for tracking purposes. The small pocket tools her dad insisted she keep with her made their way into her other pocket, just in case. He’d also given her a little stun gun to attach to her keychain—not that she had done it. What the heck had she done with it? No time to search. On the way out, she risked a glance in the mirror and paused. One side of her head boasted a tangled poof while the other looked as though she’d stuck her finger in a socket. Oh, geez. Had she really opened the door to someone with her hair looking like that? She ran a brush through it real quick, scooped the cat up and paced down the hall.
“If he tries anything, claw his eyes out,” she whispered to Abbott, who growled back a response she hoped meant “Consider it done.”
Noah glanced around the house he’d only been inside once, when he came over to introduce himself to his new neighbours, and whistled. For a guy who’d grown up in a trailer park, this sure seemed a nice place for a couple with no kids.
He’d found its previous sale listing online and memorized some of its stats during his initial research into Collins. Single-level updated traditional ranch with a little over three-thousand-square-feet, four bedrooms, three baths, a side-garage, and a sizable fenced backyard. That was on paper. In person, the home seemed even grander with its 10-foot ceilings, open floor plan, modern appliances and warm decor.
He’d been amazed to see a home across the street up for rent at a shockingly affordable price. The Buckhead community of Atlanta was where the wealthy lived, and Noah certainly wasn’t wealthy enough to afford even this neighbourhood, which was on the lower end of the pricey scale. But he’d grasped the opportunity and had considered staying in the two-storey fixer-upper after his assignment was done because he’d gotten such a great deal on it.
But maybe not, considering the crap he’d been dealing with since he moved in and the probable reality that his neighbours were going to hate his guts when they returned home. He picked up a framed photo of Zachary Collins and his bride posing with their wedding party. Their perky house sitter stood in a blue dress beside a smoking-hot blonde and attractive black woman on the other side of Hannah. His gaze skirted over the other women and stopped on the young redhead.
Anything wedding-related always gave him the creeps, but looking at this picture stirred an unfamiliar feeling in his chest. Was it guilt? Or envy? Sleep deprivation must be making him crazier than he’d realized.
“I had that picture framed as a surprise for when they get back,” Emma said, catching him by surprise.
Some of the tension left his shoulders after seeing she’d covered up. She was even more distracting today than he remembered – and he’d remembered a lot. Hell if he knew why, but she’d been on his mind more than seemed reasonable for someone he’d just met. On second thought, her impressive chest pushed against a Captain America shield now. The woman was blessed. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t stop thinking about her. The West men had always had a weakness for well-endowed women.
Feline grumbling came from the black and white cat she held, giving him a good excuse to look at something other than her. The creature eyed him with an unnerving stare. How many animals did Zachary and Hannah Collins own?
“This is Abbott,” she said. “I can’t remember if I introduced you to the dogs, but that chubby little guy is Costello and the one who keeps trying to escape is Charlie.”
He glanced at the stout mutt. “That one is a boy? I thought he was a she.”
“People always think that because he’s so pretty.”
“Are any of them yours?”
“Nope. Just pet-sitting.” She stroked the top of the cat’s head. “So… have you called the cops?”
His heart skipped a beat. “About what?”
“The mystery woman inside your house last night.”
Oh. Right. He shrugged. “Nothing was taken. They probably wouldn’t believe me.”
He’d used the so-called mystery woman as an excuse to come over and break the ice with her. Find out more about her and her relationship to Zachary and Hannah Collins.
Find out more about her.
Noah’s gaze strayed down the hall toward the bedroom she’d directed him to earlier. Her descriptions had been a little… spooky. That had been almost a play-by-play of what he’d experienced a couple of weeks ago when things had started happening at his new house.
He cleared his throat. “And you’re sure you didn’t see anyone earlier?”
She fidgeted with the squirming cat. “Well, I thought I saw—” She stopped herself. Shook her head. “No, I didn’t.”
“What did you think you saw?”
She reluctantly lowered the cat to the floor. “When the sheet was wafting through the air, I thought it was covering a person. You know, like I saw the form of a person underneath the sheet? But I was probably dreaming. It was only a second or two.”
The walls seemed to shift and move around him as he struggled to remain steady on his feet. Exact same thing had happened to him a week ago. “Did you have your house alarm on?”
“Yep.”
She probably had been dreaming, but…
Damn. What were the chances?
He noticed the laptop on the coffee table. “What time do you get off work?” Her eyes widened, so he clarified, “So, I can keep an eye out, make sure you get into the house okay.”
“I’m actually working from home while I’m here. I doubt I’ll be in and out very much.” Her eyes widened again. “Except, you know, my boyfriend comes over a lot. Yeah. And friends. I’m hardly ever here alone. Lots of people would miss me.”
“Miss you?” Hell, she had a boyfriend. That blew.
She flicked her hand and laughed. “You know. If I weren’t here.”
“And how long will you be house-sitting?”
“Why?”
“So I can keep an eye out. Maybe check in every so often and make sure everything is okay. I’m sure you were dreaming, but you can never be too careful these days.” He pushed back the urge to ask about her boyfriend and if it was the guy he’d seen stop by last night. He knew when to keep his cards close to his chest.
“Well, Zach and Hannah are taking a long honeymoon. Three weeks. That’s how long I’ll be here.” She winced and murmured “You idiot” so soft he almost didn’t catch it.
Interesting. She didn’t want him to know. Why?
“Three-week honeymoon? Must be nice.” He forced a smile. Three weeks was going to make his job very difficult. “You must be really good friends with them for them to trust you with their house and pets that long.”
“Zach is my boss, so he knows I’m dependable, I think.”
Her boss.
Noah tried not to grin. Maybe he had a legitimate excuse to get to know Emma better.
“I didn’t ask what Zach did for a living.” Of course he already knew, but she didn’t know that.
“Private security.” She gestured to her laptop. “My specialty is cyber security. Easy enough to do from home.”
“Sounds exciting.” He had dossiers on all of Collins’ employees, but he didn’t remember hers. Either he was getting rusty, or there hadn’t been anything in her file to interest him.
He was definitely interested now.
She shrugged and crossed her arms. “So what do you do, Noah?”
“Photography.” He pulled out his wallet and retrieved one of his new business cards. “I’m starting a job teaching part-time at the art institute for the summer semester. That’s why I moved here. Figure I can freelance from home, maybe set up a studio downstairs, teach at night.”
It was all true, and he was glad not to have to lie to her about it. He was beginning a new chapter of his life, one that wouldn’t involve shadowing people who faked disabilities to cash in on insurance companies. It hadn’t been fully explained to him why the attorney of a man who’d been rejected a worker’s compensation claim wanted so badly to prove Collins was a fraud, and quite frankly, Noah could care less. He couldn’t wrap up this investigation into Emma’s boss soon enough. It was his last case, and one he’d only taken after a great deal of coaxing.
His original plans after turning in his resignation had been to spend a month in Arizona trekking through the Grand Canyon and shooting landscapes to pad his portfolio. Instead, he was being paid a lot of money to spy on two so-called psychic detectives.
Resentment threatened to sour his mood again.
Glancing at Emma as she examined the card he’d given her, he reminded himself this job might not end up being so bad. Not if he played his cards right.
“A professor.” She stared at his business card and gnawed at her lip. “Cool. Thanks.”
“Guess I’d better run.” He edged toward the door. “My cell phone number is on there. Feel free to call if you need anything, Emma.”
“Spider.”
“Oh, right. I thought I heard that officer call you Emma.”
“Emma is my real name, but I prefer for people to call me Spider.”
“Why?” He preferred Emma. It was a pretty name. Feminine. He liked it.
She scrunched her face. “Because it’s an awesome nickname. Come on now.”
Stepping through the doorway, he processed what he’d learned about her. Cyber security. Internet. The web.
Spider. He got it.
“Emma suits you better.” Winking, he pulled the door shut behind him.
Chapter 4 (#u86a3a1d8-1b86-549d-bd3e-80db5b2ceca2)
Spider waited for the Internet to connect and realized she’d been tapping her foot for – who knew how long?
“It hasn’t taken this long before. What the frack?”
Costello’s response was a cross between a whine and a grumble. The dog always insisted on lying as close to her feet as possible. Sooner or later, she was gonna step on him and then hello animal emergency room visit.
“And it’ll be your fault, you silly dog.” She nudged him with the toe of her Converse hi-tops as she rebooted the machine.
The plush sofa cushions tried to coax her into taking a nap, but her nerves were too on edge to cooperate. Her stomach churned with an urgent desire to find out more about Noah West. Even though her smart phone didn’t have the juice she needed to do a thorough Internet search, she tried it anyway while she waited for her laptop to restart.
She scrolled through the recommended websites a simple search returned, frowning. “This is useless.”
Tossing her phone aside, she hopped to her feet, sidestepped the dog, and began pacing. Noah could be everything he claimed to be, but serious doubt nibbled at that idea. Few people were all they claimed, and she still had the emotional scars to prove it.
Don’t think about the a-hole. He’s ancient history now.
Too late. Her mind reeled back to her ex and how horribly their relationship had ended.
After her mother had died when Spider was in the tenth grade, she’d relied upon her best friend Paul to be her rock, and he had been – that is, until he’d changed from her kind and supportive boyfriend into a cruel and domineering fiancé. She became so meek and shy, letting him dictate her every decision. He’d all but forced her to drop out of college because he wanted to take care of her. No job, he’d said, because she would be too busy being his wife and mother to the three kids he wanted. A proper little lady who wore dresses and never spoke out of turn. Practically a cardboard cutout.
One day she’d taken a look at the hot-pink-haired leather-clad female avatar she’d created in a game – which, let’s be honest, had been her escape to keep her sanity intact, not to mention her one act of rebellion, since video games were not at all lady-like – and wondered why she couldn’t become more like her avatar in real life. Strong. Independent. Unique. Maybe even a little bit snarky. The desire to become those things had grown and swelled until, one day, she impulsively dyed her hair purple and ditched her closet full of dresses for a wardrobe heavy on jeans, combat boots, and skin-tight t-shirts.
And she ditched Paul, too.
Both he and her father had accused her of having an early quarter-life crisis, but she hadn’t cared. She’d felt more herself than she had in her entire life.
She enrolled in computer programming classes, because she’d always had a knack for computers. Afterwards, she got the job at Zach’s agency. And she was almost two years into her five-year plan to save money, get her own house and finally enjoy her fought-for independence.
Patience was all she needed, and not to get mixed up with any serial killer types in the meantime. Because dying before she could get her own place would really, really suck.
Before she could change her mind, she snatched up her phone and punched in the non-emergency number for the Atlanta Police Department. When an officer she didn’t recognize answered, she said, “I’m trying to reach Officer Jack Lanier. He’s been working in Zone 2.”
“He’s on patrol and unavailable at the moment. Would you like to leave a message?”
“Sure. This is Spider, er, I mean Emma. Emma Fisher and—”
“The chief’s daughter?”
Her shoulders sank on a sigh. “Yeah.”
“No kidding. What’cha been up to, kiddo? Haven’t seen you around here in a long time.”
Yeah, well, for one, I’m not a kiddo anymore. “You know. I’m working now.” She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”
“Pruitt. I come over to your house every now and then for games.”
“Oh, right. Pruitt.” She had no idea which officer was Pruitt. The parade of new and old uniforms that came through her house was never ending. “How have you been?”
“Good.Hold on. I’ll patch you through to Lanier’s cell phone. Take care, you hear?”
“Uh. Okay. Thanks.” She blew out a breath, hoping word wouldn’t get back to her father that she’d called into the station. Maybe this hadn’t been the smartest idea she’d had.
“Lanier,” a gruff voice growled.
“Hey, Jack, it’s Emma Fisher.”
“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?”
Enough with the kiddo stuff. Geez. “I have a question. Remember the guy who was here?”
“Yeah, yeah. The neighbour. West. Looked like he’d been on a bender. Why? He been bothering you?”
“No.” Sweet mercy, how did she say this without sounding like a paranoid recluse who spied on her neighbours? She swallowed. “Did you run a check on him or anything?”
“Yeah, standard check. Came back clean.”
“So, no priors or anything?” She drew out her words slowly.
“What’s this about, Emma?”
Drawing in a deep breath, she plopped down onto the sofa again. Here goes. “It’s just that, well, you know how you always hear after police catch someone for doing something awful, that people will say, ‘I saw something suspicious, but I never called the cops’? And you wonder, why didn’t they call the cops? They could have caught the creep already. Know what I mean?”
There were a few seconds of silence. “You saw this guy do something suspicious?”
“I don’t know.” She sank back onto the cushions. As precisely as possible, she described everything that had happened. “I know I saw a woman in that window, but he claims there was no one in the house. I have this weird feeling I need to tell someone about it.”
“Probably worth checking out. Tell you what, I’ll stop by there in a little while, take a look around. It’s probably nothing, but you did the right thing telling me, Emma.”
Her face felt warm to the touch as she covered it with her hand. Sometimes meek old Emma reared her head and filled Spider with self-doubt. Was she actually doing this? “I appreciate it, Jack; but do me a favour? Please be discreet in case I’m wrong. Please don’t mention this to my father either.”
Last thing she wanted was a visit from her overprotective old man during her vacation from him. There was a point at stake here: the point that she could very well take care of herself without needing him or anyone else to look after her.
They ended the call on Jack’s promise to keep it their secret, and Spider’s chest tightened. What if Noah West had already gotten rid of any evidence because of what she’d said? What if this made him so angry he came after her next?
Grimacing, she rushed to the window and looked at the house across the street. No car in the driveway. How long would it take the cop to get here?
Something wet and warm touched the back of her arm, and she screamed. Charlie shrank back and cowered away from where he’d licked her.
“Charlie! You scared me to death!” Hand over her heart, she reached out to pet the dog, even as she glanced at her laptop. She’d forgotten about her computer problems.
Focus on work. Don’t fret over the possible serial killer next door coming to murder you.
Biting her fingernails, she tried to connect to the Internet again and… nothing.
After she double-checked her laptop’s settings, she got up to reset the router. If that didn’t work, she’d call and check to see if there was an outage in the area. Could be a good excuse to hit up the closest Starbucks and avoid a possible confrontation with Noah.
The computer pinged once, twice, three times. What?
The screen was black except for fast scrolling green characters. It shouldn’t be doing that. Not at all.
She sat down and reached to hit the ESC key when she noticed what those green characters said.
HELP!
DANGER#
HELP!
DANGER#
HELP!
Shrieking, Spider scrambled up onto the couch cushions and clutched a pillow to her chest. Looking around, she only saw the cat stretched out in the bay window and the two dogs curled up on the floor, each staring at her as if she were a lunatic.
Heart pounding loud in her ears, she pointed at the screen. “That is not normal!”
She chanced a lean forward and watched the words continue to fly up the screen. The hair on her nape and arms lifted as a chill settled along her spine.
Enough of that. It was freaking her the heck out.
Her fingers trembled as she held the power button, forcing the computer to shut down. She waited ten seconds and rebooted the machine.
Don’t overreact. There’s a logical explanation for this.
Could be a virus. Some a-hole probably infected her machine and set the creepy message to display upon startup. Shaky laughter bubbled in her chest as she pressed her palms to her eyes. Of course. That had to be what it was. Not anything irrational, like a ghost or demon or anything. Only a virus.
She sagged against the cushions.
Well, crap. That could take a couple of days to clean up. She had work to do, not to mention she wanted to cyber-stalk Noah West. Photographer. Maybe professor. Possible serial killer.
The familiar chime and login screen popped up.
She input the information and everything came up normal, including the Wi-Fi this time.
“Weird.”
A virus scan should have been her first order of business, but she shook her head instead, pulled up the Internet browser, and searched for Noah West, Atlanta, GA to see what hits it returned.
Absolutely nothing of any worth.
Facebook. Couldn’t find him. Not on Twitter either. She ran through every social media site she could think of. Seemed kind of odd that a professional photographer couldn’t be found on Instagram.
“Hmm. Should I be bad?” she asked the dog at her feet.
Costello lifted his head and looked at her. Charlie’s doggy eyebrows shifted in concern as he released a long drawn-out sigh. He probably knew she was going to do it regardless of their opinions.
“You’re right. I should totally do it, just this once. He could be a serial killer, after all.”
Still, she hesitated before putting her fingers to work. Hacking without permission was plain wrong, and Spider didn’t take that lightly.
But hello, possible serial killer!
“I’ll only check the database we use at work,” she told the dogs. “Promise.”
Her hands flew over the keyboard, tapping for several minutes until she had accessed the professional database the firm subscribed to for access to public records, telephone information, social network hits and other useful goodies. She located a handful of people named Noah West in the agency’s database. Noah’s sinfully handsome picture stood out amongst the others.
Crystal green eyes stared back at her, and his handsome smile added a charming and intelligent character to those eyes she didn’t see very often in the guys she knew. They drew her in, sending a thrill of excitement racing through her veins.
He had great eyes.
So what? Ted Bundy was handsome.
She shook herself and tried to remain objective.
Seriously. What human looked that good in his driver’s license picture? That alone was suspect. She noted his age. Twenty-nine. Four years older than her. Huh. She would have put him in his mid-thirties.
She trusted Jack about Noah’s lack of a criminal record, but you could learn a lot about a person from their public records. If they had any outstanding fines. Whether or not they paid their property taxes on time. Previous addresses.
So much information was out there.
Noah’s address had changed about a month ago. Prior to that, he’d lived in Savannah. Actually, the guy seemed to move a lot. Six different addresses in the past five years.
A series of high-pitched beeps from her phone reminded Spider of the time. She closed out of all of the browser windows and pulled up the video chat on her computer.
Her boss and his new wife were honeymooning in Europe, and Hannah had insisted on checking in on her animals once a day, usually around noon Atlanta time.
Hannah, being the overprotective pet mom she was, insisted on seeing the animals, too.
Spider initiated the chat, angled the camera toward Charlie, who was snoring away, and went in search of her feline charge.
Abbott was curled up on the pillow Spider had been using at night – seriously, cat? – and hissed when she scooped him up.
When she re-entered the room, she heard Hannah’s voice cooing to Charlie. Costello had lumbered over to the coffee table and lifted himself to stand at the edge of the computer, his fluffy tail wagging.
“We’re here,” Spider called out. “I had to get the cat.”
Hannah Collins’ pretty face filled the screen. Her long, dark hair was pulled back and she was wearing a sage-green dress. “How are things going, Spider? Everything okay there?”
“Everything’s great. We’re fine.” Except for the dog escaping. “How’s your trip?”
“I love it here! London is amazing.”
Spider didn’t have many female friends… scratch that. She didn’t have many friends, period. Not since she’d ditched her Emma persona. But she and Hannah had gotten along like comrades on the Starship Enterprise from the moment they’d met. She was still a little awed the woman trusted her enough to invite her to stay here for almost a month. Spider sagged against the cushions and listened to her friend share a few stories as unexpected tears welled behind her eyes. She didn’t even know why. It just happened.
For some strange reason, Noah’s question about why she preferred for people to call her Spider came to mind. It was because most people hated it. Most times, the nickname creeped them out because they were afraid of arachnids or they thought it was stupid. Either way, it kept them at a distance, kept them from asking questions about Emma, kept her from having to explain about Paul, which is how she liked it.
But some people like Hannah had tiptoed around the barrier and found her anyway. She did have friends, good friends, and they didn’t care that she sometimes had blue hair and spouted sarcasm like a second language.
“Spider, are you okay?” Hannah asked.
Blinking and sitting forward, she used the excuse of having the cat in her lap. “Allergies, I think.”
Hannah tilted her head and smiled. “I hate to run, but we’ve got reservations for dinner and I don’t want to be late.” Hannah made kissy sounds at Abbott, Costello and Charlie.
“Hannah, quick question.”
“Sure.”
“How well do you know your neighbour? Um, the guy across the street.”
“You mean the hunk who just moved in?” Hannah wiggled her eyebrows. “I only met him once. Things have just been too crazy to welcome him properly. Why?”
Spider shook her head. “Just curious.”
“I was surprised when he moved in,” Hannah continued as she adjusted her earrings. “That house has been vacant for a long time. You know, all of the neighbourhood kids say it’s haunted.”
Spider sat forward. “Haunted?”
“I doubt it is. You know how stories get started. I’m sure Alexandra would have mentioned it if it was.” Made sense, since Alexandra saw dead people.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Remember. You can text us if there’s an emergency. Thanks again, Spider. Take care of my boys.”
Spider logged out of the chat, but her mind was stuck on the information she’d attained. It funneled through the conversation she’d had with Noah, about the woman in the window, his claim no one should have been in the house, and what she’d experienced that morning in bed.
Holy corndogs.
Had she seen a ghost?
“Shut the front door!” Spider’s fingers flew over the keyboard, this time typing in the address for Hannah’s house. It took her only a few seconds using satellite maps to figure out the house number for Noah’s place, and then—
Dozens of hits returned on that address, many from a ghost-hunting forum connected to an Atlanta-area paranormal group. The topics posted under the address sent ice-cold chills racing down her spine.
GeorgiaHunter414: Snuck into abandoned house at this address one night. Saw some freaky stuff.
MysticMerlin: Got some creepy EVPs here. This place is truly HAUNTED!!
A curse word she never used slipped out of Spider’s mouth. Noah wasn’t a maniac who chained up young women in his attic. He was being haunted!
***
Noah dropped his satchel in the doorway and threw his hands up in a gesture of resignation. His morning had been a waste. After the electrician had stolen a wad of money to tell him his house’s wiring was absolutely normal, he’d followed Alexandra King to the airport, watched her board a plane to Colorado and tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do now that his second best source of information had left the city.
His eyes stung with exhaustion as he sank into the recliner in front of the TV. A few hours of sleep would be so damn nice right about now. Help him clear his head.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
Every muscle in his body clenched tight until he realized the banging sound wasn’t coming from upstairs or the kitchen. Someone was at the front door. He really needed to get that doorbell fixed.
He swore and waddled to his feet.
A peek through the peephole gave him the back of a ginger-haired woman. He yanked open the door.
“Emma? Everything okay?”
She turned around, holding a tray full of cookies. The sight and smell of melted chocolate triggered his mouth to start watering. He swallowed.
“Oh, boy. You’re gonna keep calling me Emma, aren’t you? Fabulous.” Her tone was as resigned as it was dry. She shook her head a little before lifting the tray and smiling. “I made you some cookies as a thank you for checking on me. I mean, they’re only the kind out of a box that you stick in the oven for like, 10 minutes, but hey – cookies!” She lifted them higher.
“Come on in, and we’ll eat a few.” He opened the door wider and gestured her inside. His gaze skated toward the room he’d been using as an office and verified the door was closed. “I take it there haven’t been any more scares today.”
“Scares?” Her eyes widened.
“Yeah, remember this morning? You thought someone was in your room.”
“Oh, right. No. No scares.” Her gaze strayed toward the stairs. “This is an interesting house. Do you like it?”
It needed a paint job and lots of repairs, but he supposed it was all right. “I’ve lived in worse places.” He couldn’t remember if he’d left any revealing papers in the living room, so he touched her arm and guided her toward the kitchen. “I bought some milk yesterday. It’ll go great with those cookies. Want some?”
“Sure.” She followed him into the one room he barely used. “Look, Noah, I wanted to explain that—”
Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.
They both froze. Noah’s heart did a quick step around his chest until he realized it was again coming from the front door.
“Sorry. Be right back.”
“Um, Noah—” She opened and closed her mouth.
“Give me a minute.”
He peeked out and saw the same uniformed officer from yesterday standing on his doorstep. Pushing a hand through his hair, he opened the door. “Officer. What can I do for you?”
“Mr. West, I was wondering if I could take a look around.”
“Oh?” He crossed his arms. “Mind if I ask why?”
“I told him about the woman I saw in your window.”
Noah turned at Emma’s rushed voice behind him.
“I’m sorry,” she hurried to add. “I think I might have overreacted.”
Noah clenched his jaw to keep from swearing. This was the last thing he needed. If he refused the officer’s search, it would seem suspicious. If he allowed the man to look around, he’d expose his surveillance from the past month, the photos of the Collins and King pinned to a corkboard, which would look damn suspicious indeed.
He stepped aside. “Come on in, officer. Do whatever you need to do.”
“I’m sorry,” Emma said again, red-faced. She took a step forward. “Jack, you don’t have to look around. I, um, tried to call and tell you not to worry about it.”
Noah watched the older man consider the young woman, his right hand not far from the weapon holstered at his side. “I don’t see what the harm is in checking things out. Do you, Mr. West?”
He shrugged and leaned against the wall. “Like I said, do what you need to.”
The officer’s gaze lifted toward the stairs. “I’ll start upstairs.”
“Help yourself.”
A grimace tightened Emma’s features as the officer walked past her. Her eyes pleaded an apology as she turned and followed the other man up the stairs.
Noah swore softly and ducked into the office, hiding the corkboard and moving his camera away from the window. He left the room’s door open and hurried to find them. He couldn’t remember if he’d left any documents or photos lying about upstairs.
The officer was thorough, opening closets, inspecting every room, even lowering the overhead attic door and climbing up to look around. When he came downstairs, he glanced into the office and went into the living room, and Noah hurried to distract them from the pile of documents on the table.
“As you can see, there’s no one here.” A cold sweat trickled down the back of his stiff neck. Emma stood beside the folder he’d left open on the end table last night, so he shifted to stand closer to her, to block the folder with his body. One of his business cards almost screamed “Noah West, Insurance Claims Investigator” in bold print on top of it. His investigation could be jeopardized if she – if anyone – saw it.
The officer grunted an agreement. “No signs of intrusion either. If anyone was in here last night, it’s not because they broke in.”
“I did see someone,” Emma insisted. “She had long dark hair, was wearing a white t-shirt and a jean jacket. She looked my age, maybe younger.”
Lanier frowned. “You know anyone like that, Mr. West?”
Noah shook his head, losing his balance under the movement. He sagged into the recliner behind him. A week ago, he’d dreamt about a woman matching that description exactly. He found it difficult to breathe as memories from the dream overwhelmed him. The dark-haired girl walking alongside the road, carrying a backpack. An old truck pulling up alongside her. A man’s voice muffled as he asked, “Need a ride?”
“Noah, are you okay?” Emma touched his forearm, calming a tide of dizziness and bringing him back to the present.
“Fine. Just tired. I haven’t been sleeping much.” He rolled his shoulders in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the tension gathered there. “I appreciate you taking time out to come check my house, officer.” He stood and held out his hand.
The cop’s narrow-eyed gaze raked over him, dismissing the gesture. Noah sucked in his breath until the cop nodded. “Emma, can I have a word alone?”
“Sure.” She followed the officer onto the front porch, and Noah could only catch a few snippets here and there as he hurried to cover up the papers on the table. The officer murmured something about her being careful and that Noah seemed strung out of his mind. Her whispered reply was too soft to make out.
A few seconds later, the creak of the door opening again signaled her return. She slowly entered the room. “Hi.”
He clenched his jaw and met her gaze.
“The reason I came over was to warn you about that.” She hitched a thumb over her shoulder. Her words spilled out in a rush. “I’m really sorry. I tried to call him, but I couldn’t reach him again and I thought you were, well, never mind what I thought.” She took a deep breath. “Do you hate me?”
He forced a smile. “No, Emma, I don’t hate you. I’m glad you called him.”
“You are?”
He nodded and gave up on sliding the manila folder underneath some magazines. He wasn’t happy she’d called the cops on him, but he’d managed to avoid a messy scene and that was all that mattered. “Shows you’re more cautious than I first thought. Maybe I won’t have to keep an eye on you after all.”
“I don’t mind if you do.” Their gazes locked, and a slow simmer of lust stirred an arousal in his jeans. She looked away. “I guess I’d better be going.”
Stay. The thought caught him off guard. Asking her to stay would only lead to a complication he didn’t need right now.
Grabbing the base of his neck, Noah frowned. “Maybe you should.” She turned to leave, and he called out, “Emma?”
She lifted wide eyes to gaze at him. “What?”
“Just be careful. I meant what I said. If you need anything, give me a call.”
“Okay.” A few seconds later, the screen door banged shut behind her. Noah glanced around as unease settled in his gut.
Hell if he knew why.
Chapter 5 (#u86a3a1d8-1b86-549d-bd3e-80db5b2ceca2)
Sweaty palm tightening around the strap of her messenger bag, Spider sucked in a deep breath and pressed the doorbell. When a minute passed, she knocked on the door before she lost her nerve. She had no idea what kind of reception she’d get, but she knew that she could do this. Three espressos, a pep talk in the mirror, and enough remorse bottled inside her chest to induce groveling were the perfect recipe for courage.
Then the door opened, and she wished she’d had something stronger than three espressos.
Noah stared back at her from beneath hooded eyes, and he was dressed… well, actually, he wasn’t dressed. That was the problem. Her gaze immediately fell to his naked chest and lower, to the towel draped below his glistening rock-hard abs, to the trail of hair that led down. Eyes up, girlfriend! Jerking her head up, she focused on his face. The hair on his head hung in wet curls around his perfectly chiseled features, and he had the clearest, most enticing green eyes she’d ever seen.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” she squeaked. Tightening her grip on the shoulder strap again, she cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean to catch you at a bad time. I can come back later.”
The little courage she’d mustered vanished at the sight of his half-naked body. She turned to make a run for it, but his strong grip on her arm prevented her from getting very far.
“Give me a minute to pull on some clothes.”
“I can come back later,” she said again.
“No need.” One side of his mouth quirked up. “Do you want to wait here, or would you rather come inside?”
She steeled her spine and walked past him into the foyer, glancing around to keep from looking at his sculpted body. And it was fine, too. She half tripped on his hallway rug and tried to pretend that she’d meant to lean into the staircase rather than using it to catch herself.
“Make yourself at home,” he told her.
His heavy footsteps climbing the old staircase signaled it was safe to untangle herself from the railing, and she sank into the comfy-looking chair inside the doorway to the living room. Peeling, faded wallpaper decorated the walls, but the oatmeal-coloured carpet seemed new and most of the furniture, too. The floor above her head creaked with movement, conjuring images of her hottie neighbour stripping the towel away and—
Shaking herself, she reached for her bag and pulled out some of the pages she’d printed before coming over. She spread them on the coffee table in front of her and waited, wondering how best to start the conversation.
Hi Noah, I think your house is seriously haunted and you should probably move.
That would likely get her tossed out faster than reminding him that she’d called the cops on him yesterday.
Right. New plan. Blowing out a breath, she considered what to say as his footsteps grew louder and evaporated all cohesive thoughts in her brain.
Noah’s voice was strong as he spoke from the middle of the stairs. “I’m surprised to see you.”
Moving to her feet, she turned and managed a smile. Not only was he barefoot with his wet hair still curling around his face, but he was also wearing a pair of snug jeans and had left a dark shirt hanging open over his muscular chest. A very nice, smooth muscular chest. The kind you usually saw on underwear models.
Down girl.
“I’m kind of surprised you let me in,” she countered.
He walked past, shot her a grin, and began buttoning up his shirt. Thank goodness. “I told you I wasn’t mad. What’s up?”
Following his lead, she sat down and began fiddling with the papers she’d laid out for him. “You’re gonna think I’m really strange when you hear what I have to say, but…” She chewed at her bottom lip and leaned forward. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go for it.” He leaned forward too, so close the scent of soap teased her nostrils and threatened to scatter her thoughts again.
She pushed back, needing to clear herself of the distraction. “Have you … noticed anything odd about this house since you moved in?”
“Define odd.”
“Things moving on their own. Unnatural sounds or smells. Weird feelings you get in certain rooms. That kind of thing.”
Some of the twinkle dimmed in his eyes and his smile fell just enough to be noticeable. Ah ha! He had experienced weird stuff. Excitement sizzled through her veins, and she continued before he could answer.
“Have you seen anything, like a ghost? You have, haven’t you? I knew it!”
“Whoa. Hold on.” He shook his head. “I haven’t seen a ghost. I don’t believe in ghosts.”
“But—”
He held up his hand. “Maybe you should explain why you’re asking.”
Sucking in a deep breath, she tapped her finger on the stack of papers. “You should Google your house, man. It’s listed on a haunted places index, and you would not believe some of the messages people have posted on forums about it.”
His forehead crinkled as he considered the printouts. “You’re telling me this house is listed on a website, encouraging people to snoop around because they think it’s haunted?”
“Well … yeah.” Actually, she hadn’t thought about trespassers. “What did the realtor tell you when you bought the place?”
“I didn’t buy it.” Frowning, he picked up the paper sitting on top of the others. “I’m renting it, and the realtor didn’t say a damn thing about any of this.”
Oops.
“Have you caught anyone snooping around since you moved in?”
The dark circles under his eyes seemed more pronounced as he skimmed the story: the one about a group of teens who believed the house was haunted by two ghosts, one good, one evil, after their friend was thrown down the stairs during a ghost-hunting expedition. The front door had been locked, trapping them inside, until a gentle voice had whispered, “Hurry. The back door. It’s unlocked.”
A chill caused Spider to tremble, remembering the tale.
“No.” His voice was gruff now. “I’ve only been here a month. I don’t know, maybe it only happens around Hallowe’en.”
The calendar had just flipped over to April, so maybe he was right. “I’m sure people stay away if someone’s living here.”
His gaze lifted, amusement again in its depths. He set the papers back on the table. “So you think I’m haunted?”
It was an effort not to roll her eyes. She gestured upstairs. “The lady in your window, remember her? I saw her as clear as day, and ever since I saw her—”
Wait. She hadn’t meant to mention the strange things that had been happening to her since the night she’d glanced up and seen Miss Pretty Ghost in his window.
“What, Emma?”
He probably already thought she was cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Might as well tell him the rest. “First there were the sheets being ripped off me in bed. Then there was a weird message on my computer. The words help and danger kept scrolling across for absolutely no reason. No reason!” She sucked in a deep breath. “Last night, I ended up huddling with the boys in bed after—”
His brow lifted. “The boys?”
She flicked a dismissive hand. “The dogs and cat. Anyway, the TV in the living room kept turning off and on while I was trying to watch it, and after I changed into my jammies and went to bed—”
“Jammies?” He chuckled.
She ignored him. “A loud noise from the kitchen spooked the animals and then the bedroom door started opening and closing on its own, Noah. Opening. And closing. On. Its. Own! All of us were scared to death. It’s like the animals kept staring at something I couldn’t see and whining. I didn’t sleep a wink!”
She’d almost packed up her car and driven home, but she knew she’d be in for a round of twenty questions if she came dragging three animals into her house in the middle of the night. The only thing scarier than a ghost was her father intent on an inquisition.
The humour had fled Noah’s eyes, replaced by a brooding but otherwise unreadable expression. She pointed a finger at him. “You know what I’m talking about because a similar thing has happened to you, hasn’t it?”
Bam. Bam. Bam.
The loud knocking startled Spider so badly, she sprang to her feet and stared at the ceiling where it had seemed to originate while she considered making a run for the door. Noah’s eyes were wide as they locked with hers. Without saying a word, he darted for the stairs. She was right behind him.
The echo of their footsteps on the uncarpeted landing was the only sound in the otherwise silent house. Noah stopped outside the only room with an open door. His chest rose and fell with deep, heavy breaths.
She pushed to her tiptoes to look over his shoulder and glimpsed the edge of a messy bed.
Clunk.
The new sound drew Noah into the room. He flung open the closet door while Spider entered more cautiously, darting her gaze around every nook and cranny and seeing no one. A weight settled in her lungs that felt … unnatural, as if she’d suddenly walked into a sauna, only the temperature was rather cold up here.
She edged closer and spotted nothing unusual in the walk-in closet. “What was that, Noah?”
“I don’t know.”
She took a step closer and—
“Aieee!” The jab of something in the middle of her back shoved her forwards and into Noah. They tumbled into the closet together in a mash of tangled limbs, Noah’s weight cushioning her fall from beneath.
The door slammed shut behind them, flooding the room with near-darkness.
“Noah!”
“Are you okay?”
“Someone pushed me!”
“Are you hurt?” he demanded in a firm, but panicked voice.
She shook her head.
“Emma?” He practically shouted.
“I’m fine. You?”
“Fine.”
He pushed up and against her, and it took serious effort to uncurl her hands from his hard biceps to let him go. Fear clawed at her insides as he shoved her away and frantically rattled the doorknob. She reached a hand around and massaged her back. What had shoved her so hard that she still felt the sting there?
Noah swore so harshly that Emma felt her face warm. She scrambled to her feet as he kicked at the door and then stepped back when he threw his shoulder against it. She wasn’t thrilled to be in here in the near-dark either, but geez.
Um, why wasn’t the door opening?
Her voice was a squeak. “We’re locked in? How are we locked in?”
The door burst open and Noah rushed out, grabbing the edge of the bed to steady himself from falling. When he glanced back towards her, his eyes were alive with something wild and dangerous. The white of his knuckles as he gripped the bedpost betrayed his terror.
“Noah, are you okay?”
“Claustrophobic. Give me a minute.” His breathing was as labored as if he’d just climbed a mountain. She reached out a tentative hand to comfort him, but drew it back when he looked away.
“Sorry,” he managed. “Closets and I don’t get along, especially when I’m locked inside one.”
“No arguments here.” Something about the tone of his voice triggered her curiosity. “You’ve been locked in one before?”
“Few times.”
Well, that sounded awful. She shifted on her feet, uncertain what to do next. She was dying to ask him why he’d been locked in a closet a few times, but that probably wasn’t polite. Turning, she realized the door was hanging at an angle, torn from one of its hinges. Dang. Noah, one – closet, zero.
She risked a step closer and another, until she was back inside the small space. The air didn’t feel as heavy in her lungs as it had a few minutes before. She spun around, taking in the contents, mostly clothes and boxes, and noticed a small hole in the wall near the floor. Kneeling, she reached out and poked her finger in it. Coarse fabric scraped her fingertips.
“Noah, I think I found something.”
“What?”
A shadow fell over her as he moved into the doorway. Dry plaster crumbled in her hand, expanding the opening. “Do you mind if I see what’s behind here?”
He reached into his jeans and retrieved a pocketknife. Passing it over, he said, “Be careful. There could be wires in there.”
Carefully, she jabbed the hard metal into the surface until the rotted area collapsed into dust. Not wires, but some kind of box covered in rough cloth. Sticking her hand into the enlarged hole, she retrieved a small black box caked in white powder.
“What is that?” he asked, lowering to his haunches beside her.
She lifted the lid and gasped. A gorgeous diamond ring sparkled in the stream of sunlight pouring into the closet. Arching an eyebrow, Spider lifted the piece of jewelry for him to see.
“I’d bet my entire Marvel collection someone tossed us in here because they wanted us to find this.”
* * *
This was insane.
When Emma had pried the wall away with the knife, the loud scrape of metal against dry wood had sickened him. He’d attributed the gut-wrenching feeling to his hatred of small spaces and the traumatic feeling of getting trapped inside one again. But as the smooth, cold metal of the ring touched his skin, dizziness sent the walls spinning around him.
Memories of his father’s voice mocking him through the closet door sent a rush of anger and fear coursing through his mind.
No!
Pushing to his feet, he escaped the cursed closet. Maybe he couldn’t stop the panic, but he could shove it aside, or, better yet, hide it. He turned to see that she’d followed him, and his spine straightened. “None of this proves the house is haunted.” Even to his ears, the statement sounded weak.
“Noah, don’t pretend something weird didn’t just happen.” She pressed closer and snatched the ring from his grasp. “We were pushed into that closet. I think your ghost wanted us to find this for some reason.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” She paced to the window, held the ring up to the light and examined it closer. “But I know people who can help. My friend, Alexandra – she’s psychic. She’ll know what to do. She deals with this stuff all the time.”
His first inclination was to argue, but the mention of King stopped him cold. This could be the opportunity he’d been looking for to get closer to the supposed psychic detective.
Emma looked at him, moved closer. “You wouldn’t hesitate if you didn’t want help.” Her fingers clasped his upper arm, and some of the tension eating away at him seeped slowly through his pores. It was strange, the calming effect this young woman had on him. “Let me call her. She’ll probably come right away. We can rid ourselves of this pesky ghost by evening. What do you say?”
Did that mean King was back in town already? Or did Emma not know her co-worker had left? Either way, it was worth finding out.
“All right.” He leaned closer. “But I’m only doing this because of the experiences you’ve been having.”
One of her brows lifted. “Yeah, right.” A beautiful smile erupted all over her face. “This is going to be awesome. I’ve always wanted to see her do this up close. My phone! Where’s my phone?” She spun around and hurried down the stairs.
Sighing and wiping a hand over his tired eyes, Noah glanced around the room. Something damn strange had happened in here. This could be an ideal opportunity to see King work her magic, figure out how she conned people. He could be packed up and ready to move on in a few days if whatever was happening here escalated.
The distant sound of Emma’s voice captured his attention and sent an unexpected pang of guilt piercing through his chest. It was a shitty thing to do, using her like this. He liked her, didn’t want to hurt her.
His father’s genes kicked in and reminded him that it was also an opportunity to spend more time with her, get to know her better and find out if she was willing to act upon their mutual attraction. Oh, yeah. He could tell she was interested. She hadn’t been able to hide her appreciation earlier.
Don’t even think about it, West. There’s no telling how innocent she might be. Not to mention, the police chief’s daughter.That was a whole mess of complication he didn’t need.
He was the son of a convict: an abusive asshole, womanizer and alcoholic. Those things had a tendency to rub off, one way or another. Even if he was the type of man who believed in fairy tales, this young woman deserved better than him.
She’d also claimed to have a boyfriend, and Noah wasn’t the type to poach a woman, no matter how attractive he found her.
Strange thing was, he was still tempted. How long had it been since he’d been with someone? Six months, at least. He’d been tiring of the whole dating scene, if that’s what you wanted to call it. His longest relationship had only ever lasted a week. It had never bothered him until recently. Loath as he was to admit it, coming home to this empty house every day was damn lonely. The feeling had been amplified the more he’d observed Zachary Collins and his fiancée interacting. The friendship between them had been as obvious as their sexual chemistry. Such a weird thing to witness. All he usually saw were couples fighting. What would it be like to enjoy a woman’s company so much you wanted to spend time with her out of bed as much as in?
With heavy limbs, he slipped on some socks and shoes before heading downstairs to see what Emma’s plan was. He caught the tail end of her conversation. Didn’t sound promising.
“So you don’t know when you’ll be back?” Emma dropped into the chair, frowning as she listened to the response. “Well, any ideas on what we can do in the meantime? I’m serious, Alexandra. I was terrified last night.” She twirled a finger around her ginger locks and then sighed. “Okay. Thanks. I really appreciate it. And I’m sorry about your brother’s marriage. I hope you can help him get things worked out.”
Noah wandered over to the glass of whiskey he’d abandoned last night – another failed sleep aid – and downed the contents in a gulp. He’d found a half-empty bottle of the stuff in the cabinet and taken advantage, something he rarely allowed himself to do. She ended her call and sighed loudly.
“Sorry. She won’t be able to help right now. She’s out of town with a family emergency and doesn’t know when she’ll be back.”
He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “Shame.”
“Yeah. Her brother’s in the military and his wife just filed for divorce. Since her brother’s overseas, Alexandra went to try to find out what’s going on. She’s always trying to help people like that.”
Interesting. “Except you.”
She shot him a look of disapproval. “She’s going to call a friend, some guy she knows who’s psychic like her. Anyway, she’s going to see if he’ll stop by and help us figure this thing out. She actually seemed worried when I explained some of the things that had happened.”
“So what do we do in the meantime?”
Excitement danced in her eyes. Wow. She really believed in this stuff. “I was thinking about it.” She reached for her bag and pulled a laptop out. “I think the ghost is trying to tell us something. I think she wants help. If we can find out who used to live here and why they hid this ring in the closet, maybe we’ll find some answers.”
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