Chasing Venus by Diana Dempsey

Author:Diana Dempsey [Dempsey, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781480209862
Amazon: B005KBDRYK
Barnesnoble: B005KBDRYK
Goodreads: 12557301
Published: 2011-08-29T14:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Panic froze Annie on the ladder. She watched Frankie advance a step or two into the foyer, his stringy brown hair pulled back into its usual untidy ponytail, his face flushed an unpleasant shade of red. His eyes bored into hers. Many of the muscles from his Frankie “The Pitchfork” days had gone to fat but he was still a giant of a man. He reached behind him and swatted his huge front door shut. The house shuddered as wood smacked wood.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Who the hell are you? And what the fuck are you doing in my house?”

He doesn’t recognize me. She’d forgotten she was sporting a whole new look. Annie felt a surge of relief that lasted a nanosecond. She’d intruded into Frankie’s home because she suspected him of being a serial killer and now she was frighteningly vulnerable to him. Smaller. Slower. Weaker. And at the moment, pinned on the bookcase ladder as if she were a specimen for inspection. Holding his stare, she forced her trembling legs down one ladder rung and then the next, feeling her way, terrified of falling, and trying hard not to succumb to the fear that gathered in her gut.

Luto bounded toward his master, tail wagging, but backed off when he didn’t get so much as a pat. The dog followed Frankie’s gaze and no doubt sensed the dangerous new vibration in his den. He squared his body against Annie and let loose a low growl.

Frankie made a sudden move in her direction and she lurched away. Michael’s novel slipped from her hand and tumbled across the hardwood. Frankie bent to pick it up, allowing Annie to skitter behind the desk and put something large and immovable between her and him. He straightened as he read the book’s cover. Again he turned his gaze on her. His eyes roamed her face. In moments his expression skidded from bewilderment to recognition to stunned surprise.

“Annie?” He moved a step closer, then halted as if he thought better of closing the distance between them. “Is that you?” He squinted at her, plainly astonished. “You went blond?”

A surreal question. She didn’t know if it meant disaster or salvation. Her hand flitted nervously over her hair, short and spiky to the touch. “I dyed it.”

“I can see that. Why? Oh—” His Adam’s apple worked. “That’s right.” He backed off a step. Annie had the idea, astonishing as it was, that he was afraid of her. He spoke again. “What’re you doing here? You—” He gave a wild look around. “You broke in?”

She didn’t answer. Instead she struggled to take long deep breaths rather than quick shallow ones, which were doing little to slow her heartbeat or fill her lungs with oxygen. Could she make a break for it? Try a mad dash for the front door, or go through the study windows, which were now at her back. Like some TV detective she could throw her shoulders through the paned glass, then

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