In Close by Brenda Novak

Author:Brenda Novak
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-10-28T22:00:00+00:00

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18

When Claire opened her eyes, she could tell she hadn’t been sleeping long, and the clock confirmed it. 1:58 a.m. Why was she awake? She wanted to sink back into the nothingness she’d just left—and would have if not for the odd noise that nudged her toward consciousness.

It sounded like someone was at the back door.

Was it Leanne? She couldn’t think of anyone besides her sister who’d come over so late…?.

In the next instant, she sat bolt upright. Leanne wouldn’t be at her back door in the middle of the night. Someone was trying to get in. She could hear the click, click of the knob as it turned back and forth.

Who was it? And why was that person here?

Wondering if maybe those noises hadn’t been as distinctive as she’d first imagined, if maybe it was just some animal rustling around, she got out of bed and tiptoed into the living room, where she could peer around the corner and through the moonlit kitchen.

She hadn’t been imagining anything. The dark shadow of a man stood on the other side of the glass.

Her heart jumped into her throat. As she watched, too panic-stricken to move, he left the door and went around to press his face to the window over her sink.

Claire screamed before she realized it was Isaac. Then her chest heaved as she tried to recover from the fright he’d given her. Why was he prowling around her yard?

He’d heard her. She saw his head turn in her direction. He probably couldn’t see her, since she was hidden behind the wall and it was darker inside than out, but he jogged to the front, where she met him as he stepped onto the porch.

“What are you doing here?” she cried. “You scared the shit out of me!”

He didn’t seem chastised; he seemed concerned. His eyes ran over her from head to foot. “You’re okay?”

Why wouldn’t she be okay? Before he’d disturbed her, she’d been getting some much-needed rest. “I’m fine, why?”

“Someone called me from a pay phone. I’m pretty sure it was a man, but even that was hard to tell. He had the mouthpiece covered and was talking so low I could barely hear. He said, ‘Claire’s in trouble.’”

“Are you serious?”

His hair stood up on one side as if he’d just rolled out of bed himself. “Do I look like I’m doing this for kicks?”

“No, but…” Her heart rate still hadn’t returned to normal. “That’s so strange. You don’t have any idea who it was?”

“None.”

“When was this?”

He rubbed a hand over the razor stubble on his chin. “Twenty minutes ago. Just long enough for me to drive over here. Everything looked so peaceful when I arrived, I thought it had to be somebody’s idea of a joke to scare me like that. So I was checking things out, trying to see if there was any reason to worry.”

Claire had been so exhausted she hadn’t even taken off her makeup, but she was too uneasy to be sleepy now.

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