Secret Baby, Second Chance by Jane Godman

Author:Jane Godman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-10-17T11:57:17+00:00

Chapter 11

The note of horror in Beth’s voice as she cried out jerked Vincente out of his post-sex drowsiness. He opened his eyes to find her already scrambling from the bed and diving into her clothes.

“A man. On the deck.” She pointed as she ran toward the other bedroom. To Lia.

Vincente bounded up, grabbing his jeans and tugging them on. If there was someone on the deck, why the hell hadn’t Melon raised the alarm?

When he thought about the layout of the house, the answer became obvious. There was only one way for an intruder to get onto the deck outside the bedroom window. He, or she, would have to come down the cliff face, onto the roof of the house, and climb down from there. There were no alarm sensors there, because no one ever imagined a trespasser would seriously make the attempt to get in that way. Melon was in his bed in the kitchen, overlooking the lake. That meant he was on the opposite side of the house to the bedroom. As long as the guy had climbed down from the roof stealthily, Melon wouldn’t have heard anything.

“Lia is okay.” Beth emerged from the bedroom, her face pale, but relieved.

“Stay here. I’ll check outside.”

“Be careful. And take Melon. He is search-and-rescue trained.”

There was a flashlight in one of the kitchen drawers and Vincente took his gun, as well. He took Melon with him on his search as Beth had instructed. His assessment of Melon’s capabilities wasn’t as high as Beth’s, but Melon was a collie. He enjoyed herding things. Livestock, other dogs, people, cars, bikes, crawling babies...if it moved, Melon’s instinct was to round it up. He didn’t bite, but he was obsessive. If his object didn’t cooperate, he would push and poke it into submission. If there was someone hiding on the grounds of the lake house, that person wouldn’t escape Melon’s sheepdog instincts.

At this time of night, the lake had a different feel to it. The darkness somehow emphasized its size, giving the impression of endlessness and timelessness. The twin disks of the moon, one in the sky and the other shimmering on the lake’s surface, were huge and mystical. There was something menacing about its cold, primal beauty.

The house and its surrounding area were an easy place to search. The boundaries were clear. There were cliffs on three sides of the house and the lake on the fourth. The house fitted neatly between them. It was part of the genius of its design. The architect who had planned it was Carla Bryan, Laurie’s cousin, one of the victims of the Red Rose Killer. Carla’s vision had been for a home that appeared to be part of the cliff face itself. She had succeeded. It also meant the house was protected by its surroundings.

Melon, delighted by this middle-of-the-night game, dashed along the water’s edge while Vincente trained his flashlight on the building. Although they walked along the shoreline twice, neither of them found anything to cause them concern.

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