Chasing Tail by Roxanne St. Claire

Author:Roxanne St. Claire
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: South Street Publishing
Published: 2020-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Something clunked outside.

Instantly, Sadie sat up and blinked into the dimly lit guesthouse. Demi stirred, then lifted her head, ears perked.

“You heard that?” she whispered, picking up the furry body to hold her close, as if the cat could help her against an intruder.

Demi purred and meowed and squirmed out of Sadie’s hands, walking across the bed, her paws crunching over the papers spread out on top of the comforter. With a side-eye of deep disgust, Demi stretched out on top of two legal pads covered with notes and ideas for the debate.

“I know, I fell asl—”

Another noise outside cut her off, a thump like something—or someone—had bumped one of the clay pots in Boomie’s garden. Demi sat up, on full alert now.

“Raccoon?” She pushed the coverlet back and slipped her bare feet onto the rug, blinking into the soft light from the end table. “The midnight oil,” she muttered, but it was long past midnight.

Grabbing her phone from the table, she did a double take to see it was a few minutes before five a.m. Jeez. She must have crashed around one or so. For a moment, she sat still on the hard, uncomfortable sofa-bed mattress, half asleep, half—

A flash outside, instant and bright white, made her gasp. Was that lightning…or a camera?

She walked toward the window, grateful she’d closed the blinds last night, but froze in mid-step when she heard the distinct sound of footsteps on the stone walkway between this shed and the garden, retreating into the night.

A cold chill crawled over her skin as she split the blinds to peek out into the predawn darkness, suddenly feeling open and vulnerable and very much alone.

There were no lights on in Nana and Boomie’s house, so they hadn’t heard anything, or Jim Winthrop would be out there with one of his many firearms. She momentarily considered calling them to make sure they were okay, but waking them at this hour would just make them both so tired they’d sleep in and miss church.

Then there was another flash, this time through the window facing the street.

A reporter? “Why now?” she whispered to Demi, getting a yawn in response. “Because they want to know if Connor’s here, I bet. I mean, if we’re engaged, wouldn’t he be spending the night?”

A slow, low, sexy little butterfly flipped around in her stomach. Just how far would they have to go to prove this was real? Overnights?

Still holding her cell, she looked down at the blank screen, knowing that she could have him on the phone with one touch of the number he’d entered for her.

He’d said he’d be working a long shift, but wasn’t that over now? Soon? And had he meant five a.m. when he’d said, “Call anytime” to her? If he was still at the station, he might be busy. If he was home, he might be…she realized she hadn’t even asked him where he lived.

For some reason, that thought made her tap the phone and hit his name in the contacts.

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