Target on Her Back by Julie Miller

Author:Julie Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-01-14T15:39:09+00:00

Chapter Eight

A loud bang from the neighbor’s backyard jolted Hud’s attention away from the update he’d been texting Keir. He saved the message to Draft and quietly slipped out of his truck. Gigi’s front door was still locked, her windows closed, curtains drawn. Except for a dim glow seeping through the blinds of her bedroom window, she’d turned everything else off in the house and gone to bed. Some fine protector he was. What had he missed?

He tuned his ear to the creak of wood and panting breaths. Someone was running through the neighbor’s backyard.

Wrapping his hand around the butt of his sidearm, Hud crossed the side yard to flatten himself against the gray siding. “KCPD!” he warned, hearing the crunch of footsteps in the leaves. “Step out and identify yourself.”

“Izzy! Come back here.” A quavering woman’s voice shouted before a small dog popped around the corner of the house, dragging a leash behind it. The woman, wearing a gray tracksuit that matched the color of her hair, limped around the corner a moment after. Although Hud hadn’t pulled his weapon, the older woman put her hands up. “Don’t shoot. Stop her! Please!”

Hud stomped on the leash as the dog darted past him. After the sudden tug that flipped her over, the Pomeranian pounced to her feet with a high-pitched bark. But the moment Hud knelt and held out his fist for the dog to sniff, the puffball nuzzled his fingers. “Easy there, Tiger.” After receiving a friendly lick, he scooped the dog up in one hand and handed her over to the woman. “Are you all right, ma’am? Are you hurt?”

“I bumped my hip on the deck railing when I tried to catch her. I’m too ornery to actually be hurt.”

Relieved by the false alarm, Hud covered his gun and grinned at the reunion. “Is she an escape artist?”

“I’ll say.” The reprimand carried little weight as the woman hugged the dog to her chest. Then she extended an arthritic hand. “Kelly Allan. I’m Gigi’s neighbor. This is Izzy.”

Hud gently took her hand. “Detective Hudson Kramer.”

“Usually, we don’t go out for another hour, but something had her attention. She was scratching at the back door and shot out before I had a good hold on her leash.”

“You heard something? Wait here.” Instantly on guard, Hud pulled out his flashlight and moved around the woman to look through her backyard. A possum waddled along the back fence before disappearing beneath her utility shed. Birds chirped while nocturnal critters scuttled away before daybreak. Maybe he had nothing to worry about. The prowler who’d tried to break into Gigi’s house hadn’t returned.

Or maybe he had.

Hud hoisted himself up over the back fence to check the easement that ran behind the row of houses. Tire tracks. No leaves had gathered in them, so they had to be fairly fresh. He found them again in the mud behind Gigi’s house. Still, there was no way to tell if the mud had been disturbed just a few minutes ago or late last night.

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