The Accused by Jana DeLeon

Author:Jana DeLeon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Contemporary romantic suspense, Harlequin Intrigue, Fiction
ISBN: 9781460317129
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-07-04T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Alaina’s arms ached as she dried off her tired body. Apparently, all those hours spent at the gym didn’t prepare one for painting and Olympic-level cleaning. On the plus side, she’d made significant progress with the kitchen and was very pleased with the result. Only the overgrown shrubbery outside the kitchen windows put a damper on the cheerful room. First thing tomorrow, she was going to ask Amos if he had some tools to help her tackle the brush. It wouldn’t be the most professional job, but she could at least clear some of it away to allow in more sunshine.

She pulled on her sleeping wear and slipped into flip-flops, thinking she’d tackle some upstairs floors tomorrow so she could actually go barefoot, a habit her adoptive mother always griped about, but one she was never able to shed. Her long hair was dripping wet in the humidity, but a towel dry was all it was getting. Then it went on top of her head, held there with a clip. It was going in a ponytail again tomorrow anyway.

She hung the towel over the shower rod and left the bathroom, ready to collapse in bed. Before she’d taken three steps on the landing, the lights in the entry downstairs clicked off. She froze, listening for the sound of someone moving downstairs, but only silence greeted her. Glancing down the hallway, she saw the lamp next to her bed still glowing. It wasn’t a power outage.

She slipped off her flip-flops and hurried to her room to grab her cell phone.

No signal.

She held in a stream of cursing, angry once again at her vulnerable state. When her mother had drafted her strange inheritance requirements, she’d had no idea what position she’d be putting her children in.

The squeaking of a door hinge downstairs had her reaching for her pistol and car keys. Time to get out of the house and get help. Peering out the patio doors, she bit her lip. She’d told Carter she had no problem springing over the balcony and running, and that much was true, but an inspection of the kitchen courtyard that morning had revealed massive thornbushes directly below the balcony. Jumping now could cause more injuries than she could run with.

She shoved her cell phone and keys in her yoga pants pockets and mentally reviewed her plan. All she had to do was hurry downstairs and out the front door. If she couldn’t see the intruder in the dark, then he couldn’t see her either, and she’d remain barefoot to mask her steps. Gripping her pistol with both hands, she slipped out of the bedroom and down the hallway.

The dim light from the lamp faded away as she inched down the hallway. By the time she reached the top of the stairwell, she had only enough light to make out the first few steps. She released the pistol with one hand and placed it on the railing as she slid her foot forward to take the first step down.

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