Ruthless

by Marlie May

  “What do you want, buddy?” I asked Walter.

  He meowed again and butted his head on the door.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming.” My bare feet silent on the carpet, I joined him, my fingers reaching for the handle. “Please tell me this place didn’t come with mice.” Or bats, the thought of which made me shiver despite the seventy-degree air drifting in through the open bedroom windows.

  What else could it be, though? My cat wouldn’t care about cars passing on the street, and the neighbors on both sides were elderly and went to bed each night earlier than Walter. They wouldn’t decide to play a beer-infused nighttime game of corn hole in their backyards.

  When I opened the door, Walter scampered out, moving so fast his claws scraped on the hardwood floor in the hall. Maybe he needed exercise. Should I follow him? Not for the exercise but to see what had drawn his interest.

  Wrapping my arms around my waist, I shook my head. Not following unless I wanted to witness him stalking a mouse or leaping on a bat. Ugh. I could deal with the carcass in the morning.

  Turning, I stumbled back to my bed, glaring at the clock that shouted one-ten a.m. in big red numbers. Double ugh. While I didn’t have to get up and go to work in the morning, I did have to finish my presentation for my upcoming conference.

  Because I’d chickened out on calling him, I also wanted to bring cookies to the shop for Eli. And beat Jax away with an imaginary stick and a stiff hint that he was not to lay one figure on them until Eli had gotten a share.

  A howl from somewhere deep in my house sent goosebumps rippling across my skin.

  “Walter?” I shouted as I leaped from my bed and rushed into the hall, tripping over a box of textbooks I’d left here with the intention of putting them up in the attic soon.

  Rubbing my sore shin, I flicked the light switch, but nothing happened.

  Great. Lights streaming in the front living room windows told me the rest of the street had power. Maybe I’d blown a fuse? Flint had already insisted my place needed rewiring.

  Another howl, coming from the study down the hall and on the left, made my heart stall before thumping faster than a horse racing in the Kentucky Derby.

  Flashlight. Darting into the kitchen on my right, I rifled through the junk drawer and found one. My fingers trembling, I clicked it on and swept the beam around. Nothing out of the ordinary stood out to me. No mice or bats peering at me, either, thank heaven.

  “Walter?” I croaked out, leaving the kitchen for the hall. I tiptoed toward the study. The living room loomed on my right, a dark void that didn’t invite entry. Shadows lurked everywhere. Truly, it was just the sofa, the recliner, and a bookcase, but still.

  Definitely needed to install nightlights along with new wiring.

  On the road out front, a car drifted by slowly. Did it hesitate at my house? I resisted the urge to press myself against the wall. My skin prickled, telling me I’d be wise to hide.

  “Why would someone care about me walking around inside my house?” I asked in a low voice. “It’s not like anyone knows I’m on an adventure with my cat in the middle of the night.”

  That’s all this was, an adventure. Nothing creepy.

  Keep telling yourself that.

  I approached the study on light feet. Stopping beside the open doorway, I leaned forward and shot my flashlight beam inside like a bright weapon.

  Nothing moved.

  “Walter?” I whispered with a scratchy voice. One full of fear.

  A harsh meow from somewhere in the dark room sent the tiny hairs bolting upright on the back of my neck.

  “Where are you?” I asked, making myself enter the room. If Walter had gotten into trouble, I wanted to help him. The old wooden floorboards creaked and groaned beneath me, giving the situation a Stephen King feel. Not a pleasant thought while exploring alone in my dark house.

  I crept forward, slashing my light back and forth.

  The neat piles of paper on my desk suggested nothing had been disturbed. To the right, the open closet door revealed dark shapes—winter coats I’d stuffed inside because the front hall closet was too small to hold things from all four seasons. My grannie’s rocker stood sentinel in the far-left corner of the room.

  Moving slightly.

  As if someone had recently pushed it.

  Thump-thump-thump, the curved rocker boards ground against the hardwood floor. Had Walter nudged it while scooting by?

  Another meow, this time filled with panic that was echoed inside me.

  I whirled around, darting my light toward the built-in wooden cupboards spanning one wall. Eventually, I’d store board games and other infrequently used items there. For now, a pile of boxes waited in front and to the sides of the cupboard doors, which latched.

  A scraping, clawing sound made me jump out of my skin before I exhaled sharply and strode forward. My unease plunged from my shoulders like a saturated blanket.

  “Walter?” How had he gotten himself locked in there? I could swear the doors had been closed the last time I was inside this room.

  I opened the furthest cupboard on the left, and Walter leaped out. He hissed as if I’d forced him inside the tiny area and slammed the door in his face. Scrambling across the room, he flew through the doorway and bolted right, toward my bedroom.

  “Okay.” Wiping my curls off my face, I shook my head. Walter must be jittery. Everyone knew it was stressful settling into a new place. He’d stayed with Flint while I was in Mexico because I had nowhere else to leave him. Two new homes in a short span of time would upset anyone, let alone my normally easy-going fluffball.

  No need for me to keep my back up any longer, however. He’d taken a late-night stroll and somehow gotten himself locked inside the cabinet. Rescued, he’d probably huff when I joined him in bed and give me the cold shoulder because, naturally, it was all my fault.

  Sighing, I followed him back to my bedroom.

  I’d call Flint in the morning. Maybe he could recommend an electrician.

  Oh, wait. Flint had left a message on my phone saying he was flying to D.C.

  Who else could I call?

  Per usual, Eli’s name jumped into my mind. Could he offer some electrical advice outside the electrical feelings he generated inside me? If he couldn’t give me a name of someone I could call, one of his friends probably could. He’d grown up in Crescent Cove, and he’d lived here for months before I moved to town.

  My feet padded softly on the wooden boards as I made my way back to my bedroom.

  Walter lay on the quilt, glaring as I strode inside.

  “It’s not my fault you got stuck in there.” I stomped toward him. “I have no idea why you decided to go hunting or whatever it was you were doing in the middle of the night. You did this deed all on your own.” Climbing up onto the still slightly warm spot on the bed, I pulled the covers to my waist. “Maybe save the next adventure for daylight?”

  I’d dropped onto my back and was about to turn off my flashlight when Walter growled.

  “What now?” I sat up and glared at him.

  He stared toward my bureau that held a large mirror, where something…slithered along the glass.

  My heart rate tripled and my mouth flashed dry. What…?

  I directed the beam to the mirror and, at first, light shot back at me, blinding me to everything else. But then I made out something bleeding down the glass.

  Something red.

  My belly lurched, and my skin crawled as if a thousand spiders had dropped onto me from the ceiling.

  A number one?

  I grimaced as the red blood—paint?—leached down the shiny surface.

  Fresh.

  Horror clawed through my guts.

  Someone had been inside my house. My room.

  Were they still here with me now?

  6

  Eli

  My phone beeped, snatching me from a deep sleep. For a minute, I clutched my thigh and pictured myself back in the hospital. In pain. Always in pain. />
  But the agony had faded. My leg no longer hurt and it did what I asked it to do. Most of the time.

  Reality shoved itself back into my brain, reminding me I was back home in Maine and no longer part of the military. Not necessarily by choice, but who the hell wanted to trade deployments overseas with my buddies for a training job stateside? It hadn’t been easy turning them down, telling them I wanted out. But they’d essentially bailed on me because I was no longer capable of full duty. I had to leave. Move home. Find a way to keep my injury from ruling my life.

  My phone beeped again, and I lifted it off the bedside table. Mia’s number. At quarter-past-one in the morning?

  “Hey, Mia,” I said in a gruff, sleepy voice.

  “Eli!”

  The stark terror in her tone sent me bolting upright. In seconds I stood beside my bed, seeking a weapon. Which was stupid since she wasn’t even here. I’d have to get to her before I could defend her.

  “Mia. What’s happening?” I essentially yelled into the phone.

  “Someone’s inside my house!”

  My heart plunged all the way to the center of the Earth. “What?” Wedging my phone between my shoulder and head, I hauled on the jeans I’d tossed on a chair before going to bed. Commando, but no way would I take the time to grab boxers even though zipping my pants fast would be dangerous. “Get out of the house. Go to a neighbor’s house. Lock yourself inside a secure location. I’ll be there in seconds.”

  “I’m in my car. Don’t think I could drive right now, though. I’m a wreck.” Shivers came through in her words. “I’ve locked the doors.” A cat meowed, and she shushed it in a gentle tone. “Can you…I hate to ask, but Flint’s away. I’m scared.”

  I’d fling myself across a canyon to help her. “What’s your address?”

  She rattled it off and I memorized it as I stuffed my feet into my sneakers and, snatching up my keys from the small table beside the front door, raced from my house to my Jeep. I drove like a maniac to her place, roaring into her driveway. Leaping from my vehicle, I rushed over to the blue car parked ahead of mine.

  Mia’s tear-stained face stared out from the driver’s side window. She pressed the button, unlocking the doors, and I wrenched it open.

  Lowering a big, fluffy orange tiger cat onto the passenger seat, she jumped from the car and shut the door behind her. And tumbled into my open arms.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” I said in the most soothing voice I could muster. My hands shook. My voice croaked. I’d been a wreck driving over here, worried someone was hurting her. That I wouldn’t make it time.

  Pulling herself from my arms, she leaned against her car and wiped her face. “Sorry. I was…messed up there for a minute. Things lately…in my life, that is…well, I’ve been jumpy for good reason.” Her voice rose. “But there was someone in my house!”

  “Still in there now?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t think so.” Face tight, she peered in that direction. “I didn’t see whoever it was, but I know they were there.”

  After shoving my hair off my face, I took my phone from my pocket. “I’m calling the sheriff.”

  “He’s going to think I’m a pain in the butt.”

  “Why?”

  She scrunched her face and street light glinted off the tears trickling across her freckles. “Fish heads.”

  Blinking, I paused with my finger hovering over the number nine. “Fish heads?”

  Her breath whooshed out. “It’s a long story.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and waved it at me. “Let me do the dirty work. I’ve got him on speed dial.” 9-1-1 must’ve picked up immediately, because she said, “Hey, this is Mia Crawford.” She gave her address. “Yes, I called earlier.”

  Earlier? What the hell was going on here?

  Mia paused to listen. “No, this isn’t about fish heads or guts.” Lines of stress appeared on her face. “Someone was inside my house.” After a moment, her expression cleared. “Thank you.” She tucked her phone back inside her pocket. “They’re notifying Deputy Franks. She’s on call tonight.”

  “Great.” Turning, I leaned against her car beside her, shifting my backside when my 9mm dug into the small of my spine.

  Mia’s shoulders lifted and fell. “I appreciate you coming over tonight.”

  “Call me anytime.”

  “You probably know Flint’s away. I would’ve called my parents, but they live in western Massachusetts. I don’t know many people in town, yet. My neighbors would be happy to help, but they’re old. I can’t endanger them.”

  Because her voice had risen and her body still trembled, I laid my arm across her shoulders and tugged her closer to my side. “I’m glad you called me. I got here as fast as I could.”

  Her chuckle came out high-pitched, unsettled. “Didn’t even take time to put on a shirt.”

  “You noticed.”

  Her breath sliding across my skin tickled but I’d die a happy man if I could keep her in the shelter of my arms. “I’d have to be blind not to notice.”

  The cool night air had started sinking into my bones, but her comment warmed me up nicely. Naturally, I’d noticed the nightie Mia was wearing. Have to be blind not to. Shit, it revealed her creamy thighs and hinted at her soft shape beneath. How could something so simple turn me on?

  “I thought of calling you earlier.” She peered up at me. “I made you some cookies.”

  “I do love cookies.” Knew I’d love Mia’s cookies the most, not that I’d tell Ginny. She’d smack my arm and give me a scowl that wouldn’t quite hide her pleased grin. “I’m glad you weren’t alone before I got here.”

  She peered around. “What do you mean?”

  When I waved, she glanced toward the windshield where the cat stood with its back legs on the seat, front paws on the dash, winking through the glass at us with its whiskers twitching.

  “Oh, yes, Walter,” she said. “He…he heard something. I let him out of my bedroom to investigate and whoever it was must’ve locked him inside a cupboard. Poor boy. I thought he’d done it to himself. Chastised him for it, even. He’s an indoor kitty and has never been outside other than on my screened-in porch. I imagine he’s having the adventure of his life.”

  The hum of an engine told me the police were approaching. An SUV pulled into the drive, parking beside my Jeep, and a woman I assumed must be Deputy Franks got out. A tall, skinny officer joined her and they strode over to us, their intent gazes scanning the vicinity.

  She chipped a nod. “Deputy Franks, and this is Deputy Cousins.”

  He nodded while fingering a button on the front of his dark shirt.

  “Heard you had an intruder in your house, Ms. Crawford?” she asked Mia.

  “Yes.” Mia glanced toward her house, her teeth compressing her lower lip. “The person was in my bedroom while I was in my study. They wrote something on my mirror.”

  “Wrote something?” Deputy Cousins asked, frowning.

  “In red. It looked like a number one. I found it after Walter woke me up, hissing at the door, and I let him out. I followed him, and when we returned to my bedroom, I saw the number.”

  “Hissing?” Deputy Franks blinked, and her gaze fell on me. “You, um, Walter?”

  “That would be the cat,” I said, tilting my head toward the car.

  Deputy Cousins frowned. “Cat?”

  Mia waved to where Walter pressed his face against the driver’s side window. His plaintive meow reached us. “He’s Walter.”

  “Then who are you?” Deputy Franks asked me.

  I extended my hand for a shake. “Eli Bradley. Mia called me after locking herself inside her car with Walter.”

  “Bradley…Any relation to Ginny?”

  “My sister.”

  “Ah, yes.” Deputy Franks rocked forward onto her toes. “What a cluster that was, eh? But her fiancé took care of things neatly, now didn’t he?”

  “Cooper, and yes.”

  Mia watched us. “What happened?”

>   “Ginny was stalked by a former boyfriend.”

  A shudder rippled through Mia, and she crossed her arms and worried her elbows. Her gaze pierced the area but nothing moved outside of treetops swaying in the wind. “Stalked? How horrible.”

  “She’s okay, now,” I said. Thanks to Coop. My buddy had not only saved the day, but he’d also saved my sister’s life. I’d owe him forever.

  “Guy’s in the pokey, awaiting trial,” Deputy Franks said. “Couldn’t make bail.” She darted her attention toward the house. “But you didn’t call me out here at two a.m. for an update on that case. Let’s see what we’re dealing with here, shall we? You got a back door, Ma’am?”

  “Yes,” Mia said. “You can enter from the deck.” Pulling a flashlight from her pocket, she offered it to them. “The power’s out inside the house.”

  “That’s strange,” Deputy Cousins said.

  Mia shrugged. “The house is old. My brother said I should have it rewired but I haven’t been around long enough to see it done.”

  “We’ve got our own lights.” Deputy Franks gestured toward Deputy Cousins. “You take the back, and I’ll take the front. We’ll meet up inside.”

  They pulled their guns and flashlights, and Deputy Cousins trotted down the path leading toward the back of the house while Deputy Franks approached the porch cautiously. She opened the screen door and stepped inside.

  “I think whoever it was is gone,” Mia said, rubbing her bare arms where goosebumps rippled. “I hope so, anyway.”

  “They’d be stupid to wait for the police to arrive, but I’m glad they’re checking things out.”

  “Me, too. It’s totally creepy. Walter…” She cut her gaze to her cat. “He hissed and clawed at the door. He never wants to leave my bedroom at night. He’s a deeper sleeper than me. I let him out and he howled. Scared me to death.” Her voice quivered and I wrapped my arms around her again, offering her what little comfort I could. “I thought he was hurt, so I looked for him. He was locked inside a cabinet in my study.” Leaning back, she frowned up at me. “Someone…Whoever was inside my house must’ve done it.” Her voice rose. “While I was there.”