Eliza leaned against the wall and released a deep sigh. How did she get so lucky to have a neighbor who was going above and beyond to make sure she and her children had nothing to fear? There was no question she would rest easier knowing Troy had checked out the house.
Aside from the obvious physical attraction she had for him, his kindness to her and her children definitely drew her to him. She would have liked to make a pot of coffee and invite him to linger for more conversation, but it was Saturday and she knew he probably had work to do. She’d already taken up enough of his time in landing on his doorstep in the middle of the night. She’d been enough of a burden to Troy in the past twenty-four hours. She didn’t need to bother him anymore.
Besides, she also had a big project to work on and a timeline for completion that was approaching far too quickly. She definitely needed to get some work done today as well.
He came back down the stairs and gave her a reassuring smile. “Everything looks fine.”
“Thank you for coming in and checking it all out,” she replied as they walked toward the front door.
“No problem.” When they reached the door he turned back to her. His eyes twinkled as he reached out and lightly touched the tip of her nose. “Just let me know when you’re ready for that slumber party. I’m available anytime.”
She laughed and gave him a teasing tap on the shoulder and then sobered. “Thanks, Troy...for everything.”
“No thanks needed. If you decide to do some detective work about Frank Malone or anyone else, let me know. I’d be glad to surf the web with you and see what we can find out.”
She frowned. “Maybe we can work on that tomorrow night?”
“That works for me. Just tell me a time to be here. How about I bring Chinese?”
“Nonsense. You aren’t going to bring anything but yourself. I make a pretty good sweet-and-sour chicken and fried rice. How does that sound? Shall we say around five?”
“Sounds perfect to me.” And with another of his heart-stopping smiles, he was gone.
She closed and locked her front door behind him and then hurried into the kitchen to make sure she had chicken in the freezer for tomorrow night’s meal.
There had been a moment that morning when she’d felt like things were moving too fast with Troy. But she didn’t know how to slow them down and she wasn’t even sure now that she wanted to. She was so conflicted where he was concerned. She had to be so careful because the decisions she made didn’t affect just her, but her children as well.
She climbed the stairs to check on Sammy and Katie. They were in Katie’s room and had all her dolls seated at the small plastic table. The dolls were adorned in their best dresses and had blingy jewelry dripping from their necks.
“Mommy, I was just going to come down and ask you if we can have a tea party,” Katie said.
“I think I can arrange that. It’s a little early for lunch, but in an hour or so I’ll bring up food for a tea party,” Eliza replied. “Now I’m going to work for a little while in my office.”
It didn’t take long for her to get lost in the big project of building a website for twenty physicians who were a new medical group. She’d been thrilled to get the job and was determined to do the best work possible.
She stayed on task until noon and then stopped to make tea party food. Crusts were cut off peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and she made a quick cucumber-and-tomato salad and set them on a serving tray. She then added fancy cookies she kept for special occasions like this. Finally she made a little teapot full of hot chocolate and carried the tray upstairs.
With the kids taken care of, she continued to work until it was time to make the evening meal. Sammy and Katie had moved downstairs and were watching television in the living room.
She loved the sound of the two giggling together. She hoped they always stayed close and depended on each other for love and whatever else they might need through their lives. She was an only child and had always longed for a sibling.
As she cooked up hamburgers, her thoughts drifted back to the night before and that terrifying moment when she’d believed somebody was in the house.
Had the silhouette she thought she’d seen been a remnant of a dream? Some sort of a nightmare? Or had it been real? Even though she’d been completely certain the night before that the figure was real, she was now leaning toward it being some sort of a figment of her imagination.
The locks on her doors were good ones, and the police had found no evidence of tampering. It had to have just been some sort of a strange, sleep-induced apparition.
One thing was for sure...she was looking forward to an early night. She’d only gotten a couple hours of sleep the night before and she’d fought sleepiness all afternoon.
Dinner was pleasant as Katie and Sammy chatted about the tea party they’d had. “Dolly Isabella ate three cookies,” Katie said. “And she didn’t use her napkin.”
“She was a sloppy pig and very selfish,” Sammy said with a giggle. “She drank all the hot chocolate and made the others go without.”
“Maybe Dolly Isabella shouldn’t be invited to the next tea party,” Eliza said, playing along.
“But that would really hurt her feelings,” Sammy replied. “We don’t want to do that. Maybe we just need to teach her some manners.”
For the rest of the meal the conversation revolved around what kind of manners Dolly Isabella needed to learn. It wasn’t until after she’d tucked the children into bed that she got back to work in her office.
As the last of the day’s sunlight faded, she turned on her desk lamp and then closed the blinds at the window. She loved the fact that her office was in the front of the house where she could gaze out at the sidewalk and street outside during the daytime hours.
However, she always closed the blinds at night when people walking by would have a perfect view into the room. There was no way she wanted anyone seeing the expensive computer and equipment she owned. Open blinds felt like an invitation to any thieves who might wander the streets at night.
Before her brain could really dive into the work she needed to get done, thoughts of Troy intruded. She felt oddly honored that he had trusted her enough to share with her what he’d been through.
Her heart positively wept for the terrible tragedy he’d suffered. She couldn’t imagine having a child brutally murdered. It was every parent’s worst nightmare.
What really broke her heart was the guilt that Troy obviously carried with him. He blamed himself, but it could have happened to anyone. Eliza didn’t know any parent who hadn’t taken their eyes off a child for a few moments. It could have happened in a grocery store or in a neighborhood park. It could have happened absolutely anywhere. It was just tragic that in his case evil had been present.
What was even worse was knowing that the man responsible for that heinous murder of a child was free and still walking around and enjoying his life. Justice had definitely let Troy down.
A flush of warmth swept through her as she thought of those moments on his sofa, where she’d almost lost her mind in a haze of blinding desire. It was only the thought of Katie coming down the stairs or Sammy crying out to her that had kept her rational enough to finally call a halt to things between them. But she hadn’t wanted it to stop. She’d loved his arms around her as he’d kissed her mindless.
With a shake of her head, she focused on the computer screen before her. Time to get down to work. For the next hour and a half she focused solely on building a website that looked clean and was easy to use.
It was just after ten when she finally scooted away from the desk and rolled her head to relieve the stress in her shoulders.
After the lack of sleep the night before, her bed called to her, but she would have liked to work another hour or two more. But before she got started again she needed to take a break and move around a little bit. She padded in
to the kitchen, where she made herself a cup of hot tea and grabbed a handful of cookies.
She returned to her office and set the tea and cookies next to her computer, then went to the window and opened a blind to peer outside. From this vantage point she often got a beautiful view of the moon.
Tonight it appeared particularly big and bright. As her gaze drifted downward, every muscle in her body froze. Standing on the sidewalk in front of her house, Leon Whitaker stood staring directly at her.
* * *
TROY HAD JUST gotten out of his chair and shut off the television when his cell phone rang. The caller ID showed that it was Eliza.
“Troy.” Her voice whispered across the line and he instantly knew something was wrong.
“What is it, Eliza?” he asked urgently.
“He’s outside. Leon Whitaker. He’s standing outside my house and staring in at me.”
“I’ll be right out.” He hung up and hurried into his bedroom. He opened the drawer next to his bed and pulled out his gun. Unlike the weapon he’d buried in the backyard, this gun was registered to him and felt familiar in his hand.
He’d bought it on the day Annie was born, determined to protect his wife and child from any harm. Ha, what a laugh. Even owning a firearm hadn’t protected Annie from evil by the name of Dwight Weatherby.
He stuck the gun in the waist of his jeans and then opened his front door and stepped outside. It was easy to spot the man standing on the sidewalk in front of Eliza’s house. A nearby streetlight made it impossible to miss him.
“Can I help you?” Troy asked as he approached. Leon Whitaker was a tall, thin man with little swords protruding from eyebrow piercings and an ill-kempt mustache that nearly hid his thin upper lip.
“Don’t need any help,” he replied.
“You’re making the woman who lives here very nervous.”
Leon grinned. “Good. What are you? Her personal bodyguard?” He looked pointedly at the butt of the gun protruding from Troy’s waistband.
“Something like that,” Troy replied tersely.
“I just hope I’m making her as nervous as I was last night when the cops showed up at my door. I was in bed with my wife sound asleep when they banged on my door to see if I had broken into this house.”
“I imagine the police wouldn’t be real happy with you being here now.”
Leon laughed, a raspy unpleasant sound. “It’s a free country and I’m standing on city property. I’m not breaking any laws here.”
Both men turned as Eliza’s front door opened and she walked toward them. Her shoulders were squared and her chin was raised as if anticipating a fight. She looked beautiful with her hair loose and blowing in the wind that had picked up earlier in the evening.
When she reached where they stood, she looked at Leon. “Were you in my house last night?”
“I was not, and I didn’t appreciate you siccing the cops on me,” he replied with an upthrust of his chin. “In my line of work I don’t want to draw any police attention. I wasn’t in your damned house and you had no right to put my name in your mouth with the police.”
“I’m sorry, but what else was I to think since you’ve been harassing me with your text messages and nasty emails? I don’t owe you anything, Leon. I thought we parted ways amicably,” she said. Even under stress, she looked beautiful with the moonlight playing on her delicate features.
“You ticked me off,” Leon replied. “I know how good you are at what you do and I wanted you to do a kick-ass website for me.”
“And I’m sorry that I couldn’t do that for you and I explained why. Please stop the harassment, Leon. I’m sure you found somebody else to work for you on the web pages.”
Troy wanted to beat the living daylights out of the man who would harass a woman the way this creep had done to Eliza. What kind of a man did something like that to a woman?
“I did find somebody else, somebody who isn’t so uptight with their morals,” Leon replied.
“Then please just leave me alone,” Eliza said.
Leon stared at her for a long moment and then slowly nodded his head. “Okay, I’ll stop with the texts and emails, but you have to agree to keep my name out of your mouth when it comes to the cops. I wasn’t in your house last night and I have no intention of ever being in your house.” He grinned. “Besides, harassing you has been pretty boring since you never answer me.”
“So we have a deal? You’ll stop harassing me and I won’t ever mention you to the police again?”
“We have a deal,” he replied.
“Thank you,” Eliza said, her relief evident in her tone of voice.
Leon gave a final nod and then turned and headed down the sidewalk to where a car was parked at the curb. Eliza turned and gazed at Troy. “It seems like I’m always telling you thank you,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” he replied. “Do you believe he’s done and is going to leave you alone now?”
“God, I hope so. But I do believe that he wasn’t in my house last night. The person I thought I saw appeared heavier than Leon.” She released a deep sigh. “I’m leaning toward believing nobody was in the house and it was just some strange dream or night terror.”
“All I know is that you did the right thing getting the children out and running to my place,” he replied.
“Speaking of...” She glanced toward her front door. “I need to get back inside.”
“Are we still on for tomorrow night?”
“Absolutely,” she replied. “No matter what’s going on, I wouldn’t mind learning something about Frank Malone, especially given the hidey-holes we’ve found in the house.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow evening,” he replied. “Go ahead and get inside.”
He watched until she disappeared back into the house and then he checked the street; Leon’s car was also gone. Stupid creep, he thought derisively as he began the walk across the lawn to his own place.
He was just about to his own front door when he thought he saw a figure dart around the side of his house. Instantly adrenaline cranked up inside him and his heartbeat raced a frantic rhythm in his chest.
Grabbing the gun from his waistband, he gripped it firmly in his hand and moved toward the corner of the house. Had Leon parked just out of sight and returned for more mischief?
He reached the corner, and drawing a quick breath, he whirled around it. Nobody was on the side of the house.
The hot night air wrapped around him, oppressive and heavy, making it difficult for him to draw a full breath. The breeze that had stirred the air only moments before was gone. Sweat began to bead on his forehead.
He walked the length of the house to the next corner and when he reached it, he once again stepped around it, giving him a full moonlit view of his backyard.
Nobody. He lowered the gun and expelled a deep breath. He could have sworn he’d seen somebody creeping around in the shadows of the night.
At the back edge of the yard was a wooded area where occasionally deer wandered. Were those trees now hiding something more ominous?
He stood for several long moments, his gaze shooting from left to right. Had he only imagined the figure? He couldn’t be sure.
As he remained staring into the woods, he remembered his conversation with Nick. Of the six men who had entered the murder pact, he was fairly certain that one of them had gone rogue and he was killing the targets himself in a horrific way.
That meant there were five men on the face of the earth who could identify and turn him in. Liabilities. Loose ends. Despite the heat of the night, a faint chill worked up his spine.
Maybe it was time for him to watch his own back as well as watching Eliza’s.
Chapter Six
It had been a pleasure that morning for Eliza to open up her email and text messages and have no nasty ones from Leon Whitaker. Maybe
he’d really meant it the night before when he’d told her he was done tormenting her.
They had just gotten back from church service when her phone rang. The caller ID let her know who it was and she quickly answered.
“Hi, Lucy,” she said.
“Hey, Eliza. How’s it going?”
“It’s going. How about you?”
“Same, but I think it’s time for me to borrow your kids for a night. I’m having Katie and Sammy withdrawal.”
Eliza laughed. “Well, you know they love it when you borrow them.”
“I was thinking next Friday night. I’ll take them out for dinner and then bring them home Saturday morning after I make them breakfast. Would that work for you?”
“Sounds good to me,” Eliza replied.
“Great, then I’ll see you on Friday.”
The two hung up and Eliza sat back in her office chair, where she’d been since getting home from church. The kids would be delighted, and Lucy White was the only person on the face of the earth she would trust them with for an overnight stay.
Lucy was forty-one years old, unmarried, and worked as an aide at Sammy’s school. She and Sammy had bonded immediately and it wasn’t long before Lucy had become a grandmother-like figure to the kids. They loved slumber partying at Lucy’s house and she loved having them.
It would be a night with no children for Eliza. Should she tell Troy? A shiver of pleasure washed over her. If she told him and they got together, she was fairly certain they would make love that night.
Was she ready for that? Her lips definitely yearned for more of his kisses and her body longed for his touch, but her brain overrode those feelings with questions and a faint wariness.
Troy certainly hadn’t claimed undying love for her and if he had, she wouldn’t have believed him. It was far too soon to be thinking about love with him. They hadn’t known each other long and yet she felt as if she’d known him for months.
She’d never been the kind of woman to just fall into bed with a man. She’d only had one lover before she’d married Blake and that had been her high school sweetheart, whom she had dated for four years.
Desperate Intentions (HQR Intrigue) Page 7