Crazy In Love: A Standalone Christmas Thriller

by Ivy Smoak

  "I'm sorry, boy." I set him down on the oriental rug. "Do you know if Noah's here?" I whispered. "Can you show me where he is?"

  Snuggle Muffins just looked up at me.

  I pointed back to the foyer. "Go."

  And he surprised me by walking away.

  Oh my God, he knows where Noah is! I should have been slowly creeping along with my back against the hallway wall, but Snuggle Muffins leading the way somehow felt safe. He was the front line. He'd protect me. But when he led me to the kitchen and started eating from his food bowl, I felt like I was going to throw up. He wasn't protecting me. He was just a tiny mutt.

  I turned in a circle, taking in the whole room. I even crouched down and looked under the kitchen table. "Noah?" My voice kept sounding shakier and shakier.

  The basement. I should definitely start in the basement. Maybe he hadn't moved at all. Maybe he was scared I'd kill him, not the other way around. For the first time in days the basement door was wide open. And I knew that I could be getting myself in a pickle by walking down those stairs. He could easily lock me in if he was up here. But I didn't know what else to do. So I lifted up Snuggle Muffins again and used him as a shield as I walked down the creaky stairs.

  "Noah? It's safe to come out. The detective's gone." I stepped down onto the concrete floor and waited a beat for a response.

  The only one I got was a grumble from Snuggle Muffins. He was probably annoyed that I'd taken him away from his food and kept using him as a meat shield.

  First I checked the window. The lock was still in place. He couldn’t have gotten out that way. I glanced over at the crawl space. I really, really didn't want to have to go over there. I didn't want to die today.

  I pulled on one of the light cords to illuminate the basement even more. But somehow that just cast shadows and made the crawl space look even darker and more sinister.

  "We'll be okay," I said to Snuggle Muffins. Noah wouldn't hurt me when I had a dog in my hands. Yes, he was a monster. But animal abuse? That was a whole other level of evil. My feet shuffled closer to the crawl space. "Noah?" I could barely even hear my own voice. "Please just come out."

  No response.

  Fuck my life. I tightened my grip on Snuggle Muffins and my taser as I pressed my back against the wall beside the crawl space. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I just needed to get it over with. It was tempting to throw Snuggle Muffins inside the crawl space and wait to see what happened. But I wasn't a monster either. And I liked the little guy more than I wanted to admit.

  "Save yourself," I whispered into his ear before setting him down. "And don't eat my body."

  He just sighed and sat down next to my feet.

  Here goes nothing. Before I could chicken out, I hoisted myself into the crawl space and reached forward to grab the cord. After flailing my arms around for what felt like an eternity, I finally made purchase. I pulled the cord and the crawl space was illuminated. The very empty crawl space. The only thing in it was a pile of rope.

  I swallowed hard. It was the rope I'd used to tie Noah up. He had been up here watching me and Detective Torres. So why hadn't he come out? I sat down for a second. What the hell was his game? I was worried I wouldn't live to find out, because my chest felt like it was about to explode. I wasn't sure my heart had ever beat so fast.

  All I knew for sure was that Noah had a chance to turn me in. And he hadn’t done it. I lifted the rope. He also wasn't in the basement, unless he had dug a hole to China somewhere. I tossed the rope out of the crawl space.

  Snuggle Muffins yelped.

  I leaned out of the crawlspace to see him maneuvering through the rope.

  "You're fine." I jumped down and scooped him up. "And we're not crazy. See, Noah was definitely here. I'm not crazy." I hugged my dog closer to my chest as I made my way back upstairs.

  The first thing I noticed in the kitchen was the plate in the sink. The same plate that had once been filled with my torture bacon. Had Noah seriously put the dish in the sink? That hadn't been here a few minutes ago, had it? "Noah, stop it. This isn't funny. Come out."

  Silence.

  Snuggle Muffins was shaking in my arms again as I walked over to the garage door. That's where I would go if I was planning on murdering my captor. There were so many things in the garage he could use to overpower me. Not that he needed anything other than his muscles. He was freaking ripped. The way his muscles bulged when he was sitting in that chair...why am I thinking about his muscles right now?

  I opened the garage door, holding out my taser. "Noah?"

  Silence.

  I flicked on the lights and made my way around the car. I peered in the windows. And when I tried to open one of the doors, it was locked. All the shelves around the garage looked untouched. Even the toolkit was closed and in its usual place. The cart I'd used to transport his body hadn't moved an inch. Everything was in order. I bit the inside of my lip. Where the hell was he?

  I closed and locked the door behind me.

  "Noah?" I called a little louder this time. "Can you please come to the kitchen for supper?" It was a stupid way to lure him out. And it was weird that I said supper instead of dinner. But it sounded more innocent to say supper than the poisonous dinner I wanted to serve him right this second.

  Silence.

  Snuggle Muffins whimpered in my arms.

  For some reason, instead of trying to console him, I followed his gaze. He was staring at the back door.

  "What is it, Snuggle Muffins? Do you see him out there?" There were windows on the top half of the door that looked out into the back yard. I couldn't see out there when it was so dark. But I knew nothing about dog night vision. Could he see Noah out there holding a chainsaw looking like a psychopath?

  Snuggle Muffins whimpered again.

  I wanted to whimper too and hide. But instead, I forced my feet forward. "Do you see him?" I whispered again.

  Snuggle Muffins' tail started wagging against my arm.

  I didn't know what that meant. Was he aggravated? Happy? Fucking scared out of his mind like me? I inched closer to the door and he wagged his tail even more. I felt a tear run down my cheek. God, what is wrong with me? I'm a grown-ass woman. I'm not scared right now.

  But when a snowball hit the window I screamed at the top of my lungs and threw Snuggle Muffins and my taser toward the door.

  Luckily we were far enough away and Snuggle Muffins was heavy enough that he landed gracefully on the floor instead of slamming against the door. My taser wasn't as fortunate. It broke in half as it fell to the ground. Shit.

  Snuggle Muffins started barking at the door. Full, crazy barks that I had never heard him make before.

  "Stop it, Snuggle Muffins." I snapped my fingers at him when he didn't quit the noise. It just made him bark louder.

  Those stupid little kids having snowball fights on my property were going to get what was coming to them. I was going to kill them. Or at least have a word with their mothers. I grabbed the doorknob and went to yank the door open and almost threw out my shoulder. Fuck. But whatever pain in my shoulder I felt quickly disappeared.

  Fuck. Me. The deadbolt to the back door was locked. From the inside. Which meant... I turned around and stared through the kitchen and down the hallway. Noah definitely hadn't left.

  It didn't make sense. He should have fled. It was the only logical thing to do. He was my prisoner. It was his one chance for freedom. But he hadn't run. He was here. The fucking maniac was somewhere in here.

  I pressed my back against the door. My taser was shattered on the floor. Snuggle Muffins was barking so loudly that I couldn't even hear my own breaths. And all I could think about was the fact that Noah was going to make me pee in a litter box when he overpowered me. Or starve me. Or drug me. Or...worse. I'm going to die.

  Chapter 18

  Sunday

  I couldn't make myself move away from the door. Noah was in here. Somewhere. Why the hell wasn't he coming out? "Noah?" I whispered again.

/>   Silence.

  I could run out the back door like I originally thought Noah had. Running away would be a good choice. The safe choice. Really the only sane option. But Noah hadn't run. Why? And why the hell should I run if he hadn't? I couldn’t let him win. Again.

  Snuggle Muffins nudged a piece of the shattered taser with his nose.

  "Don't touch that." The thought of him electrocuting himself made me finally move away from the door. I wasn't sure if the taser would still work, but it was worth a shot. I picked up all the pieces, making sure none of them ended up in Snuggle Muffins' mouth. But after pressing both sides back together, it wasn't looking good. Shit.

  A floorboard creaked above my head. I swallowed hard. If Noah was right above me, he was in...the empty room. The room meant for our child. Or maybe the house was settling. That was probably it, right? I hugged my arms around myself. As much as I wanted to believe that it was the bones of the house, I didn't believe that excuse for a second. That son of a bitch was up there snooping around. And I needed a new weapon now that my taser was shot. I tossed the pieces on the counter.

  Nothing popped into my head that would give me an advantage over his strength. I could get a shovel from the garage, but it would be too heavy. My only advantage was that I was quick. And pissed. I went to grab a knife out of the knife block and realized that one of the knives was already missing. So he hadn't armed himself with rusty tools from the garage. He'd gone straight for a knife. I pulled out a much bigger, sharper chef's knife. If he’d ever spent any time in the kitchen, he'd know that I loved this knife. I sharpened it all the time. And it cut through any kind of meat really, really easily. God, I was going to win this fight. I really hope it hurts like hell when this goes through his leg.

  I tiptoed out of the kitchen and down the hall. Snuggle Muffins was hot on my trail, but I ignored him as I slowly crept up the stairs. I needed to focus on any little noise, and Snuggle Muffins was a mouth breather. The first thing I thought of was a scene from Home Alone where Kevin McCallister tossed paint cans down the stairs. But there was no banister to hang them from. And Noah wasn't a child rigging our house to kill robbers. Noah was dangerous.

  Not that Kevin wasn't dangerous. He was a clever little menace with a penchant for setting people's heads on fire. But Noah? The image of Sophia Tremblay's swollen face flashed in my mind as I stepped up another stair. Noah was Kevin all grown up, with muscles for days. Stop thinking about his muscles. Noah also had a fairly sharp knife. And he had so many reasons to want me dead. Or to at least maim me a little. I couldn't even blame him. I'd been torturing him, demanding answers he didn't have because I'd given him a concussion or something. And neither one of us was entirely sure it was an accident.

  I gripped the knife tighter. It was bigger and sharper than Noah’s. And he was probably still hurt from his fall down the stairs and sore from sitting in a chair for days. Would that be enough to tip the scales in my favor during a knife fight? I knew how to butcher meat, not men.

  I stopped when I reached the landing and peered into our bedroom. It was too dark to see anything. But if I switched on the lights, he'd know for sure I was up here. I didn't want to alert him of my presence if he was still in the nursery. The element of surprise was necessary if I was going to overpower him.

  I tiptoed down the hall, past the hall bath and the guest room. When I reached the empty room I held my breath. Now what? My eyes weren't adjusted to the dark yet. I was surprised I'd made it down the hall without tripping and making a ton of noise. Just thinking about it made my stomach flip over. Going through the darkness with a knife was just as bad as running with scissors. I was lucky to be alive.

  Focus. I needed to think of a plan before he came barreling out of the room and threw me down the stairs. I blinked, waiting for my eyes to adjust. But then I realized something… Noah had been up here for a while. He'd probably be blinded by a sudden burst of light and I wouldn't. Trying not to overthink my strategy, I reached my hand inside and flicked on the lights.

  No one grabbed my hand to stop me. And no one screamed at the sudden invasion of light. It was eerily quiet upstairs. Too quiet. I peered around the doorjamb. The room was empty. Just polished wooden floors and green walls. I swallowed hard. Had the creaking noise really just been the house settling?

  It was possible Noah had left out the front door after I'd run off into the woods. That door was unlocked just like I'd left it. And I'd been gone a while because I'd walked back slowly. I’d thought the game was done. I’d thought I'd failed. But what if I'd given him just enough time to get away?

  Snuggle Muffins started barking and I jumped. I walked out of the room, trying not to think about the fact that Noah might be lurking in another room.

  "Shh," I called down the stairs.

  He started barking louder and I swear he was staring a little to the left. I followed his gaze to our bedroom. Had Snuggle Muffins just seen Noah sneak in there? Was he warning me?

  Snuggle Muffins started barking louder as I switched on the bedroom lights. Everything looked in order except for the fact that Noah’s dirty shirt was lying in the middle of the floor. Jesus.

  "Noah?"

  No response.

  He was messing with my head. It was possible the shirt had been there for a while. But it was equally possible that he'd just put it there. It hadn't been in the basement where he'd originally tossed it. He'd been creeping around my house with it for a while now.

  The knife started shaking in my hand as I took a step into the room. "Noah, you can come out," I whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk. I swear I won't tie you up again." But I was much more worried about the fact that he was going to tie me up and torture me. "Noah, please." I peered behind the door.

  Nothing.

  I stared at the bed. I lived a clutter-free life. I hadn't been lying to Detective Torres when I told him that, even if I had been lying about the files. My clutter-free life meant that there were no storage containers under my bed. Not even a pair of shoes. Which meant someone could definitely hide under there. The only problem was that there was a bed skirt blocking my view. Instead of inching closer, I took a step back toward the door. There was no fucking way I was about to get down on my hands and knees and look underneath the bed. That was just asking to get stabbed in the face. Besides, I had a perfectly good dog that was probably more than willing to look under the bed for me.

  I was done tiptoeing and sneaking around. This was my house. I needed to defend it properly. The thought made me feel like I was back in the plot of Home Alone. I dismissed the thought as I ran down the stairs and grabbed Snuggle Muffins. He immediately stopped barking when I picked him up. Maybe my presence settled him. Or maybe he settled me. Either way, neither of us was shaking when we went back upstairs. I set him down on the bedroom carpet.

  "Go," I said and pointed to the bed.

  He sat down by my feet.

  "Snuggle Muffins, go look under the bed."

  He lay down.

  "Now." I pointed again.

  He rolled over on his back.

  Fuck. It looked like he was trying to get me to pet his furry little stomach. I don't have time for your nonsense. But Noah didn't know that Snuggle Muffins wasn't behaving. And he might be a monster, but even a monster wouldn't stab a puppy. "Good boy," I said, pretending that Snuggle Muffins was actually a good dog, as I got down on my hands and knees and made my way over to the bed. I can't believe I'm pretending to be a dog right now. I started panting loudly, adding to the charade. The little boost of confidence I'd gotten with Snuggle Muffins in my arms disappeared.

  Please don't stab me. Please think I'm the dog. When I got to the edge of the bed, I threw up the bed skirt without hesitating. Because a dog wouldn't have hesitated. I think. I still didn't know anything about dogs. But it didn't matter because there was nothing under the bed. Not Noah. Not even a single dust bunny because I was a stupidly good housewife. Damn it.

  I smoothed the bed
skirt back in place and accidentally sliced the fabric with the knife. I looked down at the knife in my hand. Oops. Normally I would have freaked out and tried to mend it right away. I had a needle threaded just for occasions like this. Well, not exactly like this. I rarely knifed my belongings.

  But I didn't need to fix it. I was leaving soon anyway. And someone who was skipping town didn't care about the possessions they were leaving behind. I slid the knife down the length of the comforter. The fabric slit beautifully, stuffing pouring out. There was something oddly satisfying about it. Was that how it would feel to slice Noah open? I stabbed Noah's pillow all the way through and the knife only stopped because it hit a spring in the mattress. Would that be what Noah's bones felt like? A little resistance? I twisted the knife.

  Snuggle Muffins whimpered.

  I stared at the knife in the pillow. What the hell was I doing? I turned back to my dog, ignoring the fact that I'd just been fantasizing about cutting flesh. "I was practicing. Don't look at me like that." I yanked the knife out of the pillow.

  He cocked his head to the side, judging me.

  I wasn't sure what his problem was. I was protecting him too. It's not like I'd ever use the knife on his cute little body. We were a team. What was I even thinking about? I still needed to finish my search. "Go check the bathroom, boy."

  Instead of listening to me, Snuggle Muffins lay back down.

  Laziness. That was the only excuse. I made my way over to the bathroom. Snuggle Muffins was in a particularly unhelpful mood tonight. But he’d growled at my drug dealer neighbor earlier. He'd been snippy with Charlotte. He usually had my back. At least as much as a dog could. So I felt fairly safe as I turned on the lights in the master bath. Besides, the bathroom was small for a master and I could tell Noah wasn't in there.

  But he had been. I reached down and lifted the damp towel off the floor. Had he taken a freaking shower? There were splashes of water all over the tiled floor. And the rest of his clothes were strewn about. Oh God, was he naked? I should have been terrified that he was definitely somewhere in the house. But I was a little excited at the thought of him running around hiding from me in his birthday suit. His body was more delicious than the candy canes in my Christmas stocking. Stop it. I didn't want to see Noah naked. I'd seen it before, but him being gorgeous didn't mean his personality matched. He was hideous on the inside. If his outside matched his inners, he'd be wrinkly with a wonky eye, a crooked nose, and missing front teeth. A monster.