Then Greyson heard it.
The snap of a twig.
He waited for the second sound of Frank’s approach before Greyson sent off two texts, one to the local cops and one to Badger. Again.
He pocketed his phone and headed toward the noise on the other side of the house. At the top of the stairs, Kona was at the ready, the hair on her back and neck all ruffled up. She stared at him, waiting for him to give the command. He held his finger to his lips and said, “Quiet.”
He did a sweep through the first floor of the house, and, as he reached the glass doors at the rear of the house, he looked out and saw a shadow moving across the backyard. He watched as the shadow faded into the greenery along the left side.
Even as he watched it, he could see the movement of the trees as the person edged closer to the house. He shook his head at that. “That’s just stupid. And that mistake will be his undoing.” Just as the guy reached the spot where no trees were up against the house for several feet, Greyson slipped over to the laundry room door, where he expected the intruder to make an entrance. As he watched, the knob turn under the intruder’s hand, yet Greyson had locked this door earlier. He stepped up and behind the door. Somehow this guy had managed to unlock it from the other side. Frowning, he waited. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched something dark and low approach. It was Kona. He immediately held up a hand, giving her a hand signal, telling her to wait.
And that’s just what they did. They waited.
Chapter 13
Jessica jerked awake. She hadn’t meant to nod off, but, after Danny had gone to sleep, she’d had a hard time staying awake.
From the “wrong” empty feel to the house, she listened intently. Danny was still curled up in front of her. She reached an arm around him and held him close; she dropped a tender kiss on his forehead and whispered, “It’ll be fine sweetheart, just fine.” At least she hoped so.
Just then she heard the softness of a growl. Instantly the alarms in her head went off. She sat up in bed and slipped her legs over the side and stood. She walked over to the window and looked out, keeping behind the blinds. She couldn’t see anything, but she guessed it was well after midnight. A quick glance at her bedside table confirmed it was 2:35 a.m.
She walked out of her bedroom, keeping Danny in view. And there at the top of the stairs she could see Kona, the ruff of her neck up and full. The dog was tense and waiting. Jessica peered around the corner to see Greyson. He looked up and held a finger to his lips. “Quiet.”
She immediately nodded. He pointed outside, and she realized they had a visitor. Another one.
Terrified, she headed back to Danny, wondering if she should pick him up and hide with him in the closet. She didn’t want to wake him. A sleeping Danny was one thing, but a cranky awake Danny could be a whole different story. But she needed to keep him safe, and how the hell was she supposed to do that?
Of course she had two watchdogs at the moment—Kona and Greyson. And she had to smile at that. Something was just so wonderful about knowing that others were looking out for her. She had felt so alone for so long, and she hadn’t even realized it until Greyson came into her life. She hadn’t even known him more than a few days, but he had changed her perspective completely.
She shook her head at that because, inside, it felt like she’d known him forever. He was a born protector, one of those guys you could count on in a pinch, as he had proven over and over again. Something she hadn’t had a chance to ever see in her ex-husband. That brought her back around to who was doing this. It made no sense that George had paid Frank to do all this.
Tensely she waited to see if anything happened downstairs. Unable to help herself, she got up and went from window to window, looking out, but she couldn’t see anything. When Kona padded back into the bedroom and laid down at the foot of the bed, she realized that whatever danger had alerted her had now passed. She walked over to Kona, bent down, and gently stroked the back of her head. When she rolled over, Jessica gave her a really good belly rub too.
Hearing footsteps, she froze, but Kona was completely unconcerned, so when Greyson appeared at the top of the stairs, he took one look at Kona and smiled.
“Who was out there?” she whispered.
“A man,” he said, his voice hard. “Probably Frank. I saw him coming down from the trees toward the house. It looked like he was coming inside but then he disappeared. Something scared him off.”
“Or he’s out there waiting.”
He nodded. “That’s very possible, but things feel completely different now. And look at Kona.”
“Like he’s gone?”
“Gone at least for the moment anyway. It’s possible he caught sight of one of us,” he said. “Were you at the window?”
She looked over at the window and then nodded, wincing. “Yes. I was trying to see what was outside.”
“That might have been enough to chase him away.”
Her shoulders sagged at the thought. “Can we set a trap for him or something? Somehow get him for good
