She tapped to her keypad to call for help, but as she did, she heard footsteps crossing Grandaddy’s room. If he came this way, he’d see her. And if Judah heard or smelled her…
Swallowing, she started to run down the rest of the stairs as Judah’s barking got louder. He was coming this way. Straight down these steps.
She had seconds to decide what to do. Try to make a run for it, or…she looked down. Hide in the hole.
Without a second’s hesitation, she leaned over, grabbed the tiny handle that few people even knew was in the floor, flipped the latch, and yanked up the door. In a flash, she scrambled down, pulled the door over her head, and rolled into a ball in the complete darkness.
She heard footsteps right overhead, followed by the slap of Judah’s distinctive paws. Poor guy, following this jerk around hoping for love and getting told to shut up.
James Bell wouldn’t hurt Judah, would he?
The thought sent a shot of horror through her, making her push the door up, her fingers pressed against cold metal. She lifted it about an inch, peering right into big brown eyes.
Oh God. Judah.
Instantly, he pawed at the wood, pushing it down, followed by a series of noisy barks and one long, loud howl.
Stop, Judah! Don’t let him know I’m here!
She bit her lip, forcing herself not to lift the wood and try to quiet the dog. That would only make him more worked up than he already was. Bell didn’t want the dog. He wanted a lighter.
Why?
She tapped her phone, the light spilling out over the tiny basement-like space. It wasn’t very deep, really meant to store food for the winter, and it sure was cold. Would he hear her voice when she called 911, or would he be gone by then? She had to get help before he got off the property and could deny the whole thing.
She angled the light to the ceiling right above her head, surprised to see the bronze glint of copper. God only knew why those Victorians would line this space with copper, probably to keep it freezing, but…
Copper.
Shoot. Would she even be able to make a call? She tried tapping 911, but nothing happened. The Wi-Fi signal, never the best in this house, was flat. And she had no cell service, either.
Judah was still barking and pawing at the floor, so she waited a minute and then pushed the floorboards again. This time, the copper-covered wood wouldn’t move.
“Hey,” she murmured, shoving a little harder. Damn it! Judah must have bumped the latch and locked her in. With no Wi-Fi or cell signal. Seriously?
He was smart, but not smart enough to undo the latch. Right overhead, he barked and growled and howled in frustration.
And then she heard a crash. What was that? She pushed again, a low-grade desperation growing from the eerie sound of glass breaking. What did Bell do? How long would she be down here until someone heard her?
She stopped pushing for a moment, tried the phone again, then slowly lowered it to think.
But all she could do was…smell. Something pungent and unpleasant. One of the oil lamps?
Kerosene?
Was he setting the house on fire?
She pushed again with all her strength. “Judah! Judah! Get out of the house and get help!”
But all he did was howl in panic, echoing exactly how she felt.
* * *
Declan broke a few speed limits on his way to Gloriana House, but he had enough time to put some puzzle pieces together. Some fit, some didn’t. But he saw enough of the picture to suspect James Bell wasn’t who he said he was. Without a phone, he couldn’t find out more yet, but he’d charge it when he got to Evie’s. He’d have time to plug his phone in to make a few calls, hang around for a while in case Bell showed up, and then get to town to meet Evie at the end of the parade route so he could tell her what he’d decided.
He bypassed town, which would be a traffic mess, and powered up a back route to the top of Ambrose Acres, reaching Evie’s street in record time. As he neared the house, he caught a glimpse of Evie’s red car, which didn’t surprise him, because he knew she and Max were going in the parade car with Nellie.
But then he saw the BMW on the street and, one second later, the now familiar scrawny figure of a man hustling down the drive, his head down as he walked.
Declan whipped his truck into the driveway and damn near mowed the guy down.
“Whoa, whoa!” He held up two hands. “I know you don’t like me, but—”
“I knew I’d find you here.” Declan said as he climbed out of his truck. “What are you doing?”
“Uh, there’s supposed to be an open house.” He smirked up at Declan. “Which, by its very name, means it’s open.”
“Not to you.”
“Not to anyone, since the door’s locked.” He stepped away. “Relax, man. I was only coming by to tell Evie I changed my mind about wanting to buy the house. It’s cool.”
Cool? Nothing about this man was cool.
“So no need to beat me up, Captain. I’m out.” He hustled away, toward the street.
“Jamie?” Declan called.
He spun around, eyeing Declan. “I go by Jim.”
“Do you? Your lighter says Jamie.” He held up the lighter, and Declan saw all he needed to in the flash of shock on the man’s face.
“Never saw that before,” he said.
“Really? Because this engraving here matches your tattoo.”
“A drawing anyone could find on the internet if they google ‘bell images.’” He snorted. “Not a family crest, sorry. Now if you’ll excuse—”
“I won’t excuse you. We’re not done with this conversation.”
“Yeah, we are. And now I have places to be. And don’t you? There’s a parade in town, right?” He tipped his head back, and when
