Spirited Away

The back door swung open, and the ginger-haired girl poked her head out. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Thanks for your, um, help.”

He nodded and tried not to stare at her shapely legs when she stepped onto the back deck. She was only wearing skimpy shorts and a tank top that left little to the imagination. Full, perky breasts pressed against the light green shirt that read “Gamers do it all night.” He focused on her feet. Blue toenails. That was kinda hot.

“Excuse me, sir,” a gruff voice called out. “Do you live here?”

Noah turned and saw a uniformed officer pushing his way through the fence. He reached and constrained the other dog before it had a chance to get out again.

The gray-haired cop’s face was set in grim, stern lines as he approached, one hand hovering over the gun holster at his hip.

“Eeek!”

Both men turned toward the woman who’d made the sound.

“Emma?” the officer asked.

She was doing her best to cover her front with one arm while her other hand tugged the hem of her shorts down. “Hi Jack. How’s it going?” She fidgeted from one foot to the other.

Emma? He thought she’d said her name was Spider.

The officer returned his confused look to Noah. He unsnapped his holster. “This guy bothering you?”

Noah released the dog and stepped back. Last thing he wanted was to give the officer more cause for concern.

“No!” The girl risked a step forward. “He’s a neighbour. He came over to help.” She heaved a sigh. “I got myself locked out and the alarm went off when I was crawling through the window and—”

The officer hiked a thumb in Noah’s direction. “This his house? Does your daddy know you’re here?”

“What?” She shifted a look between the two men. “No. I’m house-sitting for my boss. He just got married and is on his honeymoon.” She gestured toward Noah and spoke her words slowly. “This man is their neighbour. He came over to help. I already told you that.”

Officer Jack settled both hands on his hips, his lips twitching as his gaze looked her up and down. “Got yourself locked out, huh?”

“Please don’t tell my dad.”

“I gotta call this in, kiddo. You know that.”

“Yeah, but do you have to mention my name?”

Noah hooked his thumbs on his belt loops and hung back. If he hadn’t thought the situation interesting before, he was fascinated now.

The officer shook his head, but smiled. “Alright, verify the homeowner’s information for me, and I’ll try to keep your name out of it.”

She rattled off a few details about Hannah Dawson – now Hannah Collins – while the officer scribbled them down. It wasn’t anything Noah didn’t already know. Hannah was a pretty nurse who’d lived here for about a year. Her then boyfriend – husband now – had moved in a couple of months ago.

The cop glanced up and returned his attention to Noah. “I’m gonna need to see your identification, son.”

Clenching his jaw muscles, Noah pulled out his wallet and handed over his driver’s license. He’d had the ID updated a few weeks ago. He matched the dark-haired picture of himself perfectly, which was a good thing since he’d had blond highlights and glasses in the last one. While the officer jotted down his information, Noah glanced toward the girl. He tried to guess her age. Late teens, he thought. Cute. Had great legs. Probably jailbait, knowing his luck, because he didn’t mess with teenagers.

He realized in a fleeting moment of self-consciousness that he was acting like a true male member of the West family, trying to judge how easy it would be to take a woman who’d caught his eye to bed. Well, so what? Something about her eyes had him rethinking she was at least early twenties. Not jailbait at all. This was a woman who stirred his blood, and there was no fighting heredity. Noah intended to find out more about her.

The officer grunted and handed the ID back. “Thanks for coming to help, Mr. West. Why don’t I walk you back to your house now?”

Not that he needed the escort. Didn’t take a genius to read this situation.

Noah tipped his head toward the young woman anyway. “I live in the two-storey stone house if you need anything while you’re here. See you around, Spider.”

She flashed him an awkward wave. “Seriously, thanks for your help!”

Officer Jack followed him to the edge of the yard before saying, “You lived around here long, Mr. West?”

Noah sighed and turned to face the man. Last thing he needed was to capture the attention of a snooping cop. “No. I’m renting the house across the street. Moved in a couple of months ago.”

The officer squinted against the early afternoon sun. “Tell you what. That young woman in there is special. Make sure you don’t get any ideas while she’s here. Got that?”

“Sure.” He held back the smile that would have betrayed the fact that it was too late.

“Good.”

The officer started to move away, but Noah couldn’t resist asking: “Her dad is a cop, right?” It was the only thing that made sense. It would be a helluva reason to keep his distance, but, then again, he loved a good challenge.

Jack nodded, but a smile played at his mouth as he opened his car door and looked back at Noah. “Not just any cop. Chief of police. You have a good day now, you hear?”

Chapter 2 (#u86a3a1d8-1b86-549d-bd3e-80db5b2ceca2)

“Let’s see how long it takes to crack their system with this baby.” Smiling, Spider tapped ENTER on the script she’d spent the afternoon writing.

Leaning back on the sofa, she watched the computer code whiz past on the screen. A glance at her watch sent the thrill of victory racing through her veins. Thirty minutes earlier than she’d expected – new record. “Who’s awesome?” she asked the cat stretched out on the floor watching her. “I am. Uh huh. That’s right.”

Call her crazy, but it looked like Abbott rolled his eyes before he looked away. His tail thumped against the carpet. Translation in kitty speak: You’re a loser.

“Don’t be a hater, cat. You know I’m awesome.”

Well, except for that whole getting locked out of the house thing.

Spider loved her job, but it was still weird to think that Zachary Collins had hired her in the first place. She’d gone on the job interview to meet him and ask for his autograph more than anything. Not only had the gorgeous star of The Psychic Detective – now a private security guru – hired her to work as the cyber security specialist for his firm, but she was sitting on his sofa right now, drinking diet soda and about to log into Days of Adventure to kill some trolls on his big-screen TV.

Life was good.

Setting the laptop on the coffee table in front of her, she fired up the game console she’d brought with her. It only took a few minutes more while she waited for the multi-player game to connect to grab her controller and slip on the headset she used to swap insults and accolades with her guild.

No one in the house yelled for her to get the phone, do the dishes, or grab the laundry out of the dryer. There was no loud shouting at the football game on the television or chatter from the poker game going on upstairs.

Just sweet, awesome silence.

Oh yeah, she could get used to this.

Just as she was logging into her account, a knock at the door interrupted her. Yeah, but no; she wasn’t expecting visitors, and that’s how she wanted to keep it.

The pounding on the door intensified.