Spirited Away

Yanking off her headset, she hurried over and peeked out. Kellan Murphy stood on the front porch.

She punched in the code to disarm the alarm and flung open the door. “What are you doing here?”

A brown blur whizzed past her, but Kellan snatched the dog’s collar before he could escape. Again.

Spider sighed. “You heard what happened, didn’t you?”

Charlie jumped up against the blond hunk in greeting, and Costello meandered over to inspect their visitor before sitting on the man’s feet. Kellan, another private investigator employed by Zach’s firm, glanced up from petting them, his forehead crinkled. “No. Something happened?”

Feigning ignorance, she lied. “No. Nothing happened.” With a shrug, she shut the door behind him. “Nothing at all. Just me and the boys hanging out. Getting lots of work done. That’s all.”

He arched a brow. “Uh huh.” His gaze dropped to her shirt, and he curled his sinfully gorgeous lips. “That’s a good one; I like that one.”

She glanced down at the royal-blue t-shirt she wore that declared: “Dear Math, I’m not a therapist. Solve your own problems.” It was one of her favourites.

“So, something happened?” Kellan asked, sauntering into the room.

“Guess what?” She pointed out the laptop. “I wrote a script for our new client. It’ll keep trying to log into their website with randomly-generated usernames and passwords. I should be able to run a report and tell them by tomorrow how strong their online security is, and how to fix whatever holes I find in there.”

“Sounds great.” The tall, muscular Adonis walked over to the couch, glancing around as if he was looking for evidence. He plopped onto the cushion beside where she’d been sitting and put his heels up on the coffee table. “So you want to order a pizza or something. Maybe watch a movie? I think The Lord of the Rings trilogy is on-demand.”

Watching LotR with an Adonis would normally not be an unappealing way to spend the evening – but seriously? Spider resisted the urge to stomp her foot and scream, “No! This is my time! My privacy!”

Instead, she crossed her arms and pursed her lips. Her voice was laced with accusation when she said, “You stopped by to check on me.”

His hands lifted. “Can’t I stop by and check on a friend?”

“You’ve never stopped by my house and checked on me before.”

“Well, I mean, you live with your dad…” He shifted uncomfortably. “Spider, come on. You’re a young girl who—”

“I am twenty-five-years-old!” She stomped her foot. “All of you treat me like I’m twelve or something.”

Each one of the hottie private eyes employed by the agency – Zach, Brian, Kellan, E.J. and even the freelancers – acted as if she was his little sister instead of another kick-butt and take-names colleague. Alexandra did too, but at least Spider had never had a crush on the woman. Truth be told, she’d always wanted a sister, so she didn’t mind Alexandra’s overprotectiveness quite as much as the men’s.

And to be fair, there was a lot about her they didn’t know. A lot that she didn’t want them to know.

Kellan eyed her foot meaningfully. “Whoa. Don’t get offended. It just means we all care about you. Besides, you weren’t around when someone tried to kidnap Abbott and Costello. Hannah has a lot of money. You can never be too safe.”

Spider tapped her foot, wishing he would leave. Her Adonis wasn’t making her feel any better.

“Call me crazy, but I doubt Zach or Hannah would have left their beloved pets in my care if they thought I was incompetent.” That reminded her: she’d forgotten to feed the animals their lunch. D’oh! She needed to make notes or something, like putting a reminder in her phone. Her breath came out in a huff as she moved toward the kitchen.

Kellan sighed and rolled to his feet. “Alright, I’ll leave, but I’m gonna stop by every now and then. That’s just a fact.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure Brian and E.J. will be stopping by, too.” She jerked the plastic container for the dog food out of the cabinet with more force than was necessary. Empty. Seriously?

As the only child of a cop, she’d grown up with a hundred brotherly types in the men who worked with her dad. She’d been hoping to escape all that brotherly concern with the men she worked alongside. Guess she’d been wrong.

Why wouldn’t people just give her some credit already? She could take care of herself, and a cat and two goofy dogs too.

“I’ll make sure no one stops by but me,” Kellan assured her. “Although, I think Dylan is coming to spend the weekend with Alexandra soon, so Zach’s little brother might drop in. I can’t make any promises there.”

Since Spider had an even bigger crush on Dylan Collins than she did on Kellan, she wouldn’t mind a quick visit from Alexandra’s hunky boyfriend. He didn’t treat her with the same kid gloves everyone else did. Plus, she didn’t stand a chance with him, and that somehow made him … less intimidating. Not that she stood a chance with any of them, but still.

The new forty-pound bag of dog food was heavy as she dragged it out of the pantry. A ripping sound preceded a rush of pellets scattering across the tiled floor in every direction. Darn it! She frowned and scrunched her shoulders as Charlie and Costello charged into the kitchen and gobbled up food like they were starving vultures. Abbott sprang out of somewhere and started playing soccer with the hard nuggets.

Spider took a deep breath and looked at the man watching. Amusement lit up his eyes. She pointed at the floor. “To be fair, that could have happened to anyone.”

“Yep.” He tiptoed around pieces. “Know where the broom is?”

She gestured to a closet. He was closer to it anyway.

Fifteen minutes later, she closed the door behind him, reset the alarm and slid down the back of the door.

She could do this. Right?

***

A loud knock jolted Noah out of the doze he’d finally succumbed to. Blinking away the blurriness from his eyes, he glanced at his clock. Eleven p.m. The only light in the room was the flickering of his television.

Thump.

He glanced up at the ceiling, his heart pumping like a hydraulic piston in his chest.

It was happening again.

Thump.

His hands squeezed the edges of the recliner. Ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away, or at least it hadn’t the other times. He sucked in a breath and cold air froze his lungs. When he exhaled, a white puff dissipated in front of his face.

Thump.

He forced himself to his feet. Even though he knew what it would read, he checked the thermostat anyway. It was still set on seventy degrees, but the room felt like a meat locker. Even the slick wood of the baseball bat he’d propped against the wall was cold to the touch, and—

Thump. Thump.

At the sound, he spun. This time it had come from downstairs. The kitchen? His feet felt heavy as he moved slowly in that direction.

He kept his voice loud and confident as he called out, “Hello?”

No answer.

The volume on the television jumped to a deafening level. The alarm clock in his study began screeching like a banshee. The clanging of metal-on-metal made it sound as if a marching band had invaded the kitchen. Covering his ears, he peeked into the room. All the pots and pans hung on the rack swayed to an unseen force, violently knocking into one another.

The kitchen door slammed shut in front of him. Noah was plunged into darkness as the television shut off, and seconds later the alarm clock did the same. Only a slither of moonlight penetrated the black room.

His heartbeat struggled to calm itself as he looked around. Nothing but shadows.