The Awakening (17 page)

Tanner stared at the keys in dismay. “How many were there before?”

“I have no idea. I never counted them.”

“And you neglected to tell me this when the hardware store was still open and I could have changed the locks.”

“I forgot, okay? Until you started making plans to sit in a toolshed all night and I realized I’d be alone in the house, I didn’t think about the keys. It’s not something I ever had to worry about before. This was a safe place....”

She already felt stupid enough for forgetting about the keys, but as tears gathered in the corner of her eyes, mortification set in.

“Hey,” Tanner said gently. “It’s okay. You had no reason to be thinking about things like that before now. Get dressed and bring your pistol. But I have to warn you, it’s going to be a long, uncomfortable night, especially if he doesn’t show. We can’t risk light of any form, not even a cell phone.”

“So it’s just you and me, two guns and a toolshed?” She smiled. “You sure do know how to show a woman a good time.”

“It
will
be a good time if I can catch him. Then you don’t have to worry about keys again.”

“That would be nice,” Josie said, and she meant every word. But by the same token, she knew that as soon as the intruder was caught, Tanner would leave, and she didn’t want him to. She frowned as that realization crossed her mind.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she replied, quickly erasing her frown. “Just thinking.” She wasn’t about to tell him what she’d been thinking. She was already confused about what had happened between them earlier and even more worried about how far it might have gone if Emmett hadn’t interrupted them.

The worst part was, she knew she wouldn’t have been the one to put on the brakes. As much trouble as she had had in the past with men, and no matter that she’d sworn completely off relationships and was facing eviction from her childhood home if she didn’t get her life together, the truth was, she was drawn to Tanner LeDoux in a way she’d never been drawn to a man before.

He challenged her, infuriated her and at the same time, made her feel beautiful, interesting and important. With her ex, she’d thought she was loved, but even in the three years they were together, she’d never felt he was invested in her as much as she felt Tanner was after only a matter of days.

It’s his job to be invested.

The thought ripped through her mind, crushing her lofty thoughts. She knew it was true—protecting her was part of Tanner’s job—but part of her wanted to believe that he felt more for her than he would for just any employer. Certainly, she hoped he didn’t go around kissing all his clients.

“I’ll go change,” she said, and headed upstairs, hoping activity would break up her thoughts. Not that she had any hope it would last when she was about to sit in a dark shed for who knew how many hours with a man who hadn’t uttered five sentences all evening. She and her thoughts were likely to be chilly, uncomfortable, edgy and bored, all at the same time.

She changed from yoga pants to jeans and pulled a hooded sweatshirt out of the closet to wear over her T-shirt when the night air got too chilly for the thin tee. Forgoing her usual work boots, she selected tennis shoes instead, figuring if she had to run, they might be a better option.

As she pulled on the shoes, it occurred to her that if the creature appeared, they might have to track it into the swamp. She pulled her work boots out, figuring she’d bring them with her, just in case.

When she walked back into the kitchen, Tanner looked over at her and raised his eyebrows.

“You’re bringing a change of shoes to the stakeout?”

“I put on tennis shoes thinking they were better for running. Then I thought we might have to go into the swamp, so I brought the boots, just in case.”

“I see.” He grinned. “And you thought your attacker or a swamp creature would wait for you to change shoes so we’d have a fair shot at him?”

She laughed. “When you put it that way, it does sound silly, but I swear, it made sense in my closet.”

“I’m sure it did.”

“So, what do you think—the tennis shoes or the boots?”

The grin vanished, and she could tell he was mentally processing all the possible scenarios.

“I don’t know,” he said finally. “If you don’t mind risking a sprained ankle in the swamp, I’d say go with the tennis shoes, especially if it’s a significant speed difference. I don’t want anyone catching up with you again.”

“I think the sprained ankle is worth the risk,” she agreed, and placed her boots next to the back door. “Should we bring food or drinks? I’ve never done a stakeout, so I’m not sure.”

“Maybe a couple of bottles of water, but not a lot. There’s no bathroom breaks on stakeouts, so it’s not wise to drink a lot.”

“Right.” She grabbed two small bottled waters from the refrigerator. “What else?”

“I’ve got flashlights and a spotlight. If you’ve got your gun, then that’s it.”

She took a breath and blew it out. “Then I guess I’m ready.”

He nodded. “Wait here. I’m going to turn off the kitchen lights, except for the light over the stove, then run upstairs and turn on the lamps in our bedrooms. I want him to think we’ve gone to bed.”

Josie nodded as he turned on the stove light and flipped off the kitchen lights. The stove light cast a dim glow around the kitchen, and she stood there in the shadows, peering out into the swamp. Was it out there? Was it watching the lights in the house, just waiting to strike?

Despite the warm temperature in the kitchen, she shivered a bit and turned from the window. No use spooking herself before she’d even left the house.

Tanner appeared a minute later and pointed to the utility room off the kitchen. “The exit off the utility room offers the best cover. There’s no light on the side of the house and it’s only ten feet or so to the hedges. We can skirt the outside of the hedges almost all the way to the toolshed. Unless someone’s using night-vision goggles or can see in the dark, we ought to be able to get to the shed undetected.”

“Okay.”

“Follow me, and lock the door behind us. I borrowed a set of keys from your spares.”

Josie nodded and followed him through the laundry room to the side exit. He peeked out the tiny laundry room window, then eased open the side door and slipped out into the night. Josie turned the lock and followed him outside, gently pulling the door shut behind her.

The night air was humid for December and seemed to cling to her as she followed Tanner down the row of hedges that stretched down the side of the house to the back lawn. The sound of the night creatures filled the air—insects, birds, frogs and a host of others. It was oddly comforting to her. It felt right, as though everything was in balance.

They edged along the hedges and then paused at the end of the row. Josie peered around him across the vast back lawn, but the dim glow of moonlight offered only a limited view. The seconds crept by, turning into what had to be a minute, and she wondered what he saw that she didn’t.

Suddenly, the little moonlight that had been present faded away.

“Now,” Tanner whispered, and hurried across the ten-yard gap between the hedges and the shed.

Josie hurried behind him and glanced up before she entered the shed, just in time to see the dark cloud that was covering the moon slip past, exposing the yellow glow again in the night sky.

He’d been waiting for the cloud cover. Smart.

The shed was only six feet by ten feet and with all the equipment it held, only a narrow strip down the center was left bare. Despite the two windows, it was pitch-black inside after Josie closed the door. Her eyes were struggling to adjust when Tanner turned on a penlight.

As he directed the tiny light to the left of her, she realized why no light had entered. During his patrol around the house earlier that day, Tanner had covered the windows with a tarp.

“I rearranged the boxes on each side,” he said, “so that they were sturdy enough to sit on. You take the side that faces the house. It will be easier to pick up any movement near the house from the backyard floodlights. I’ll take the side facing the swamp.”

“Okay,” Josie said, and crawled atop the boxes to sit next to the window.

Tanner took the position across from her. “Grab the tarp, but don’t remove it until I turn off the light.”

She placed her hand on the edge of the tarp, which was looped over a nail, and waited. A second later, he clicked off the light and she pulled the tarp from the nails. With both the windows exposed, the moonlight crept into the shed, casting a dim glow across its path. Josie realized that Tanner had set the boxes up so that they were out of the path of the moonlight as it streamed through the glass.

“Smart setup,” she said. He hadn’t missed a trick.

“I just incorporated some hunting principles.”

She frowned, then mentally chided herself, happy that Tanner couldn’t see her face in the darkness. They were hunting someone—or something—whether she liked to think of it that way or not. And if last night was any indication, he was also hunting them.

“How was your visit with your brothers?”

“Fine. Max ate so many of your cookies, he’s probably sick. They were really good.”

“There’s worse things to die from, I guess.” She was pleased that her cookies had been a hit but disappointed that Tanner wasn’t going to shed any light on their meeting.

It’s probably family business.

She sighed. With everything going on in her life at the moment, the last thing she needed was to be focusing on other people’s business. If what they’d discussed involved her at all, Tanner would have told her. They’d already agreed to no more secrets between them.

Because men have been so honest with you before.

She tried to clamp down on the thought before it took flight and continued to nag her the rest of the night, but it was too late. A mental parade of every man who’d ever lied to her ran through her mind, so-called high school friends, coworkers, agents, clients, lovers...even her own father, who’d hidden the loss of their money until just before his death and even then hadn’t admitted the extent of it.

“I see something.” Tanner’s voice yanked her out of her tally of disappointment, and she stiffened.

“Where?”

“At the north side of the estate at the edge of the swamp.”

“Can you tell what it is?” A lot of creatures dwelled in the swamp and it wasn’t unheard of for them to venture onto the cleared grounds.

“No. It’s sticking to the shadows but appears to be moving this way.”

She licked her dry lips and swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. “What do we do?”

“We wait until I can identify it or until it moves to an area where I can leave the shed and try to sneak up behind it.”

“Right.” She reached down beside her and felt the pistol that she’d laid on the crate next to her leg. She tried to think of something—anything—to occupy the time, but her mind was completely devoid of distractions. All she could think about was the thing moving toward them. Was it her attacker? Was it human? What did it want from her?

Every second that passed felt like an eternity, and she began to count her heartbeats as they pounded in her chest. She wanted so badly to ask him for an update but held back, not wanting him to know how much the situation was getting to her. If she couldn’t handle sitting still in the dark, Tanner would never let her go tracking with him, and that’s exactly what she intended to do the next day if they couldn’t settle things tonight.

Tanner left his seat and inched open the door to the shed, peering outside.

“There,” he said, his voice excited. “I see it again, at the edge of the swamp across from the barn.”

My horses!

“Is it moving toward the barn?” The fear she’d felt was pushed aside in an instant by the thought of something harming her horses.

“I can’t tell. The barn casts a long shadow on that side. If I climb out this window, I won’t be in sight. I’ll work my way down the hedges and to the backside of the barn. Then maybe I can sneak around to the far side and catch him.”

“That sounds good.”

“I suppose it’s pointless to ask you to stay here?”

“You know it is.”

“Then stick right behind me,” he said. “If anything happens, run and call the police. Do not attempt to help me.”

A rush of bad outcomes started up in her mind, but she pushed them aside, determined to remain focused and calm. As calm as she could manage, anyway. He pushed open the window and slipped outside, then reached back to help her climb out. Once she had two feet on the ground, he released her and hurried down the side of the shed and across the short gap to the bushes.

Hurrying behind him, Josie blinked several times, trying to get her eyes to acclimate to the dark shadows the bushes created. She could barely make out the outline of Tanner’s body a couple of feet ahead of her and she picked up her pace so that she didn’t fall behind. The last thing she wanted was to lose sight of him.

He slunk down the hedges and then slipped across the back lawn to the backside of the barn. At the edge of the barn, he stopped and she stood next to him, heart racing, as he peered around the corner.

He turned back to her, his expression grim, and waved one hand in the air, then pointed to his ear. She frowned, trying to figure out what he was attempting to tell her, when she realized that the night had gone silent. Standing stock-still, she strained to hear the sounds of the night creatures, but only silence met her.

A footstep on dead leaves broke through the silence of the night like a gunshot. It came from the other side of the barn—the side nearest the swamp. Inside the barn, her horses started to stir, rattling their feed buckets and stomping their feet.

A second footstep sounded and the horses began to whinny and snort. She could hear them pawing at the gates in the barn. They knew something was out there. Something that scared them.

Tanner pulled his pistol out of his waistband and motioned to her to do the same. The pistol was cold and heavy in her hands. She felt her heart beating in her throat as Tanner slipped around the corner of the barn, and she moved quietly behind him. At the other end of the barn, he stopped again to listen.