LITMIR.BIZ

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him very, very closely?

      Standing, he shoved his gun into the waistband of his jeans, killed the light and started up the rear stairs.

      The wind that had been blowing at near-gale force all day howled around the single-paned windows. Even so, he caught a second creak. He decided his intruder could use a little stealth training. Then he stepped on a sagging tread, heard the loud protest and swore.

      The intruder must have heard it, too. The upstairs door that had been squeaking open immediately stopped moving.

      Drawing his weapon, McVey gave his eyes another moment to adjust and finished the climb. He placed the intruder in the kitchen. Meaning the guy had the option of slinking out the way he’d entered—through the back door—or holding position to see what developed. Whatever the case, McVey had the advantage in that he’d been living in the house for more than two weeks and had committed the odd layout to memory.

      Another door gave a short creak and he pictured the intruder circling.

      The anticipation that kindled felt good. Sleepy coastal towns worked for him on several levels these days. Unfortunately, as action went, they tended to be...well, frankly, dead. Unless you counted the increasing number of bar fights and the sniping of two local factions, each of which had its own legend, and neither of which was willing to admit that both legends had probably been created by an ancient—and presumably bored—Edgar Allan Poe wannabe.

      Another blast of wind rattled the panes and sent a damp breeze over McVey’s face. It surprised him to see a light burning in the mudroom. Apparently his intruder was extremely stupid, poorly equipped or unaware that he’d broken into the police chief’s current residence. The last idea appealed most, but as it also seemed the least likely, McVey continued to ease through the house.

      He spotted the shadow just as the wind—he assumed wind—slammed the kitchen door shut. The bang echoed beneath a wicked gust that buffeted the east wall and caused the rafters to moan.

      Shoving the gun into his jeans, he went for a low tackle. If the person hadn’t swung around and allowed a weak beam of light to trickle through from the mudroom, he would have taken them both hard to the floor. But his brain clicked in just fast enough that he was able to alter his trajectory, snag the intruder by the waist and twist them both around so only he landed on the pine planking.

      His head struck the table, his shoulder the edge of a very solid chair. To make matters worse, his trapped quarry rammed an elbow into his ribs, wriggled around and clawed his left cheek.

      He caught the raised hand before it could do any serious damage and, using his body weight, reversed their positions. “Knock it—” was all he got out before his instincts kicked in and he blocked the knee that was heading for his groin.

      Jesus, enough!

      Teeth gnashed and with pain shooting through his skull, he brought his eyes into focus on the stunning and furious face of the woman from his nightmare.

      * * *

      FEAR STREAKED THROUGH Amara’s mind, not for her own safety, but for that of her grandmother who’d lived in this house for close to seventy years.

      Although she was currently pinned to the floor with her hands over her head and her wrists tightly cuffed, she attempted to knee him again. When that failed, she bucked her hips up into his. If she could loosen his iron grip, she might be able to sink her teeth into his forearm.

      “I’ll kill you if you’ve hurt her,” she panted. “This is about me, not my family. You of all people should understand that.”

      He offset another blow. “Lady, the only thing I understand is that you broke into a house that doesn’t belong to you.”

      “Or you,” she fired back. “You have no right to be here. Where’s my grandmother?”

      “I have every right to be here, and how the hell should I know?”

      Her heart tripped. “Is she—dead?”

      “What? No. Look, I live here, okay?”

      Unable to move, Amara glared at him. “You’re lying. I spoke to Nana last night. There was no mention of a man either visiting or living in her home.”

      He lowered his head just far enough for her to see the smile that grazed his lips. “Maybe your granny doesn’t tell you everything, angel.”

      “That’s disgusting.” She refused to tremble. “Have you hurt her?”

      “I haven’t done anything to her. I don’t eat elderly women, then take to their beds in order to get the jump on their beautiful granddaughters.”

      “That’s not exactly reassuring.”

      “Yeah, it really is, Red.”

      When her eyes flashed, he sighed. “Red... Red Riding Hood. Now, why don’t you calm down, we’ll back up a few steps and try to sort this out? My name’s Ethan McVey and I—”

      “Have no business being in my grandmother’s house.”

      “You’re gonna have to get past that one, I’m afraid. Truth is I have all kinds of business here.” He shifted position when she almost liberated her other knee. “As far as I know, your grandmother’s somewhere in the Caribbean with two of her friends and one very old man who’s sliding down the slippery slope toward his hundred and second birthday.”

      His words startled a disbelieving laugh out of her. “Nana took old Rooney Blume to the Caribbean?”

      “That’s the story I got. No idea if it’s true. Her private life’s not my concern. You, on the other hand, are very much my concern, seeing as you’re lying on my kitchen floor behaving like a wildcat.”

      “Nana’s kitchen floor.”

      “Rent’s paid, floor’s mine. So’s the badge you probably failed to notice on the table above us.”

      Doubt crept in. “Badge, as in cop?”

      “Badge as in chief of police. Raven’s Cove,” he added before she could ask.

      The red haze clouding Amara’s vision began to dissolve. “You said rent. If you’re a cop, why are you renting my grandmother’s house?”

      “Because the first place she rented to me developed serious plumbing and electrical issues, both of which are in the process of being rectified.”

      Why a laugh should tickle her throat was beyond her. “Would that first place be Black Rock Cottage, rebuilt from a ruin fifty years ago by my grandfather and renovated last year by Wrecking Ball Buck Blume?”

      “That’d be it.”

      “Then I’m sorry I scratched you.”

      “Does that mean you’re done trying to turn me into a eunuch?”

      “Maybe.”

      “As reassurances go, I’m not feeling it, Red.”

      “Put yourself in my position. My grandmother didn’t mention a Caribbean vacation when I spoke to her yesterday.”

      “So, thinking she was here, you opted to break and enter your grandmother’s home rather than knock on the door.”

      “I knocked. No one answered. Nana keeps an extra key taped to a flowerpot on her back stoop. And before you tell me how careless that is, mine’s bigger.”

      To her relief, he let go of her wrists and pushed himself to his knees. He was still straddling her, but at least his far too appealing face wasn’t quite so close. “Your what?”

      “Omission. Nana didn’t mention an extra key to you, and she didn’t mention you to me.” She squirmed a little, then immediately wished she hadn’t. “Uh, do you mind? Thanks,” she murmured when he got to his feet.

      “I’d say no problem if the damn room would stop spinning.”

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