lock. Recklessly, she threw open the front door. Cool air from inside chilled the sweat beading on her brow.
A fresh well of fear bubbled within her. Her sprawling living room was empty, illuminated by the eerie moonlight streaming through the window wall.
Outright pandemonium would have frightened her less.
Nothing was broken, torn, or missing. Still the room had undoubtedly been searched. Everything looked skewed, as if her well-ordered world had been shifted ever so slightly to the left. She set her purse down.
How far had the prowler invaded?
Brice.
Determination focused her fear. Sophie slid open one of the small secretary drawers. She wrapped her fingers around a letter opener. The cool brass seared her palm. She would have preferred to have her 9 mm, but it was locked away in a safe in her room—past Brice and Nanny’s rooms.
A distant part of her brain prodded her to call for help, even though she’d seen the intruder leave. The stronger voice urged her not to waste a second more before checking on her child.
Sophie padded along the hardwood floors of the darkened hall. Her damp, gritty feet slipped. She braced a hand against the wall.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God…” Sophie barely realized she chanted the prayer as she nudged her son’s door open. Her grip tightened around the letter opener.
She peered in and, thank God, Brice slept on his back, arms flung wide as he sprawled on the bottom bunk. She sagged against the door frame. With the help of a galaxy night-light, she could see the blue plaid bedspread rise and fall with each reassuring breath of the boy beneath.
Unlike the living area, Brice’s room looked untouched, simply bearing the normal signs of childish housekeeping. A sock hung from a drawer. The toe of a Rollerbladepeeked from under the bed as if it couldn’t be stuffed any farther.
Sophie crept inside, dodging planetary systems and rocket ships dangling from the ceiling. She checked every shadowy corner and the closet before stopping beside his bunk bed. She brushed back a lock of Brice’s hair, sighing the end of her prayer.
As she turned to leave, her toe caught on the strap of his backpack. She pulled the schoolbag from under his bed and looped it over the doorknob on her way out.
Nanny slept farther down the hall, away from the living room, so Sophie approached it with less fear. Thank God, apparently there had only been one intruder. A simple look into her grandmother’s room confirmed her hope. The old woman slept soundly, a slight snore whistling through the silence. Watching her grandmother sleep, Sophie gathered the tatters of her shredded self-control.
She eased the door closed and retraced her path down the hall to the telephone. She dialed 9-1-1 on the home phone, stated her name, address, and that she’d seen an intruder. The dispatcher told her to stay on the line…
As she waited, her eyes fell on her cell phone peeking out of her purse a simple hand’s reach away. Without even stopping to question why, she thumbed through her neighborhood directory and dialed Madison Palmiere’s number to look for David.
* * *
Madison Palmiere bit her lover’s shoulder to keep from crying out as her third orgasm of the night pulsed through her. After a string of crummy relationships that had left her thinking she was frigid, she was enjoying the hell out of her footloose single status.
Or at least that’s what she thought at moments like this, with bliss shimmering through her and her lover gasping damn near desperate praise against her ear.
Her cell phone rang by the bed.
“Shit,” she moaned.
“Let it ring,” he hissed through gritted teeth, his hips pumping as he rode the last waves of his own release.
She grappled along the bedside table and thumbed the silence button on her telephone. Her hands found him again fast, gripping his arms, biceps rippling under her fingertips. She rocked her hips against his fluidly, finishing him, as delicious
A fresh well of fear bubbled within her. Her sprawling living room was empty, illuminated by the eerie moonlight streaming through the window wall.
Outright pandemonium would have frightened her less.
Nothing was broken, torn, or missing. Still the room had undoubtedly been searched. Everything looked skewed, as if her well-ordered world had been shifted ever so slightly to the left. She set her purse down.
How far had the prowler invaded?
Brice.
Determination focused her fear. Sophie slid open one of the small secretary drawers. She wrapped her fingers around a letter opener. The cool brass seared her palm. She would have preferred to have her 9 mm, but it was locked away in a safe in her room—past Brice and Nanny’s rooms.
A distant part of her brain prodded her to call for help, even though she’d seen the intruder leave. The stronger voice urged her not to waste a second more before checking on her child.
Sophie padded along the hardwood floors of the darkened hall. Her damp, gritty feet slipped. She braced a hand against the wall.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God…” Sophie barely realized she chanted the prayer as she nudged her son’s door open. Her grip tightened around the letter opener.
She peered in and, thank God, Brice slept on his back, arms flung wide as he sprawled on the bottom bunk. She sagged against the door frame. With the help of a galaxy night-light, she could see the blue plaid bedspread rise and fall with each reassuring breath of the boy beneath.
Unlike the living area, Brice’s room looked untouched, simply bearing the normal signs of childish housekeeping. A sock hung from a drawer. The toe of a Rollerbladepeeked from under the bed as if it couldn’t be stuffed any farther.
Sophie crept inside, dodging planetary systems and rocket ships dangling from the ceiling. She checked every shadowy corner and the closet before stopping beside his bunk bed. She brushed back a lock of Brice’s hair, sighing the end of her prayer.
As she turned to leave, her toe caught on the strap of his backpack. She pulled the schoolbag from under his bed and looped it over the doorknob on her way out.
Nanny slept farther down the hall, away from the living room, so Sophie approached it with less fear. Thank God, apparently there had only been one intruder. A simple look into her grandmother’s room confirmed her hope. The old woman slept soundly, a slight snore whistling through the silence. Watching her grandmother sleep, Sophie gathered the tatters of her shredded self-control.
She eased the door closed and retraced her path down the hall to the telephone. She dialed 9-1-1 on the home phone, stated her name, address, and that she’d seen an intruder. The dispatcher told her to stay on the line…
As she waited, her eyes fell on her cell phone peeking out of her purse a simple hand’s reach away. Without even stopping to question why, she thumbed through her neighborhood directory and dialed Madison Palmiere’s number to look for David.
* * *
Madison Palmiere bit her lover’s shoulder to keep from crying out as her third orgasm of the night pulsed through her. After a string of crummy relationships that had left her thinking she was frigid, she was enjoying the hell out of her footloose single status.
Or at least that’s what she thought at moments like this, with bliss shimmering through her and her lover gasping damn near desperate praise against her ear.
Her cell phone rang by the bed.
“Shit,” she moaned.
“Let it ring,” he hissed through gritted teeth, his hips pumping as he rode the last waves of his own release.
She grappled along the bedside table and thumbed the silence button on her telephone. Her hands found him again fast, gripping his arms, biceps rippling under her fingertips. She rocked her hips against his fluidly, finishing him, as delicious
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