Read Online Hunting Season (Aurora Sky by Nikki Jefford - Free Book Online Page B

retrieve a hoodie from upstairs. When I returned, Fane made swift work of cleaning up the last of the glass with a broom and dustpan. He’d duct taped a black trash bag over the opening in the window.
    I knew he was eager to look at the footage and appreciated the time he’d taken to patch up the entryway. I wanted to see it, too, though I wasn’t in any rush. At the moment, a nameless hooligan had thrown a rock through my window. Once we watched the video feed, we’d have a face and, likely, a name.
    There wasn’t anything left with which to distract ourselves.
    Fane had cleaned up and called the repairman. I’d turned down the thermostat and set up my laptop at the dining room table—pushing a second chair in front of the screen.
    Fane and I took a seat side by side. His fingers reached forward and zipped over the keyboard. A security website appeared on the screen asking for a password, which Fane typed in rapidly. I liked watching his hands in motion. They looked very skilled. I suspected they’d be gentle but firm in taking off my clothes.
    My face flushed. Fane leaned closer to the laptop and didn’t seem to notice.
    His fingers hovered over the keyboard. “What time would that have been?” he asked himself. “Ten, twelve minutes ago?” He peered at the time on the lower right corner of the screen, leaned back and entered a number on the screen.
    â€œHere goes,” he said.
    We both leaned forward.
    The video feed showed the porch in front of the door vacant. It didn’t capture the window. I held my breath waiting for someone to walk up and chuck a rock toward the house. A timer with seconds raced by beneath the video display. No one was there. Suddenly there was.
    Valerie, dressed in skinny jeans and a beige sweater, walked up to the camera. She looked directly into the camera, at us, and flipped it off. Just as quickly, she pivoted and stormed away, disappearing from the screen.
    I gripped my arm while waiting for the inevitable. It wasn’t instantaneous like I’d expected. Maybe she’d gone off to smash up Fane’s windshield first. Over a minute went by before the camera picked up the rock sailing past. If I hadn’t seen the rock in the entryway, I might have mistaken it for a bullet, despite its size, as it blurred past in a flash of silver-gray.
    Caught, red handed, or in this case, red haired.
    â€œThat stab wound certainly didn’t slow her down,” I said.
    Fane’s fingers tightened into a fist.
    He soon appeared on the footage bursting through the front door with a fierce scowl that matched the one on his face now.
    Fane stopped the video feed and closed the screen of the security site.
    â€œDo you think it’s out of her system now?” I asked.
    â€œDoubtful,” Fane replied.
    Fane’s hip suddenly rang. He stood up, pulled the phone out of his pocket, glanced at the screen and answered.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” He sounded serious. It wasn’t a breezy, “Hey, what’s happening” kind of what’s going on.
    I watched Fane curiously, but his gaze looked a million miles away.
    â€œI’ll be right there,” he said abruptly.
    He jerked the phone from his ear and squeezed it so hard it looked like it would crack inside his fist.
    â€œI have to go,” he said.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” I asked.
    Fane shook his head, lips pushed out.
    â€œWho was that?” I asked.
    â€œJoss.”
    â€œIs he okay?”
    Joss was gloomy, but he was the closest thing Fane had to family.
    â€œHe’s fine.”
    Okay. I waited for Fane to elaborate.
    â€œThe window repairman will be here in an hour or two. He has my credit card information. We’ll talk later,” he said, heading toward the door. He stopped, spun around, and hurried back to me. Fane put his hands on my cheeks and kissed me hard. My heart fluttered. A second later, it was over. Fane turned his