Read Online KCPD Protector by Julie Miller - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Julie Miller
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anyone else looking too closely into her past mistakes, either.
* * *
E LISE TURNED OFF the motor of her car and reached across the seat to retrieve her purse and the pumps she’d exchanged for tennis socks and walking shoes after work.
Home. The dark red door of the gray-and-white Victorian welcomed her like a familiar sanctuary. She climbed out of her Explorer, but paused for a few moments as the hundred-degree heat and matching humidity crept over her skin, pricking open pores and sapping what energy she had left. She tilted her gaze up to the heat lightning sparking in the distant sky beyond her rooftop. There wasn’t a cloud above or an answering rumble of thunder. So no break in the weather this evening.
The silent violence in the evening sky felt appropriate. Ominous and hopeless somehow. She’d become a lightning rod for suspicious people and unexplained events. She hadn’t forgotten the returned roses or the missing key.
Bringing her gaze down, she studied the windows and doors, making sure nothing looked out of place. The flowers wilting on the porch needed a good soaking, but they hadn’t been moved. There were no footprints in the grass, no packages left on her front steps. Maybe the key disappearing had been a fluke. As upset as she’d been with James’s visit last night, she could very well have simply misplaced it and not remembered.
The only way she was truly going to know if a thief or vandal had stolen the key and broken in was to march up those steps, unlock the door herself and give the house a thorough search.
Fisting her keys in her hand and steeling herself with a resolute breath, Elise slammed the car door.
Spike barked an instant mix of excitement and welcome. Only it wasn’t the muted sound of the dog announcing her arrival through the window from the back of the couch. This was louder. Clearer. Closer. What the...?
“Spike?” Elise turned toward the sound. He was outside. “Spike? Spike!”
She heard the jingle of his tags hitting together before she saw him dash around her neighbor’s hedge and run to meet her.
“Spikey?” Elise dropped her shoes and scooped him up as he leaped into her arms. She kissed his head and hugged him tight, alarmed by his panting and how hot his little body felt against her chest. “How did you get out?” She checked the rapid beat of his heart and looked into his dark brown eyes. “Are you okay, sweetie? Have you been out all day? Did I...?”
She swung her gaze toward the house. Surely she hadn’t left him in the backyard in this heat. With no water? Had he climbed the fence or dug underneath it to escape? And she never let him out in the front without being on a leash. “I know I put you inside.”
But she’d been out of sorts and running late this morning, so she must have forgotten him. She seemed to be forgetting a lot of things today. What was happening to her?
A lick on her earlobe, demanding more petting and less thinking, cut through Elise’s confusion. She scratched his belly and tried to shake off that nagging sense that she was losing it. “It’s just you and me. I’d never forget you.”
Yet here he was, running through the neighborhood, waiting for her to come home.
“Come on, sweetie.” She moved the toodle to one arm and bent down to pick up her pumps. She didn’t care that they’d gotten scratched on the concrete. She was fighting hard to stop second-guessing herself and stay in the moment. “Let’s get you something to drink.”
Instead of going straight up the front steps, though, Elise carried the dog around the side of the house to the backyard. “Good.”
She’d gotten at least one thing right today. The gate was still latched. She opened and closed it behind her, carrying the panting black dog up onto the deck. Pulling her keys from the outside pocket of her purse, she quickly glanced around the yard for possible escape routes. There were no holes in the dirt or gaps in the fence that were readily
* * *
E LISE TURNED OFF the motor of her car and reached across the seat to retrieve her purse and the pumps she’d exchanged for tennis socks and walking shoes after work.
Home. The dark red door of the gray-and-white Victorian welcomed her like a familiar sanctuary. She climbed out of her Explorer, but paused for a few moments as the hundred-degree heat and matching humidity crept over her skin, pricking open pores and sapping what energy she had left. She tilted her gaze up to the heat lightning sparking in the distant sky beyond her rooftop. There wasn’t a cloud above or an answering rumble of thunder. So no break in the weather this evening.
The silent violence in the evening sky felt appropriate. Ominous and hopeless somehow. She’d become a lightning rod for suspicious people and unexplained events. She hadn’t forgotten the returned roses or the missing key.
Bringing her gaze down, she studied the windows and doors, making sure nothing looked out of place. The flowers wilting on the porch needed a good soaking, but they hadn’t been moved. There were no footprints in the grass, no packages left on her front steps. Maybe the key disappearing had been a fluke. As upset as she’d been with James’s visit last night, she could very well have simply misplaced it and not remembered.
The only way she was truly going to know if a thief or vandal had stolen the key and broken in was to march up those steps, unlock the door herself and give the house a thorough search.
Fisting her keys in her hand and steeling herself with a resolute breath, Elise slammed the car door.
Spike barked an instant mix of excitement and welcome. Only it wasn’t the muted sound of the dog announcing her arrival through the window from the back of the couch. This was louder. Clearer. Closer. What the...?
“Spike?” Elise turned toward the sound. He was outside. “Spike? Spike!”
She heard the jingle of his tags hitting together before she saw him dash around her neighbor’s hedge and run to meet her.
“Spikey?” Elise dropped her shoes and scooped him up as he leaped into her arms. She kissed his head and hugged him tight, alarmed by his panting and how hot his little body felt against her chest. “How did you get out?” She checked the rapid beat of his heart and looked into his dark brown eyes. “Are you okay, sweetie? Have you been out all day? Did I...?”
She swung her gaze toward the house. Surely she hadn’t left him in the backyard in this heat. With no water? Had he climbed the fence or dug underneath it to escape? And she never let him out in the front without being on a leash. “I know I put you inside.”
But she’d been out of sorts and running late this morning, so she must have forgotten him. She seemed to be forgetting a lot of things today. What was happening to her?
A lick on her earlobe, demanding more petting and less thinking, cut through Elise’s confusion. She scratched his belly and tried to shake off that nagging sense that she was losing it. “It’s just you and me. I’d never forget you.”
Yet here he was, running through the neighborhood, waiting for her to come home.
“Come on, sweetie.” She moved the toodle to one arm and bent down to pick up her pumps. She didn’t care that they’d gotten scratched on the concrete. She was fighting hard to stop second-guessing herself and stay in the moment. “Let’s get you something to drink.”
Instead of going straight up the front steps, though, Elise carried the dog around the side of the house to the backyard. “Good.”
She’d gotten at least one thing right today. The gate was still latched. She opened and closed it behind her, carrying the panting black dog up onto the deck. Pulling her keys from the outside pocket of her purse, she quickly glanced around the yard for possible escape routes. There were no holes in the dirt or gaps in the fence that were readily
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