Read Online The Temptation of Savannah O'Neill by Molly O'Keefe - Free Book Online

porch.” Juliette opened her mouth to protest and Savannah held up her hand. “You don’t have the staff to stake out my house and I’ve already hired the man to be around. Might as well have him around the clock.”
    “I’ve called in some favors with the boys in Baton Rouge,” Juliette said, “they’re gonna run Matt’s name through the computer up there.”
    “That would be fine.” They wouldn’t find anything, Savannah thought.
    Juliette smiled. “But not necessary?”
    “I trust him, don’t ask me why.”
    “You trusted Eric.”
    Right. Eric. The mistake by which all other mistakes were measured. “Everyone wants to talk about Eric these days,” Savannah muttered.
    “For good reason,” Juliette said. “History might be repeating itself before our very eyes.”
    “I was already sleeping with Eric before I invited him to stay here. And I’m not sleeping with Matt. I’m not doing anything with Matt.”
    “Except watching him from the porch.”
    Savannah sighed. “Nothing wrong with that.”
    Matt emerged once more from behind the house, his arms full, muscles flexed and damp. “Not when he looks like that,” Juliette said. “Good lord. Glasses?”
    “I know.” Savannah smiled. “I don’t think ax murderers wear glasses, do they?”
    “That’s not at all funny,” Juliette grumbled.
    Savannah turned to her friend and slid her hand over Juliette’s elbow. “Thank you for being here last night,” Savannah said, reliving those terrifying moments after Katie’s screams had split the night. She’d called Juliette, frantic and freaked out, and her friend had arrived in no time, stayed until the fingerprints had been dusted, then rushed them to the station and all the fancy equipment she’d purchased last year.
    “I’m glad you called,” Juliette said, squeezing Savannah’s fingers. “I’m just sorry I don’t have more information for you.”
    Savannah braced herself. “The fingerprints?”
    “The only prints in the whole room were yours, Margot’s and Katie’s. The intruder must have been wearing gloves.”
    “The high school kids who wreck our property don’t seem the type to wear gloves.”
    “You don’t think it was a kid?”
    “It was so dark,” Savannah murmured, wishing she’d seen more. Wishing there was more she could do to protect her daughter, her home. She closed her eyes, imagining the windowsill, the bright moon glinting off blond hair as the person climbed back out the window. “All I saw was blond hair.”
    “Well, without fingerprints…”
    “I know. It probably was Owen or Garrett, they’re both blond and I’m sure they’re the ones who destroyed the greenhouse and painted the graffiti on the walls.”
    “I’ll go have a word with their parents,” Juliette said. “See if we can’t get them to do a better job with their parenting skills.”
    “I don’t think that’s in the police chief job description,” Savannah said, quirking her eyebrow at Juliette.
    “It’s a small town,” Juliette said with a shrug. “I can make this stuff up as I go. But look, if it wasn’t a kid and someone is targeting this house, I need you to call me if you see anything suspicious. Anything at all.”
    “Absolutely.”
    “And keep an eye on that Matt guy.”
    “No problem.”
    Juliette smirked. “Clearly.”
    Savannah laughed, for the first time in what felt like days. Just then, Juliette’s phone buzzed at her hip.
    “You want that pie?” Savannah asked.
    “Save some for me,” Juliette said, unclipping her phone from her belt. “I gotta go. I’ll call you later.”
    Savannah waved and watched Juliette, phone to her ear, rushing off to take care of important business. Pressing issues. Fingerprints and parents and juvenile delinquents.
    Savannah’s life seemed at that moment to exist on the head of a pin. She had Katie. Margot. The library. Faceless clients and a secure Internet connection. She’d liked it that way, wanted it that way.
    After Eric