Page 24 of The Secret Heir Next Door

“I carry pepper spray and a taser on my keychain.”

“A taser on a keychain isn’t going to do shit.”

“Would you like me to demonstrate on you?”

“No,” I snort. “It’s not safe for you to walk home without a phone.”

“My ancestors did just fine without a phone,” she answers airily as she goes to the front door.

“Your ancestors weren’t living in a time when audacity ran wild.”

“Be that as it may, I’ll be fine. Thanks for your concern.”

The way she says it makes me take a step back and realize that my overprotective instincts have kicked in for some reason. Normally, it wouldn’t phase me that a woman was walking alone. Yes, I’ve gotten on to my sisters for it, but never someone I barely know.

The thought of her getting hurt bothers me.

“What are you going to do?”

“I can’t leave the shop unlocked, so I’ll just stay here until the power comes back on.”

“What if it doesn’t?”

“It will eventually. We can log on to the power company’s website and see the estimated time of restoration.”

“I can do that. I didn’t think about that.”

She hands me my phone and I quickly look up the website.

“What’s it say?z

“It’s not even saying there’s an outage.”

“It may be too soon. But…was my shop the only one dark?”

“No. The whole block is. My building is without power, too.”

“But did you look at the other buildings?”

“What are you suggesting?”

“You own a tech company with military contracts, right?”

“Shit,” I breathe.

I call Jonas, the head of security in my building.

“Mr. Pierce,” the gruff voice answers quickly.

“Is the power out on the entire block or just for us?”

“Entire block. I’ve got maintenance trying to get the emergency generator up and running. I don’t like that all of the emergency lights are cut too.”

“That’s a problem.”

“We’re on it, Sir. I’ve got extra guys coming in and have sent a call to the police department as well. The electric company isn’t showing an outage. We’re doing thorough checks of everything.”

“Thanks, Jonas. Keep me posted.”