Page 10

CHAPTER 10

R aven continued to stare at the door.

The shadow had disappeared.

The sounds had stopped.

But why? Had the person outside decided this wasn’t the best way to breach the house? Had he moved onto another door or maybe a window?

Her pulse pounded harder.

She glanced around, not knowing where to search next.

Keep listening , she told herself. Gather evidence then act.

She forced herself to move, to slip into the shadows. All while keeping the knife held in front of her.

Then she waited to see whatever this person would do next.

Her pulse pounded out of control.

The minutes seemed to crawl by.

She pulled the phone from her pocket and tried to call Cassidy again.

Still, the call wouldn’t go through.

Could the timing be any worse? Was cell service out over the entire island?

It didn’t matter. Dwelling on those details wouldn’t help her now.

Instead, she continued to listen.

Maybe this guy had left. Maybe he’d been someone who simply came to the wrong house. Or maybe someone working maintenance for the rental company wanted to drop off something and then realized the place was occupied.

Raven wanted the justification to make her feel better. But she knew none of her theories were most likely true.

She tried not to think. Just to listen.

How much time had passed since she’d last heard anything? At least five minutes, right?

Then another terrible thought hit her.

What if the person outside decided not to try to come inside? What if he decided to . . . detonate a bomb instead?

This time she couldn’t stop the panic racing through her.

If that were the case, then she needed to get out of here.

But leaving the safe confines of the house presented challenges of its own.

Raven pressed her eyes closed. Lord, what am I supposed to do?

Then she saw it again.

The shadow in front of the door.

The man was back, she realized.

Her lungs tightened with fear.

What would his next move be?

Jake pounded on Raven’s door.

He had no idea why his calls weren’t going through. But worry continued to grow inside him.

Something was wrong. He felt certain of it.

But there was no answer, which only heightened his concerns.

He pounded again. “Raven? Are you there? It’s Jake. I need to talk to you.”

He drew back, his hands on his hips as he waited.

He’d give her a couple of minutes. If she still didn’t answer, he wasn’t opposed to breaking this door down. After all, Raven’s car was still out front. She should be here.

He grabbed his gun from the holster and turned, ready to kick the door open.

Before he could, it opened.

Raven stood there staring at him, her eyes wide.

She appeared frightened but otherwise okay.

His gaze traveled to the butcher knife in her hands.

His throat went dry. He was missing something here. “Raven? What’s wrong?”

“Someone tried to get in,” she rushed.

“Just now?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Stay inside. Only open the door for me.”

Still gripping his gun, Jake walked around the rest of the house, searching for any signs someone was there.

He saw no one. The guy must have heard Jake pull up and fled.

Just to be safe, he checked beneath the structure as well to make sure no surprises had been left.

He found nothing.

Confident Raven was safe, he headed back upstairs. As soon as he stepped onto the deck, she opened the door as if she’d been anxiously waiting for him.

Without invitation, Jake stepped inside, closed the door, and locked it behind him.

Raven didn’t argue.

He paused in front of her, raking his gaze over her to make sure she was okay.

He saw no injuries. Relief washed through him.

His gaze went to the knife again. “I’m going to take this, okay?”

He didn’t think Raven would purposefully act out with it. But sometimes when fear and adrenaline kicked in, people did things out of character.

He reached for it, gently placing his fingers around hers.

Raven nodded as if she’d heard him, but her grip didn’t loosen.

Jake gently pried her fingers away, then he placed the knife on the table beside them.

Turning back to her, his gaze locked with hers. “Tell me what happened.”

“I was at the table when I heard a noise.” Her voice sounded raspy, and her words came out quickly. “Then I heard more noises. Someone was trying to break in. Then there was silence. Then there was you. Was it you? Were you trying to break in?”

Some of the fear left her voice, replaced with accusation.

He didn’t take it personally. If she needed to use anger to calm her fears, he would take the brunt of it.

“No, I wasn’t trying to break in.” Jake opened the door again and examined it.

His eyes narrowed when he saw scratches around the keypad—scratches that made it appear as if someone had tried to pry it off.

Someone had been trying to break in. Raven hadn’t been imagining things—not that she was the type to do so.

The tension across his back pulled tighter.

Jake didn’t like this. He didn’t like this at all.