Page 11 of One Bad Idea

Or a bed.

Yes, wehadmade our way upstairs.

The only break I had from his stupid commentary was when he paused at random intervals and tapped at his cellphone. Maybe he was texting someone to call the police. Or maybeIshould call the police – except that sometime during this whole misadventure, I'd come to an unbelievable conclusion.

Probably, thiswashis house.

Damn it.

Now, I didn't know what to do, except keep on looking – if not for Cassidy, then at least for some clue on where she might've gone. Already, I'd been through most of the downstairs and a couple of bedrooms on the second floor.

Unfortunately, I'd seen nothing to indicate that she'd been here at all.

From inside the third bedroom, I whirled to the guy and said, "At least tell me this. Do you have any idea where she is?"

Standing in the open doorway, he said, "Yeah. Out."

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks for the help."

"How about this?" he said. "You find her phone, I'll give you a clue."

I paused. "So, her phone's here? In the house?"

He gave another shrug. "Could be."

I made a sound of frustration. "Youdoknow you're no help, right?"

At this, his expression turned serious. "Andyouknow, you're taking a big chance, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I could be anyone." He was frowning now. "Does anyone know you're here?"

The question sounded vaguely ominous. "What?"

"I'm just saying, you barge in here, at a place you don't know, with no one watching your back?"

Embarrassingly, I knew what he meant. Maybe Ihadbeen stupid, but it hadn't started out that way.

I lifted my chin. "So?"

"So, for allyouknow, I could be some psycho nutjob."

I gave him a stiff smile. "Couldbe?"

Ignoring the obvious insult, he glanced around the bedroom. "You do this a lot?"

"No," I snapped. "I don't do this a lot. In fact, I wish I weren't doing it now."

"Yeah, that makes two of us."

I was glaring again. "And what doesthatmean?"

He gave me a look. "You've gotta ask?"

Something about that look set me off. "Fine. You want me to find her phone?" My fingers clenched. "Oh, I'll find her phone, alright."

I stalked toward the nearest dresser and yanked open the top drawer. I reached inside and dug through the clothes, not caring that a whole bunch of them tumbled to the floor.