Page 36 of Sharp Force

“Good night,” I tell him.

I’m tentative on the front steps, taking one at a time, the wind louder, wailing and whistling. Snow blows off trees in clouds. Thunder cracks like a gun going off, lightning flashing, and I’m startled by a loud crashing in the woods that sounds close.

“What the fuck was that?” Marino has his head out the window, looking around in alarm.

He unholsters his pistol from the steering column as I pause on the porch, staring out at swirling grayness. Snowflakes coldly touch my face, and I’m on high alert.

“A decent-sized animal, it sounded like.” I peer into the overcast.

“Maybe that raccoon we saw.”

“It didn’t sound like a raccoon, sounded bigger than that. Hopefully friendly, whatever it is,” I decide, looking in the direction of the noise. “I guess the thunder spooked it.”

“A deer, I’m betting.” Marino’s attention is everywhere.

“They can’t get in unless the gate is open,” I reply.

“One could have come in behind us and we didn’t see it,” he says as more thunder explodes like a war going on.

Sticks snap in the dark, followed by snorts and screams that turn my blood cold.

“Geezus effing Kris Kringle!” Marino’s eyes are wide. “Maybe I should get out and poke around?”

“And if it’s a bobcat or a bear?” I have my keys out. “Then what are you going to do?”

“Tell it to eat more chicken?”

“Go home, Marino.” I can’t help but laugh even as my nerves spark like electrical static.

“Told you this place is Jurassic Park,” he says, rolling up his window.

He begins turning his truck around in small maneuvers, the engine gunning as I halfway expect something hideous to emerge from the gloom. Unlocking the front door, I step inside the house, entering my code to silence the beeping security system.

Pausing in the doorway, I wave good night as Marino drives off in a swirl of exhaust. Then I hear crashing through the brush near the greenhouse in the garden. I can barely make out the lavender glow of the ultraviolet light inside. Dorothy insisted on installing it over her cannabis plants, four of them, the legal limit in Virginia.

Something grunts and shrieks. I hear a guttural hooting that doesn’t sound like an owl. If Marino were here, I can imagine him freaking out, certain it’s a Bigfoot or a Yeti. I don’t know what the hell it is, and now I hear loud growling close to the porch. Shutting the door, I throw on the deadbolt, my heart flying out of my chest.

I reset the alarm, the light on the display turning red. I check the security monitor, the video images murky. White lights along the driveway are blurry on the live feed. The vague shapes of trees near the house move in the wind, headlights shining on the front gate.

It begins opening as Marino waits in his truck. I gasp when something touches my leg.

“Jesus, Merlin!”

Lucy’s cat rubs against me, frantic, not purring. Spotted, with full moon eyes, he stares up at me. I pet him, checking to make sure he has no injuries. My first thought was he might have tangled with a raccoon or some other animal. He’s fine.

“Now’s not a good time to sneak up on me, please. But thank God you’re inside the house,” I say to Merlin, and his back arches.

He hisses at the front door, thunder clapping, and I look again at the security monitor. I don’t see anything except snow and fog, the front gate lurching shut as Marino drives off, the engine loud over the security monitor, the truck’s taillights vanishing.

Except they don’t.

What I’m seeing aren’t taillights, I realize with a start, staring at the video display in disbelief. Two red orbs float over the closing front gate.

A thrill of fear races up to the roots of my hair as the glowing red lights move along the driveway, coming closer in overcast thick like a cloud. Merlin glares at the front door, a low growl in his throat, the fur standing up on his back.

“It’s okay. We’re safe in here,” I say to him. “This is why youstay inside now, please? I don’t want you even thinking about going anywhere when we don’t know what’s lurking about.”

Bending down, I remove his plastic collar that Lucy 3-D prints. An embedded electronic chip automatically opens the cat doors when Merlin decides to venture inside or out.