Page 17 of Midnight Danger

“Fuck it,” I muttered, climbing over the lowest part of the wall into the garden.

Some areas were overgrown, and other bits had been kept manicured by the gardener that was employed to try and keep the weeds from overtaking the entire house. The red bricks formed arches over the doors and windows, and the gargoyles that Dad loved sat to attention overlooking the driveway.

I held my breath, waiting for Mum to wander out through the patio doors with refreshments for Kimberley and me. The key to the house was back in my house because I never intended to come here. Creeping closer, I pressed my nose to the window into Dad’s study. All his photographs still rested on the shelves, his books all sitting like soldiers on the bookcase. The kitchen still housed Mum’s personal touches in the welsh dresser.

The pond was at the back of the property, the koi swimming slowly under the water. We used to sit on the edge and feed them, letting them take the pellets from our hands, laughing at the way it tickled. It was one of the areas I’d specified had to be maintained in the garden because Mum had built it herself and put every fish in there. They were massive now, so much bigger than I ever imagined.

Movement at one of the windows caught my attention, but the person moved away before I could focus on them.

“Shit,” I muttered, running back toward the low wall I climbed over to get in. I should never have come here. My heart raced and my pulse thudded in my ears. My knee screamed in pain when I landed wrong on it in my haste to clamber over the wall. Even when I got home and locked the front door, I sat with my back to it, hoping to keep out the bogeyman.

Suddenly I felt vulnerable and far from anyone who could help me.

No one in this village even knew me by my new name. They all thought I was called Megan since I tended to turn when someone called it because Megan had always been with me in my youth. The house was owned by the company name I set up for my property portfolio and for anyone searching, looked like it was a rental.

When my body was cold and stiff from sitting behind the front door, I crawled to bed. Impulsively I’d bought a cheap phone with a pay-as-you-go SIM card before I left London. No one knew the number, so they couldn’t trace it. I’d blocked the number from showing on outgoing calls and kept it beside my bed for emergencies.

At two-thirty, noises in the back garden woke me and I swore there was a torch that was turned off when I opened the curtain to peek out. Terror rippled down my spine, even as I pulled the duvet over me. I was so intent of running from my past, I’d run headfirst into it.

I grabbed the phone without thinking and hit one of the numbers I’d already programmed into it. There was only one person I wanted to hear the voice of.

“Hello?” His voice was deep and sexy, the way it always sounded when he’d just woken up. “Cas? Is that you?”

“I…” Now I felt stupid ringing since he was the person I was running away from.

“Where are you, baby? Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure.” My voice sounded shaky, even to me.

“What happened?” I could imagine the way he went from sleepy to alert in five seconds, sitting up in bed to trail his fingers through his hair.

“I don’t know.” My fingers played with the end of the duvet. “It could be something or nothing. I guess I’m just seeing shadows where there are none.”

“You need to tell me where you are, Cas. I’ll come and get you.”

“Ugh!” My head banged back against the headboard. “I don’t know why I’m ringing you when I ran away from you.”

His deep chuckle vibrated down my ear to ripple down my back. “You can run from me a thousand times, Cas, just as long as you come back again. That’s what relationships are about. We fight, but in the end as long as we stick together, that’s all that matters.”

“I’m scared,” I finally admitted.

“I know you are, baby, and that’s my fault. Tell me where you are…”

A noise outside made my heart leap. “I think someone’s outside, Zee.”

“Stay on the line. Tell me where you are right now.”

Another noise echoed from downstairs. “Oh, God, I think someone’s in the house.”

“Address,” he snapped.

It fell from my lips, but even as I said it, I knew it was too late.

“Listen to me.” His tone demanded my submission. “Put this phone on silent, leave it still connected to me, and shove it down your bra. Understand?”

I hadn’t got changed for bed, just crawled in still fully dressed earlier.

“Key lock on. Shove it down your bra now.”

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