Page 109 of Mr. Dangerous

It had to have been a noise from outside: an animal, maybe, or a big branch falling off the tree. I eased the cats off my lap, unhooking their claws from my jeans. Getting up from the desk chair, I picked up my cell phone again, turning it nervously inmyhand.

The cats suddenly fled the room, their bodies low to the ground. They were fleeing for their beloved hiding space behind my refrigerator. Growing nervous, I eased the office door quietly shut behind them, popping the doorknob lock shut. It would only take a few seconds to open it from the other side, but it wassomething.

I went to the window, pushing the blinds aside and pressing my face against the glass so I could get the best look possible down at mybackyard.

A flicker of motion. A man. Entering my house through the glass slidingdoors.

I pressed my back against the wall, overcome with a sudden sickening fear. My hands shook as I dialed Rob's number, trying to stay calm despite the sudden dizzying surge of adrenaline. Rob picked up after thefirstring.

"Hey," he said, his voice full of concern. “Whereareyou?”

"There's someone in my house, Rob. Maybe more than oneperson."

"You need to hide," he said. "Buy us some time to get to you. Joe is calling 9-1-1 right now, the police have already been alerted you’re in trouble. We're onourway."

"I locked the door. I can go out on the roof. By the garage. It'd be hard to see me from theground."

"Do that." In the background, I could hear Liam rapid-fire on the phone, the roar of the Suburban’sengine.

I quickly opened up the closet door in my office, pulling at hangers, dropping a few to the ground. Hopefully once they broke into the room, they'd waste time searching. Walking as softly as possible, I crossed to the window and slid my fingers under the sill, easing it slowly up. My backyard looked serene: rain specked the poured-concrete patio, my brightly colored patio umbrella waved in the breeze, and beyond the yard were the swaying green pines. There was no sign of anyoneatall.

Tucking my cell phone into my bra so I had both hands free, I eased myself out onto the roof. The shingles of the roof were rough under the soles of mybarefeet.

I had to reach up to get my fingers on the top of the window sash, and the sense of hanging out over the ground below, stretched to my full height, made my head swim. I hated heights. I dragged down on the window. It stuck, just barely open. Just enough to give me away. Biting down on my lip, I leveraged my body weight, hanging off the sash. It ground the last half-inchshut.

I shuffled on my knees across the roof to the bay window by the garage, nervously climbing over the peaked roof of the garage so I could hide from view of the office window. Then, settled with my feet braced on the roof and my back against the curve of the roof window, I fished my cell phone from my bra. "You stillthere?"

"I'm on my way, Naomi. Justhangon."

"I'm hanging on. Pretty much literally. Don't have much choice." There was a shake in mylaugh.

"You're a brave girl," Rob said. "I've seen thatbefore.”

“I know I’m brave. I do yourlaundry.”

But despite the brave words, my hands were shaking so badly that I was afraid my clumsy fingers would drop the phone. My adrenaline made the world a dark-edgedblur.

"I don't feel brave," I whispered, my voice so soft I wasn't sure Rob could hear. "I feelterrified."

"I'll be right there," hepromised.

He didn't say there was no reason not to beterrified.

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