Page 27 of Hold Your Breath
When he’d watched her leave her cabin and hurry to her truck earlier, disappointment had swamped him, knowing that his favorite part of the day—watching her sleep—would be delayed. Curiosity had crept in as he ran to his own car before her taillights could disappear completely. She never went anywhere in the evenings. Where was she going?
He’d managed to catch up to her. That was one good thing about this forsaken place—tailing her was easy with so few vehicles on the roads. As she’d pulled up to a house, he’d cut his headlights and rolled to a stop in the shadows a half block away. Even from a distance, though, he’d recognized the same guy who’d helped her with her tire.
“Boy Scout,” he’d muttered, as the door swung shut behind the pair. “What’s she doing there?”
Whatever it was, it was taking a long time—at least, it felt like eons had passed since she’d stepped through the doorway into the warmly lit house. He knew she wouldn’t be doing anything…wrong. She wasn’t like that. She was faithful.
But…what were they doing in there?
Although it wasn’t as cold as the forest, he realized he was shaking. Keeping the lights off, he cranked the engine of his car to warm the interior. The front door of the house swung open, making him jump and bang his knee on the underside of the instrument panel. He scrambled to turn off the motor, worried that they’d hear it.
He almost couldn’t watch them. What if they kissed good-bye? Rage bubbled from where he’d held it to a simmer. If he touched her—ifshetouchedhim—then he wouldn’t be able to restrain himself. When she trotted toward her truck without either of them making contact, all the air in his lungs exited in a whoosh. There’d been no touching. Good. That was good.
As she started up the truck, he watched the man framed in the doorway. He could be a problem. Not a huge one, but it wasn’t good for her to be distracted right now. It might delay the plan, and he didn’t know how much longer he could be without her.
He followed her home, careful not to be obvious. It would be a bad time for her to get suspicious. Maybe that was the solution, though. Maybe she was too comfortable in her miserable little life. Maybe he needed to give her a little nudge, just hard enough to send her running into his arms.
Smiling, he waited for her to duck back into her cabin. It bothered him to miss watching her sleep, but this was better. If he was lucky, too, he could get a glimpse of her without that obtrusive pane of glass between them. Maybe, if he dared, he could even touch her, just the lightest brush of fingers against her skin.
It seemed to take forever for the cabin to go dark, but that could just be his impatience warping time. He forced himself to wait an endless amount of time past when the last light was extinguished before slipping out of his car.
He moved closer, keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible in the muffling snow. As he lifted his boot onto the bottom porch step, it creaked under his weight. He froze, listening for any movement, but the cabin stayed quiet and dark. Daring to try the next step, and then the next, he reached her front door.
His hand reached out and grasped the doorknob.
* * *
Lou woke suddenly from a heavy sleep, pulse racing.
Inhaling a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down and take inventory. A nightmare hadn’t woken her. Had it been a strange sound? She listened intently, but her heart was still pounding in her ears, deafening her to anything else. She glanced at the clock, which read two twenty a.m.
A creeping anxiety sent a chill up her spine. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape the feeling that someone was out there—watching her.
“Don’t be stupid,” she whispered, but her voice didn’t sound like her own. It was just the investigation getting her amped up—her head was filled with tire vandals and murderers. It was nothing.
It didn’t feel like nothing.
Shehadto check it out. No way was she getting back to sleep now.
Pushing back the covers, Lou slid out of bed, wincing at the creak of the wooden floor beneath her weight. She crossed the room and reached for the light switch, but hesitated and pulled her hand back without turning on the light. It would make her too vulnerable, not to be able to see outside. Besides, the moon was full enough that her bedroom was fairly bright.
Her house was isolated, and there wasn’t a clear view of her place from any of her neighbors or the road, so she didn’t have any window coverings. She’d figured the bears and coyotes could peek at her all they wanted. Now, though, the dark squares of glass made her feel exposed and queasy.
Carefully placing her feet to avoid the floorboards that creaked the loudest, she crept into the living room. All looked normal, everything still as it was when she went to bed, except the fire in the woodstove had burned down to glowing red coals, putting off just enough light to turn her furniture into ominous shapes.
Still, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something wasoff.
The kitchen was visible from the living area, but she crept around the breakfast bar to check the spaces she couldn’t see. The pantry door was cracked, making Lou frown.Didn’t I shut that?she wondered as she reached for the doorknob. Her fingers slipped on the cool metal, and she realized that her palms were sweating.
She hesitated, her hand on the knob. She was being ridiculous, right? No one had broken into her house only to hide in the pantry. Besides, if therewassomeone in there, she didn’t think she wanted to know. Maybe she should just return to bed and be blissfully ignorant.
Not that she’d be able to sleep, wondering if she’d been wrong.
Annoyed at her wishy-washiness, Lou tightened her fingers and gave a hard twist. The door swung open—and a dark shape lunged at her.
With a shriek, she jumped back, twisting out of reach. Something fell to the floor with a loud smack. As Lou stared at what was just an innocent broom lying on the floor, she resisted the urge to kick it. It wasn’t the broom’s fault she’d turned into a horror-movie cliché. Trying to ignore her too-quick breaths, she bent to pick up the fallen broom. After putting it back in the pantry, she closed the door.
Her stomach tightened as she glanced at the black windows of the living room again. The exposed glass brought a prickling feeling of unease that made her long for blinds. She was tempted to grab the blanket from the couch and use it as a temporary curtain, but she shook off the idea. It was just nighttime nerves making her crazy. There was no one out there.
