Page 33 of Crossing Paths
“She’d loveyou,” Norah countered, raising an eyebrow at his doubtful expression.
He opened his mouth to respond but then frowned, staring at the front door. Following his gaze, Norah saw that the inner door was ajar. The sight made her stomach tighten. She told herself it was probably nothing, that it was a beautiful Sunday morning and one of her sisters had likely just left the door opena bit to air out the house, but that logic didn’t track. Her sisters were just as paranoid as Norah, and she couldn’t see any of them being relaxed enough to leave the door not only unlocked but open. Not anymore.
Molly and Cara.Her stomach twisted with fear as she started to rush up the porch steps, only to be caught and pulled back by Dash. He tucked her behind him and moved to the front door, surprisingly silent for such a big guy, his feet not making any noise on the normally creaky wooden porch. She found herself grasping the back of his belt like she had in the club, trying to move as quietly as Dash. She was fine with him going first. His fists were much bigger than hers, and he had a lot more experience using them.
The screen door squealed as Dash opened it, and Norah could see his back muscles stiffen at the loud sound. She grimaced. They’d been trying to fix the squeaky hinges ever since Norah could remember, but they refused to be silenced—even under the intimidating glare of the sneaky ninja man in front of her.
With Norah close behind, still clinging to his belt, Dash stepped inside. As he paused, taking in the empty living room, her gaze flew to the alarm system. The steady innocuous green light next to the display showed that the alarm had been deactivated. Her sisters wouldn’t leave it unarmed—not after everything they’d been through.
Dash prowled forward, yanking her attention off the alarm display. She peered around the room, looking for anything out of place, but the comfortably worn furniture looked as it alwaysdid. Squares of sunlight lit up the rug, the bright cheerfulness of the house working overtime as if to make her worries about her sisters and a possible intruder seem silly.
Athumpfrom upstairs set her heart racing. She was tempted to call out, to see if one of her sisters had made that sound, but common sense and Dash’s tense posture kept her silent. He moved quickly yet stealthily across the living room to the stairs, shooting up them at a pace that left Norah panting with adrenaline and physical effort, a slight wheeze underlying each breath. Still, she kept up with him, trying to quiet her breathing, not wanting to be left downstairs while Dash checked out what had made the sound on the second level.
She realized that Warrant hadn’t shown his fuzzy face. He wasn’t the most energetic dog by any means, but he normally stirred himself to greet his people and any visitors. His absence added to the churning in her gut, and her fingers tightened around Dash’s belt. It was one thing to mess with their house or even one of her adult sisters, but if someone had hurt their innocent dog… A flash of rage jolted through her, burning up her fear and filling her with determination to find the intruder and make them regret breaking intoherhouse.
As Dash turned left at the top of the stairs, Norah released her grip on his belt and turned right, still fueled by fury for anyone who might harm her sisters or her dog. Whipping his head around to glare at her, Dash gestured for her to return to her spot behind him, but she shook her head and darted into the twins’ room, knowing he wouldn’t call out for her and give their position away.
Although she moved quickly into the room, intent on not letting Dash stop her from helping to search for the possible intruder, she came to an abrupt halt just inside the doorway.Like the living room, Cara and Charlie’s bedroom was filled with cheery sunlight, making it seem impossible that the bright room could hide someone with nefarious intentions. Still, she moved carefully around the space, checking under the beds and holding her breath as she reached for the closet door. Her fear had crept back in, shoving over her righteous rage to make space, and her fingers shook as she slid the wooden panel to the side.
The door slid silently on its track, exposing some of Cara’s pastel tops. A relieved exhale escaped as Norah pushed it open farther—only to reveal the hulking form of a man.
Eight
She froze, staring at the pockmarked, bulldog-like face of her mom’s friend Zach Fridley. It only took a second for his presence to register, and she dragged in a stuttering, wheezing breath, preparing to scream. Before the piercing sound could escape, he lunged for her. She jerked back, but she was too slow, and he was too close. Wrapping a thick hand that smelled like grease and nicotine over her mouth, he turned her around and yanked her back against him.
For the second time in just a few seconds, her muscles locked up, refusing to move. He chuckled in her ear, just a breath of sound.
“Good thing the mousy one found me,” he muttered, his lips pressed tight to her ear. It seemed like a mockery of when Dash did the same thing but with completely different motives.
Something about the too-familiar gesture unglued her frozen muscles, and she jabbed her elbow into his gut.
“Oof.” The air was forced out of his lungs, blowing hot and disgusting across her cheek.
Twisting in his hold, she managed to kick him in the shin and thrust her palm upward toward his nose, although he turned his head in time to avoid the worst of the impact.Instead of breaking his nose, the heel of her hand glanced off his cheekbone.
Grabbing a handful of his hair, she yanked his head down as she lifted her knee, once again aiming for his nose. Instead, her kneecap connected with the tip of his chin. His head snapped back, and he howled, making her realize that she hadn’t even had the time—or the breath—to scream for help. Shoving Zach back into the closet with both hands, she twisted around to run and almost crashed into Dash.
He grasped her upper arms before they could collide, actually lifting her off her feet and setting her to the side. As she caught the breath that had been stolen by her tussle with Zach and Dash’s unexpected move, he grabbed a fistful of Zach’s jacket and yanked him closer…right into his balled fist.
After just one hit, Zach went limp. Norah eyed him warily, not sure if he was actually unconscious or just playing possum so he didn’t get hit again. If he was faking, he was a good actor, because the man waslimp. “Is he out?” she asked.
Dash gave the man in his grip a shake, and Zach flopped like a rag doll. “Yeah.” He turned his attention to her, giving her an intense head-to-toe visual inspection. “You okay?”
“Yes.” She must’ve still been floating on the adrenaline high, because she grinned at him. “Did you see me beat him up?”
His mouth twitched up in one of his familiar smiles. “Just the end of it, but what I saw was impressive.”
Her chest warmed. There was something about being useful in a dangerous situation that was more satisfying than being good at anything else. Her clumsy, semi-effective takedowngave her a huge thrill…but then she remembered her family.
“Did you find Cara or Molly? Any sign of our dog?”
He shook his head, and Norah’s stomach clenched again. Did Zach have help? Did his accomplices have her sisters? Before she could start thinking up every worst-case scenario, a voice from the bedroom doorway made her whirl around.
“We take the dog on a quick walk around the block, and all hell breaks loose. I’m guessing this is Dash,” Molly said, and Cara craned to see over her shoulder from her position behind Molly. “We’ll need to see his hands.”
“Oh, he’s on our side,” Norah hurried to say, taking a step sideways to put herself between her sisters and Dash. Warrant wiggled his way past her two sisters to lean his heavy body against Norah’s legs. She’d never been more grateful to see the big furry beast. “Zach Fridley was hiding in the closet, and Dash knocked him out.”
“You beat him up first,” Dash said, and Norah gave him an appreciative smile over her shoulder. It was nice of him to share the credit.
