Page 127 of Evil Bones
“Should I buy you a helmet?”
“Hilarious,” I said.
“You smell good,” he murmured, drawing me close.
“Thanks.”
“I’m crushed. The Bird wants no part of me.”
“That’s odd.” It was. My cat adores Ryan.
I called Birdie’s name.
No cat appeared.
“Birdcat,” I tried again.
Nothing.
“I didn’t forget him outside, did I?”
“You did take a hit to the noggin.”
Throwing back the comforter, I got up and checked the other upstairs rooms. Finding no cat, I hurried downstairs, repeatedly calling his name.
Nothing.
I probed the shadows of the hallway with moment-long sweeps. The parlor.
Entering the dining room, I noticed that the swinging door to the kitchen was closed.
Had Ryan done that? I always left it open.
Tiptoeing to it, I pressed my ear to the wood.
Heard only silence beyond.
I know the Annex as well as I know the lines on my face. The creeks and groans of her worn floorboards. The hum of air blowing through her old-fashioned vents. The clicks and taps of her outdated pipes.
My gut tightened.
The silence beyond the old door was wrong.
CHAPTER 29
I hesitated.
Enlist backup?
No way. I’d had enough drama for one day. Besides, I wanted no damsel in distress dynamic with Ryan.
Easing the door open, I peered through the crack.
Moonlight oozed in from the window, sparking the stainless-steel appliances and brightening the porcelain sink. Digits on the stove glowed neon orange.
The kitchen looked normal.
Until my gaze reached the back door.
