“I don’t know. Mouse has been pacing near the door and just started freaking out.”
“Sit.”
Mouse whined, but plopped his butt right next to Phoebe.
I went to the window and peeked outside. A familiar sportscar was parked in the road. The low suspension couldn’t handle the gravel road that led to my driveway.
“Shit.”
“What?”
“It’s Christopher. I didn’t even know he knew where I was.”
“What?” Phoebe hurried over to me. “You have to be kidding me.”
Mouse started growling again when I went to the door. “It’s okay, buddy.”
He pushed his way around me and through the door, barking as he tore off down the stairs. I hurried after him, but slowed at the top of the stairs when it was obvious Mouse wouldn’t actually bite him.
Christopher looked rough. His usual New York City polish was replaced with rumpled dress pants and a stained linen shirt. Three days of stubble dotted his wan skin and his hair stuck out in chaotic spikes.
Mouse laid down right in front of the property line and continued with a low growl.
“Will you call off your dog?” He called up as he hustled behind the door of his car.
I crossed my arms over my chest, trying not to betray my shock. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I thought we should talk.”
“Little late for that. It’s been a fucking year, Chris. You fucking disappeared with my novel.”
“You don’t understand. I had to.”
My eyebrows shot up.
“The agency was axing me if I didn’t sell another book.”
“So you fucking stole my book? Made me think I lost my fucking mind?”
“Dutch?” Phoebe’s voice was hesitant.
I turned to her. “I’m okay.” Then I shot down the stairs to the grass.
She followed me down, stopping at Mouse to soothe him.
“You can write another book. I can’t get another career. You don’t get it.”
“I can—” Flabbergasted, I stopped right before the road. “You stole my contracted book. Then you had your girlfriend rewrite it. She couldn’t just write her own book? You could sell anything.”
“No! She’s barely literate.” Chris fisted his fingers in his hair making it stick out all the more. “But I knew she could edit the fuck out of yours and make it work. It wasn’t even a horror book anymore. You were off the mark.”
I staggered back a step. “Off the mark? It was so off the mark that you got another six figure deal for a rip-off version of my book!” The roar of my voice sounded loud even to my ears. The anger that had built inside me over the year reappeared like it had been dormant.
I rounded the hood of his car and Chris stumbled back, holding up his hands. “Dutch. You could have just done me a solid. You stayed quiet for so long, I thought you understood.”
“Understood? Are you insane?”
“I made sure to get the extension first. That you’d have time to come up with another book.”
