Page 161 of Falling for the Enemy

Cordelia pranced happily, whining faster as she excitedly anticipated Jocelyn’s return to reality.

“Give me a second.” She stretched and— “What the hell do you have?”

She reached down to Cordelia’s mouth and immediately pulled her hand away when she touched slobber and bone.

“What did you get into? Did you murder something?”

Cordelia raced to the front of the house in a whoosh of jangling clicks, her nails clacking away as the bell on her collar rattled violently.

Was someone at the door? The camera alert hadn’t made a sound. Or maybe it did, but she was so engrossed in writing she missed it.

Crossing the foyer, Jocelyn briefly jolted at her reflection. Banshee was an understatement.

Cordelia scratched at the front door, yipping and clamoring to get to the other side.

“We’re not going anywhere.”

Cordelia knew they only used the front door when they left the house. The dog used the back door whenever she needed to make a tinky-poo-poo, so it was strange that she was scratching to get out front.

“Do you have to go out?”

The dog ignored her and continued scratching at the front door, as if she expected to go on a walk.

It could be dawn or dusk. Finding her bearings, Jocelyn checked the time on her phone. It was late afternoon, and the sky would be dark soon.

“We’re not going anywhere, Deelie.” She peeked out the peephole, wondering why she was so worked up. “No one’s out there.”

Cordelia continued to paw at the wood, frantic and insistent that she open the door before she stripped the paint and dug right through the wood Shawshank-style.

“Alright, hold on.” Jocelyn pulled her leash off the hook.

Cordelia’s excitement multiplied to the point she could barely hold herself still enough to get into her harness.

“You should be embarrassed, going out in your pajamas at this time of day.”

It didn’t escape Jocelyn that she was also in her robe with nothing underneath and a rat’s nest of hair that hadn’t been brushed in days.

“We’re not leaving the yard.”

The second she hooked the leash to the harness, Cordelia nearly pulled Jocelyn’s arm out of the socket.

“Hey, take it easy.”

She flicked the lock and Cordelia darted onto the porch.

The sudden baritone bark scared the crap out of Jocelyn. She staggered back as giant paws landed on her shoulders.

“King, what…” She searched the yard, her heart kicking into overdrive. “How did you get here?”

The gentle giant only licked her face and panted as Cordelia danced around him, as if her long-lost lover had just returned from war. There was no way he made it here alone.

Paranoid and not in the mood for games, she scanned the shadows. “Soren?”

Crickets.

She pinched her nose. This was not how she planned to spend her evening.

“Both of you, in the house.”