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He seemed to be a night owl so probably so. But when she heard a creak, one that sounded distinctly like her back screen door, goose bumps prickled her arms. That sound hadn’t come from Hill’s side. He didn’t have a screen door. Her body went stiff and cold, her ears straining.
She half expected her phone to ring with a voice on the other end asking her if she liked scary movies. The creak came again, and she inhaled a shaky breath. Okay. The latch on the screen door had probably come undone. It was windy outside. The door was probably flapping in the wind.You’re fine. The main door is locked tight.
She reached for her phone, which she usually kept on the coffee table, but it wasn’t there. Her heartbeat picked up speed. Where had she put it? She’d had it when she’d sat down to edit the episode. She’d gotten up to use the bathroom once and had gotten a refill on wine twice. She must’ve brought her phone into the kitchen.
Dammit.
How had she lost track of her phone? But she wasn’t going to follow up that mistake with a second one. She definitely wasn’t calling out “Who’s there?” or going outside to investigate a weird sound. She hadn’t watched hundreds of horror movies without learningsomething. Still, she needed to know what the noise was, but she wasn’t going to look without some protection.
She swallowed past the dryness in her throat, and as quietly as she could, she rose to her feet, her knee making a soft popping sound. She swayed a little, the wine still coursing through her system, but the fear had sobered her thoughts. She glanced toward the kitchen again and then quickly but quietly hurried toward the front door in her bare feet. She’d left her purse on the table by the door when she’d come home, and she grabbed it like a lifeline. She rummaged around, and when her fingers closed around the gel pepper spray she’d bought at Hill’s suggestion, a jolt of relief went through her.
She pulled out the canister and peeked through the peephole of the front door. Her porch was well lit and empty, but the darkness on the street beyond revealed nothing. She didn’t want to walk outside at midnight, not knowing if someone was prowling around her place.
She turned away from the front door and listened. She didn’t hear the creak anymore, but she was filled with the sense that the silence was not empty. It had weight. Like the air had changed. She slid the safety latch on the pepper spray, putting her finger on the trigger, and took a few steps toward the kitchen.
This wasn’t the first time she’d been home alone and thought she heard a noise in the house. This was just the first time at this place. She’d learned to live with her hyperaware senses and overactive imagination. But this was the first time she didn’t have her phone to call someone to stay on the line while she checked things out. Every other time, whatever sound she’d heard had been nothing. It would surely be the same now, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. She held the pepper spray at-the-ready.
She placed her footsteps carefully, watching for a floorboard that she’d learned squeaked loudly. If she could get a peek at the kitchen and verify the main door was still safely closed and locked, she could end this. She got close to the entrance of the kitchen and took a deep breath. Steeling herself, she shifted to peek around the corner into the kitchen.
She almost didn’t register what she saw, the image so preposterous for a woman who regularly checked that everything was locked up tight.
The back door waswide open.
Panic flooded her, electric fear zapping through her muscles like lightning, and a scream ripped out of her. She took off running in the other direction, shouting “Help!” the whole way. Her bare feet slapped against the floor, and she couldn’t get a sense of whether anyone was behind her or not as she bolted toward the front door. Her fingers fumbled the dead bolt, and she started to cry, but finally the lock turned, and she flew out the front door like the house was on fire.
She had no idea if anyone was outside, and she didn’t have her car keys, so she did the only thing she could think of. She rushed to Hill’s door and banged on it with the sides of her fists, shouting for him to open it. Her throat hurt, her body was trembling all over, and her heart was going to pound out of her chest.Please God, please. Come on, come on, come on.“Hill!”
When she was about to give up and run to another neighbor, the door swung open. Hill took in the sight of her, confusion on his face, and she launched herself at him. He made anoofsound as she barreled into him and she slammed the door behind her. “Lock it!”
He put an arm around her, steadying them both. “The hell.What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s in my house,” she panted, tears she hadn’t known she’d been crying now streaming down her face. “Call the police.”
His body stiffened against her. “Shit.”
He let her go and shifted into action. Before she could process what was happening, he’d locked the door behind her, grabbed his cell, and called 911 to put in a report. He handed her the phone. “Stay on the line with them.”
“What?” she asked, voice shaking. “Where are you going?”
The 911 operator was chattering in her ear for Andi to stay on the line, but she couldn’t respond.
Hill left her for a moment, disappeared into a hallway, and then came out with his trusty baseball bat. “I’m going to check things out.”
He moved to walk past her, but she reached out and snagged his T-shirt. “No!”
He frowned. “Andi…”
She couldn’t let him out of her sight. Every survival instinct she possessed screamed at her to keep him right there with her. “What if they come over here while you’re there? What if they have a gun? What if there’s more than one person?” The questions rushed out of her without pause. “Please don’t leave.Please, Hill.Stay until the police come. I can’t—”
His determined expression softened at her frantic words. He set the bat down, then reached out, took the phone from her, and put his arm around her shoulders, giving her a little squeeze. “Shh. Okay. Take a breath. You’re going to be okay. You’re safe here. I won’t leave you if you don’t want me to.” He put the phone to his ear to talk to the operator. “We’ll be here waiting for the police. I have the neighbor here on my side of the duplex, safe. Please advise them that the problem is in Unit A. We are hunkered down in Unit B. I’ll leave you on speakerphone, but I need to talk to her and help her calm down.”
Hill set the phone on the arm of the couch. Andi was shaking all over, but the steady warmth of his arm around her helped a little. “I can’t catch my breath.”
“You’re having a panic attack,” he said, voice calm and soothing. “Here, come sit on the couch with me while we wait. My guess is whoever was in your place is long gone after all that screaming.”
He kept his arm around her as they sat down, and she kept the pepper spray clutched tight in her hand, half expecting her intruder to bust through this door, too.“You heard me?Why didn’t you come?”
He squeezed her arm. “Andi, I’m so sorry. I heard the screaming, but I thought it was one of your movies again.”
