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Her breath hitches. For a moment I think maybe she cares that I’m deploying or that I am going to California.
“Sorry, Cole. I don’t want to complicate anything. My life is already harder than I thought it’d be.”
I’m still on my porch steps, watching the door that she went through. Rather than continue to look like a lovestruck idiot out there, I go inside and grab a beer. The feeling that I’m missing something important, that she’s important, doesn’t go away until long after the sun has gone down and I’ve had my third beer of the night.
Actually, I’m feeling pretty good until the bloodcurdling scream comes from Casper’s side of the wall, followed by the sound of something hitting the ground, hard.
I don’t think I’ve ever run so fast in my entire life. And when I get through her front door, all hell breaks loose.
5
CASPER
There’s something keeping me from falling asleep.
And it isn’t the three knocks on the wall that tell me Cole is in bed too.
A twinge in the back of my mind, warning me that I’m not at home. That there’s danger somewhere here.
To protect myself.
When I was little, my dad used to make me and my brother and sister run drills on what to do when there was an intruder in the house, how to tell when your things were touched or moved, and what to do if we ever found ourselves in a situation where we had to fight for our lives. Things? Don’t try and protect the things in our house. Anything could be replaced, anything except us.
We ran those drills over and over until all of us could practically do them with our eyes closed. At the time, and all through my teenage years, I thought my dad was crazy. That I’d never need to use those skills or be ready to defend myself.
Obviously, I’m an idiot.
And if I make it out of this alive, I’m going to have to buy my dad the best bottle of alcohol I can find. Because that man deserves all of it.
How did I manage to figure out that my life is in danger?
The real question is… how did it take me so long to figure out that something wasn’t right?
First, I almost died when there was something on the stairs that made me slip and fall on my ass, only being saved by the fact that I grabbed the handrail. Second, during the call I had with Cole earlier, the kitchen window was open.
Don’t get me wrong, I leave windows open all the time. I’m like that so it doesn’t surprise me. However, I didn’t leave it open when I was walking out the door to go to lunch with Emmett and Sori. It was so hot and that would let out all the cold air from the air conditioner.
Third, and most importantly, I heard something while I was in bed, getting ready for sleep. Like the idiot I’m proving myself to be, I dismissed it as something coming from the wall connecting the two townhouses.
I grab Cassie’s old softball bat and decide to use all my pent-up rage and aggression on whoever it is, if I’m not crazy and there actually is someone in the house. I’ll blame my show of bravado on the adrenaline later.
Logically, there is no other explanation for me jumping out of bed, instead of hiding and calling for help.
So yeah, I know it’s not the smartest thing in the world to do. I should have called 911. I know that. Those drills my dad ran us through for years demanded it. But I also have no idea how long they’ve been in the house, what they’re doing, or if I’m about to fight for my life.
But as I creep closer to the noise in the kitchen, I pause because Iknowwhat he’s doing.
He’s been digging around where Cassie used to store her valuables, including some of our grandmother’s old jewelry. At least it was, before she died and I took everything and packed it away in the U-Haul that is currently in her parking spot. The guy has been so busy rifling through the drawer that he doesn’t hear me sneak up behind him.
Hitting him upside the head, using all the rage and grief I have coursing through my veins, it’s a lot easier than I thought it would be. He drops like a stone and just like that he’s out like a light.
I kick him, just for good measure and to make sure he’s actually unconscious, when his hand flashes out and grabs my ankle.
The shriek that leaves my lips at the same time that I slam the bat down on his head again could only come from a possessed doll, because there’s no way in hell it came from me.
“Holy baby vicious koalas.”I gasp and then almost piss myself when the front door practically explodes inward.
Although, that might be a slight exaggeration since there’s no wood or splinters flying anywhere.
