Mom insisted on making him breakfast and fawning all over him while she heaped fried bacon and sausage onto his plate. The grin said he liked the attention, and I liked watching him receive the attention. After breakfast, I followed him out to the entryway.
“I’ll be back soon,” he said, placing his hand on my hip. He angled my body toward his. “Got to take care of a few things. Shower being one of them, and I’ve got to pack a bag.”
“A bag?” I inquired.
The half grin appeared. “Staying the weekend here with you.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Figured we still had dinner plans, but we’d change them so you’re not out running around. Yeah, I know you’re okay,” he said, stopping me before I could actually say that. “But we aren’t going to push it.”
I raised a brow.
“Not going to be gone long.” He cupped my cheek with his other hand. “Promise me you’re going to take it easy.”
“Promise,” I murmured, a little lost in those blue eyes.
A knowing tilt to his lips appeared and then he lowered his mouth, kissing me softly and a little too briefly. I didn’t want to let him go, and that was a strange new feeling for me, one I pondered as I walked back to the kitchen. The scent of fried bacon lingered.
Mom had already cleaned up, and even though I’d promised to take it easy, that didn’t mean I was going to sit around all day. There was only a dull ache in my temple and head, manageable without taking anything for it, and there was something I wanted to see.
I grabbed a flashlight and my peacoat-style jacket out of the back room, shoved my arms through it, and then slipped out the back door. I crossed the veranda, zipping up my jacket as I dragged in a deep breath of cold winter air. It smelled like snow. Not a lot of people thought that incoming snow had a smell, but to me it was always signaled by a fresh, airy scent.
Frozen grass crunched under my boots as I passed the bare trellis. A low stone wall appeared. It had been here since the house was built, and I imagined it marked the original property line. I passed through the opening and crossed the narrow, unused alley before hitting a patch of dying grass. Several yards ahead was another stone wall, this one waist high. A lone mausoleum stood in the center.
My stomach tumbled as I approached the old cemetery. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been here, as I’d avoided it like it was full of flesh-eating zombies when I was a kid.
Heart thumping in my chest, I entered the tiny cemetery. There were only five headstones. The cement was crumbling, and the epitaphs were indistinguishable, having long since faded.
A horn blew in the distance, causing me to jump. I was a grown damn woman, but the cemetery still creeped me out. We were in the middle of the town, the cemetery within eyesight of many homes, but as I walked to the open door of the mausoleum, I felt like I was a hundred miles away from civilization.
The opening of the mausoleum was dark and yawning. At one time there had been a door, but for as long as I remembered, it had been missing. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside and flipped on the flashlight.
The creepiest part about the mausoleum was the fact there were no tombs inside. There used to be tombs in here, but they’d disappeared long before Grandma Libby had purchased the mansion and property. No one knew why or where they went, and something about that just freaked me out.
Moving the flashlight, I cast light along the floor, immediately finding the old cellar-type doors. One side was closed, and the other was in shards next to the entrance. Half of the brick wall was down, falling into the blackness of the tunnel. A small pile of red-and-white brick was next to the boards. I wasn’t a crime scene expert, nor did I have any experience in construction, but I couldn’t tell if the bricks had been torn down or had caved in.
During breakfast, Mom had told me that she’d already contacted someone to come out first thing next week, which was roughly around the same time Cole’s buddy was also coming out to install the alarms on the apartments.
Someone had gone in there and entered the house. You couldn’t pay me a million bucks to go down there. The amount of spiders alone gave me nightmares.
But Derek had been right. That wall was down, and the first thing I was doing when I got back was finding some boards, nails, and a hammer. The cellar door was going to get boarded up.
I backed out of the mausoleum, stopping abruptly when I heard a snapping sound behind me. A cold chill snaked down my spine and the hair along my neck rose. I turned sharply, hand tightening on the flashlight. I half expected to find someone standing behind me, but there was no one there.
Twigs snapped to my left. I twisted toward the sound, but I still saw nothing through the bare low-hanging branches. My gaze darted around the cemetery, beyond the stone wall, and across the yard that led to one of the nearby homes. Nothing moved, but tiny bumps spread across my skin.
Anyone could be out here.
Anyone.
Unnerved, I turned off the flashlight and hightailed my behind out of the cemetery. Once inside the house, I closed the door and locked it behind me.
After placing the flashlight on the counter, I shrugged off my jacket and my gaze coasted over the corkboard. I draped my jacket over the hook and started to leave when I whipped back so fast my head started pounding.
I ignored the pain as I walked toward the corkboard, scanning it more closely. There were the extra room keys, labeled clearly. Another was an extra set to the inn doors. Another set for the carriage house. There were Mom’s truck keys, and then the next spot was empty.
But it wasn’t supposed to be.
Angela’s house key was missing.
*
She’d come so close, so incredibly close to my secret, so close I could almost reach out and touch her.
And she had no idea.
I wanted to laugh.
I wanted to wrap my hands around her neck and watch the life seep out of her eyes.
Even right now she had no idea I was there, watching her lock the door behind her, like that could help her. A smile curved up the corners of my lips. I could gain access to her anytime I wanted. I always could. Close up the tunnels outside. Lock the doors. I could get in.
Because I’ve always been here.
I bit my lip as she walked over to the corkboard by the door. Her brows pinched together as she studied it. Right now, I could take her.
No one would ever know what happened to her.
Like it should’ve been the first time.
But I could take her.
I’d almost done so when she lay unconscious, could’ve easily taken her, but that would’ve been too easy and this would’ve been over too quickly.
And I wasn’t ready for that.
Because I still wanted to play.
Chapter 17
Snatching my cellphone off the counter where it was charging, I immediately called Cole.
Luckily he answered on the third ring with an amused “Babe, I’m standing here naked and dripping. You miss me already?”
Naked and dripping?
“Sasha?”
Okay. That effectively distracted me for a couple of seconds. I blinked away the fantastic image of him. “Angela’s house key is missing.”