Page 29 of Condor’s Vow

Chapter 11

Putting the plates in the oven to warm, Hattie went to change into yoga pants and a t-shirt she’d stolen from Martin. It was his old University one and was so comfy when she was feeling exhausted, which she was today. Her hair was in a sloppy bun on top of her head, and she wore her favorite sequin slippers to add just the tiniest bit of effort to her clothing choice.

Clay would be there soon. They had fallen into a routine of speaking every night when they didn’t see each other, and it felt good, right. The flutters she got in her belly when she saw his car or a text from him were heady, and a few times she’d caught herself thinking what a life with him would be like and wanted to find out.

A movement at the back of her house caught her attention, and she peered closer just as Mr. Chester began to growl deeply beside her. Her breath quickened as her heart beat faster, trying to determine what had caught her eye. A sudden feeling of paralyzing fear made her freeze as the same sense of being watched she’d had earlier swept through her body like ice. Mr. Chester brushed up against her leg and she jumped, but it forced her from her fog of terror.

Moving swiftly, she made sure the doors were locked and closed the blind on the window to the back of the house. With the lights of the kitchen behind her, she was a sitting duck. Every instinct she had told her someone was outside, but she was aware enough to realize she’d been jumpy today.

Walking to the front of the house, she felt Mr. Chester at her heels and had never been more glad to have him. She didn’t know why her father had bought the dog, but she was coming to love him, and he’d protect her, of that she had no doubt. Her hand brushed over the soft fur of his head, and it gave her comfort. Her phone gripped tightly in her hand, she considered calling Clay but he was already on his way, and she didn’t want him to have an accident driving because she was freaked out.

Keeping back from the window but peering out, she heard threats in every brush of the tree against the house, saw them in every shadow from the yard. Shapes and shadows that had been innocuous now seemed predatory and threatening. Her hand still on Mr. Chester’s head, she felt him tense and stand. He didn’t growl this time, just watched alertly, ready to defend her. Her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest and she tried to slow her breathing and calm her heart rate. Even her own breathing sounded loud and sinister and she knew she’d worked herself up into almost hysteria. When Clay’s car drove around the corner, she sagged against the wall in relief, almost dizzy with it.

Waiting until he was out of his car, she opened the front door and was running into his arms before she even had time to process what she was doing.

He caught her to him, holding on tight as he brushed his hand over her hair. “What happened?”

“I saw someone in the yard and freaked out.”

Clay went instantly on alert, his jaw tightening as his eyes moved around the front yard. He kept his arm around her as he ushered them toward the front door and inside. He locked up behind him and patted Mr. Chester absently in greeting.

“Talk to me.” He placed the takeout bag on the kitchen island and pulled her close, rubbing his hands up and down her arms in comfort. Everything felt better now she was in his arms.

“I was warming the plates in the oven, and when I looked up, something caught my eye. It looked like a man in dark clothes. I didn’t get a good look.” Hattie shook her head, doubting herself now and wondering if she had imagined it all.

“Stay here. I want to take a look around outside.”

Hattie nodded and watched Clay draw his weapon before slipping outside through the garage. “Lock this behind me and keep the dog close.”

Hattie went to the window in the nook of the kitchen and watched Clay for a second before losing sight of him. She began to pace as she waited and waited, her palms covered in sweat. She was about to call Cruz when Clay tapped on the door.

“It’s me, gorgeous.”

Hattie let him in and stepped back, almost blanching when she saw him holding a Jason mask from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the tips of his fingers. A note was with it, but she couldn’t read it.

“I’m guessing by the look of terror on your face this means something to you.”

Hattie dragged her eyes away from the mask and up to Clay’s worried face. “A man wearing a mask like that was watching me in the hospital cafeteria today. I was going to tell you because it freaked me out.”

“Get me a clear sandwich bag for this note, please, gorgeous.”

Hattie rushed to do as he asked, and Clay placed the mask in the middle of the table before dropping the note inside.

Once it was secure, she could read it. In red paint were the words, You all need to die.

“I need to call this in and get a team over here.” Clay pulled her close, kissing the top of her head, and pulling out his phone as she snuggled in closer feeling cold to her bones. “Sandstorm, I need you guys to come over to my girlfriend’s place. She just had a note left on her back doorstep, and I think it’s our killer.”

Hattie shivered at his words and Clay hung up and walked her back to the sofa in the living room, sitting and pulling her down onto his lap.

Drawing her legs up, she huddled into him, feeling safe now he was here, knowing he’d protect her with his life, and she’d do the same but hoping they never had to.

“Do you really think it’s the First Responder Killer?”

His arms flexed around her before he stroked her hair again, not sure if he was calming her or himself and not caring. “Yes, I think it could be. You’re an ER nurse.”

“But I wasn’t on shift the night those kids came in.”

“I know, but the cop wasn’t either, his partner was. Can you remember why you were off that night or was it just a shift pattern?”