Page 53

Adrenaline pumped through his veins. “Follow me,” he said tersely to her. He rushed into his bedroom, where he quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. He stepped into his shoes and then headed for the front door.

“Stay here and lock the door after me,” he said.

“No, Seth. Don’t go out there,” Suzanna exclaimed. Lady had begun barking and Sammy came out of his bedroom, obviously frightened by the commotion.

“Take care of Sammy and maybe I can catch the bastard,” he replied and then ran out of the house.

The cold night air nearly stole his breath away, but the fire of determination quickly warmed him. There was an intruder on his property. More than that, the ski mask let him know with a fair amount of certainty that it was the person who was after Suzanna. There was nothing Seth wanted more than to catch the attacker.

It took his eyes only a few moments to adjust to the darkness. Thankfully the clouds that had plagued the skies all day long had left, and faint moonlight drifted down.

He moved stealthily, his gun leading the way. All his muscles tensed as adrenaline shot through his veins. He went around the first corner of the house, and his gaze scanned the area. He saw nobody. His heart beat wildly as he moved through the wet grass as quietly as possible.

Turning the next corner would put him in the back of the house where the bedroom windows were. He whirled around that corner, and his gaze shot to Suzanna’s window. There was nobody there. He drew closer and saw where the wet grass was downtrodden in front of the window. His stomach muscles tightened. Somebody had definitely been there.

He turned around and stared out over the landscape, looking for the trespasser who didn’t belong on his property, a trespasser who he was certain had deadly intentions.

A flash of movement at the edge of his lawn drew his attention. Somebody all in black was running toward the wooded area behind his house.

He took off running in that direction. Desire to catch the perp surged up inside him. He was positive this was the person who had forced Suzanna’s car off the road…the same person who had attempted to stab her to death.

He’d only gone a few yards when he realized he’d lost the perp. He stood still and slowly searched the area. He had no idea if the person was now hiding behind one of the big trees or if he had run completely off the property to the road beyond where a car might have been waiting for him.

Seth remained there for several long minutes, listening and watching for any indication that the perp remained somewhere nearby. Seeing and sensing nothing, he finally turned and headed back to the front door.

Dammit, but he wished he would have been able to catch whoever it was. A capture would have brought the answers that Suzanna so desperately needed and would have stopped any more danger coming toward her.

Instead, he returned to the house with an edge of defeat hanging heavy around his neck. When he reached the front door, he knocked. “Suzanna, it’s me. You can open the door.”

The door flew open, and as he stepped inside, she instantly filled his arms. “Thank God, you’re okay.” She buried her face in the hollow of his throat. “I was so afraid for you.”

He welcomed her warmth after being outside in the cold, but it was more than her warming his body. She warmed his heart, his very soul. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had worried about him. He didn’t want to examine the emotions that momentarily swept through him.

She finally stepped back from him, her beautiful eyes dark and troubled as she gazed up at him. “Did you find anything?”

He relocked the door and then motioned her to the living room, where he sat next to her on the sofa. He put his gun on the end table and then turned back to look at her. “First of all, is Sammy okay?”

She nodded. “I got him settled back into bed and he’s sleeping now.”

“I saw in the grass where somebody had been standing at your window,” he began. “And when I turned around, I saw somebody running away. I chased the person, but I lost him in the darkness.”

He clenched his hands into fists of frustration. “Dammit, if I could have just caught him, then you would have gotten some answers and the danger to you would have been over.”

She placed a hand on one of his. “You could have been killed,” she said somberly.

His hands relaxed beneath hers. “May I remind you that I was the one with the gun.”

“But that creep could have crept up behind you and stabbed you to death,” she countered. She shivered and he knew she was remembering her near-death encounter with the knife-wielding culprit. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I’d much rather have you here alive and well than have any answers I might need.”

Once again, his heart swelled up with an emotion he didn’t want to acknowledge. “We should call Dallas.”

She frowned. “There’s really nothing he can do about it right now. I doubt if the person will come back since you chased after him.” Her frown deepened. “I just wonder what he was doing peeking in the windows. God, whoever it was, he saw me naked.”

“And that really ticks me off. Maybe he was casing the joint to see what’s the easiest way to get to you or looking for where you were staying in the house.”

She shivered once again and pulled her hand away from his. “I don’t like the fact that now I’ve brought this danger to your doorstep. The last thing I want is for you or Sammy to get hurt.”

“That’s not going to happen,” he replied firmly. “And we still need to call Dallas. He needs to know everything that happens with you.”