Sounds Like Deception (Sounds Like 2)

“You have a better idea?”

I pinched my lips together. “But there’s someone out there. In the woods.” I shivered. I was soaked. “How can we stay here? What if they come back?”

He planted his hand on my upper arm. “We’re safer inside than out here. At least we can get you in some dry clothes. You have a suit case, don’t you?”

I nodded. “It’s in the backseat of the car”

“Good. I’ll grab it and we’ll see what’s in the house for the night.”

“In there? We’re staying inside? But this place is falling apart. I doubt there is running water or electricity.”

“Got a better idea, babe?” He pressed his lips together, grabbed my keys, and jogged to our cars.

Chapter Five

It wasn’t the first time I had witnessed AJ break and enter. I wondered what the Bureau thought about his special skill set. Maybe it made him an asset when he was at the Academy.

I stood behind him with my suitcase and his overnight bag while he worked the rusted lock. I couldn’t believe we were doing this. He jiggled the handle in his fist until finally it gave way. He grinned. “Voila.”

He ushered me inside just as another explosive burst of thunder erupted over us.

“How bad is this storm supposed to get?” I asked. I had been irresponsible, driving headfirst into a tropical depression with no interest in the forecast.

“Maybe a category two? I’m not sure. I was hoping we’d be out of here before it hit, but I guess not.”

“But it’s fall,” I argued.

“We’re in the Gulf. Hurricanes hit here until November. It’s still hurricane season. How do you not know that? You’re from a coastal state.”

I wasn’t in the mood for a meteorology lesson or a lecture on how negligent I was. Our cars had been tampered with, and AJ thought there might be someone loose on the property. My heart rate hadn’t returned to normal. My palms felt sticky.

He closed the door behind us, locking the deadbolt at the top. It didn’t make me feel safer.

I looked at the row of windows along the living room wall. “Holy shit,” I whispered.

AJ drew his gun protectively. “Stay behind me.”

I realized now why I couldn’t see anything inside the house when I tried to peek in from the outside. The glass had been painted over with a thin coat of gray paint. The empty buckets had been left behind, along with a stiff paint brush. There was crusted paint on the bristles.

“Syd,” AJ warned when I spun on my heels. “Get behind me now.” He gritted his teeth.

The coldness fell into my stomach. My jaw slackened with shock. “Wh-what is that?” My finger rose as I pointed to the opposite wall.

AJ pressed his palm into my chest until I was wedged against the door. I knew he didn’t want me to move. I was already frozen with fear. He inched forward, but I stayed plastered in place. The terror prickled across my skin.

“AJ,” I whispered. I wanted to reach forward and pull him to me. I needed his closeness.

“Shh,” he hushed me.

The wind howled outside, but inside everything was quiet. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the sitting room next to us, panning with his gun in position at chest level. He walked heel to toe until he was in the kitchen. I didn’t move.

I didn’t know how long it took for him to inspect the other rooms. I only knew it felt as if time stood still when he was gone. The enormity of what we had survived this week washed over me. And now this?

Had it only been three days ago that we found each other and almost died together? Three days ago we were huddled in the bottom of an airplane, confessing our darkest thoughts about each other. About our relationship. About how losing each other shattered us both.

Here we were again, surrounded by danger and I couldn’t breathe. What if something happened to AJ?

He strolled into view, checking his gun in its holster. “All clear. There’s no one here.”