Sunglasses at Night (Claws Clause 3)

When he scowled, she couldn’t hold back her laugh even as she apologized. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be teasing. I just feel bad that we came all this way for a dead end. I can’t even call Holly to reschedule tonight because it takes like three different contacts and a line through reception at Coventry before she’ll even accept a message being passed onto her. Who knows when she’ll agree again.” She lost some of her humor as guilt replaced it. “Damn it. This is my fault.”

Adam let out a soft sigh, erasing the scowl from his handsome face. “No, it’s not. You said I should wait for your contact. I’m the dumbass who ran into the woods… ah, forget it. We can try again another time.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Maybe we should start heading back to Grayson.” At her grimace, he paused. “What? What’s wrong?”

“It’s after four.” She glanced at her own phone, peeking at the time. Oof. How did it get so late? “It’s almost four-thirty, to be exact.”

“Yeah.” He cocked his head curiously, as if he had no idea where she was going with this. “So?”

“Grayson is like two h

ours away, right? And, um, I’m not so sure we’re gonna be able to get back before the sun rises.”

It took him a second to understand what she was getting at. When he did—

“Fuck.”

“I knew the meet would be cutting it close, but I had hoped we’d be in and out. But that’s alright. We’re not completely screwed.” Looking him up and down, an impish smile coming to her face, she said, “I know you said there was some lines you weren’t going to cross.”

“Yeah…”

“How do you feel about a little B & E?”

Adam closed his eyes behind his sunglasses. She could tell by the way his whole face went slack as he raised his hand, using a knuckle to rub at his temple. “Oh, no.”

On a laugh, Tabby said, “Oh, yes.”

And that’s how she convinced a former Grayson police officer to break into an empty house about a twenty minute’s walk away from where they abandoned his car.

Hours later, Adam was jerked awake by a howl so loud, so shrill, the piercing sound had him gritting his teeth.

It felt like he’d just fallen asleep, since the two of them had stayed up well past sunrise to plot their next move and, well, just get to know each other better, and he knew instinctively that it was too early to get up again.

Just like he knew instinctively that something wasn’t right.

Tabby was tucked into his side, her head resting against his chest. At least, it had been. As Adam bolted up, his back slamming into the wall of the basement where they’d taken shelter, Tabby jostled in his arms before shoving one away and pulling herself into a crouch.

Her dark eyes were bright. Clear. She was already awake and, now that he was trying to figure out what had ripped him from his content dozing, she lifted her finger to her mouth and whispered, “Shh.”

At least, he thought she did. Between the thumping of his heart and the echo in his pained ears, he couldn’t make out much of anything. Until what sounded like thunder or a crash, a drumming cacophony that had the hairs on his arm standing on end.

With a slight wince, he demanded, “What the fuck is that?”

Tabby rose up from her crouch, bouncing on the soles of her sneakers like they were springs. “Come on. Let’s go find out.”

The gentleman in Adam wanted to insist on going up the stairs first. The cop that would never die itched to shove her behind him so that he could shield her. But the Nightwalker who was still trying to swallow past the renewed ache in his sensitive ears, he took a second to get to his feet. By the time he braced one hand against the cinderblock wall, shaking off the piercing howl, she was already reaching the top step.

He gritted his teeth, prepared in case the sound came again, and bounded up the stairs.

The lights were out. Seemed like nobody had returned home while they were sleeping.

Phew.

It had been a huge gamble, choosing to hide out in this house because it was empty at five o’clock in the morning when they chanced upon it. It had no wards protecting it, no cars in the driveway, and he hoped Tabby wasn’t just guessing when she bet that the homeowners were away on an early summer vacation.

No one knew they were inside.

That was a good thing.

The stricken look that passed across Tabby’s face when he was about to cross the top stair behind her?