sank onto the sofa and concentrated on breathing slowly, in and out. Slowly, slowly. Her skin prickled with tension. A heat wave rose from her belly to her breasts to her throat to the top of her head. God, she was burning up. Sweating.
She’d felt this way before. Always at night. Always at the same time.
When she’d told Neil, he said her symptoms sounded like she was having a panic attack. He wanted her to see a psychiatrist, but she refused. She’d gone to a shrink after Tom’s death and hated the process of talking and talking and never finding answers. As a mom and the half owner of a breakfast restaurant, she didn’t have time to wallow in the past. Instead, she’d taken the mild sedative Neil prescribed for her. The pills usually worked. But not tonight.
Gradually, her pulse returned to normal. Leaning back against the sofa, she wiped the sheen of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. I’m fine. I’ve got to be fine. There were dozens of details she needed to handle before the wedding. Though it started as an intimate ceremony, the guest list had somehow expanded to nearly 150.
She’d be glad to have Shane here to help take care of Benjy. Shane and her husband had grown up together in a small town in Clear Creek County. Shane still lived in Silver Plume, where he was a deputy sheriff. Of all Tom’s friends, Shane had been the most understanding. His was the shoulder she cried on.
And she had a secret agenda for Shane while he was in town. Eyes still closed, Angela smiled to herself. She planned to fix him up with the French woman who provided pastries for her restaurant. They were both tall with black hair and blue eyes. Obviously, made for each other.
Happy thoughts of matchmaking filled her mind, and she breathed more easily. Everything’s going to be just fine. She dozed for a moment before a loud clap of thunder roused her. No sleeping allowed. She’d promised Shane that she’d be awake when he arrived.
Her legs were steady when she rose from the sofa, and she was pleased that her bout of nerves had passed. In the entry to the kitchen, her hand paused above the light switch. She saw a reflection in the window above the sink. A light? But that didn’t make sense. That window faced the backyard. She squinted hard and focused on the dark beyond the glass panes.
She saw two lights, side by side. As she watched, they grew larger. Like the headlights on a truck. A ghostly truck. The lights bore down on her. Closer and closer. Coming right at her. They were going to crash through the window.
Reflexively, she threw up her hands.
When she looked again, the lights were gone.
A hallucination? No, it was too real. She knew what she’d seen. Without turning on the overhead light, she crept across the tile floor, leaned over the kitchen sink and peered into the yard. A flash of lightning illuminated the shrubs, the flowers and the peach tree. No headlights. No truck.
It must have been some kind of optical illusion—a trick of the light and rain.
She filled a plastic cup with water from the sink and took a sip.
A loud crash came from the hallway.
The cup fell from her hands and splashed water on the kitchen floor. The noise came from the direction of Benjy’s bedroom. She remembered his open window with the loose screen. Someone could have climbed inside through that window.
She grabbed a butcher knife from the drawer by the sink, dashed down the hallway and flung open the door to her son’s room. With no thought for her own safety, she charged inside. He wasn’t in the bed. Frantic, she turned on the light. He was gone. Oh, God, no.
“Benjy?” Her voice quavered. “Where are you?”
Her heart thumped hard and heavy. She ran to his window. It was closed, exactly the way she’d left it.
The door to his closet was slightly ajar. Holding the knife in her right hand, she grasped the door handle with the left and pulled the door open.
With a huge grin, Benjy greeted her. “Mommy.”
She placed the knife on his dresser and gathered him into her arms. She held him tightly against her breast— relieved that he was all right and terrified of the unknown danger that might still be in her house. Something had made that crash. She couldn’t let down her guard, couldn’t pretend that nothing had happened. “Why were you in the closet?”
“I don’t know.”
He didn’t seem frightened. Wide awake and alert, but not scared. “Were you hiding?”
“I couldn’t find my stegosaurus. I want him to sleep with me.”
“Benjy, this is important. Was anyone in your room?”
“Mommy, what’s wrong?”
She struggled to keep the tremor from her voice. “Everything’s fine. We’re going to be fine.”
The doorbell rang. It had to be Shane. Please let it be Shane.
Benjy wriggled free from her grasp. She tried to grab him, but he dashed from his room and down the hall. Directly into danger? What if it wasn’t Shane at the door?
She grabbed the knife and ran to the door behind her son. Loudly, she shouted, “Who’s there?”
“It’s Shane. I’m getting wet out here.”
“Shane’s here!” Benjy cried delightedly.
She flipped the lock and opened the door for the big, tall mountain man in his cowboy hat. She’d never been so glad to see anyone in her entire life.
Chapter Two
After years as a deputy sheriff, Shane was accustomed to dealing with crises. He read terror in Angela’s eyes. Something had thrown her into a panic, and she wasn’t a woman who scared easily.
He ruffled Benjy’s hair and pulled Angela into a one-armed hug. “What’s the problem?”
Trembling, she whispered, “I think someone broke into the house.”
“Did you see him?”
“No.”
“Do you think he’s still here?”
Her voice cracked at the edge of a sob. “I don’t know.”
With a small child in the mix, this wasn’t the time for a showdown with an intruder. He separated from Angela. Was that a knife in her hand? What the hell was she thinking? He scooped her son off the floor and said, “Let’s go for a drive.”
“You’re wet,” Benjy said.
“Rain will do that.” He dug his cell from his jacket pocket and handed it to Angela. “Make the call to 911.”
She stared at the phone as though it might grow fangs and bite her. “I don’t want to contact the C-O-P-S. I might be imagining things. Could you just take a look around?”
He’d
