Page 61 of Forbidden Whispers

Boon gave a soft grunt at the sudden sound. “Sorry, boy,” Noah said, reaching to give the dog a pat on the head.

“Really, Noah, this is totally inappropriate,” Maggie said, wriggling off his lap and back into her own seat. “I’m your professional matchmaker. I’m not supposed to be...to be...”

“Making out with me?” he said helpfully, his tone tinged with amusement.

“Seriously, Noah, this is just not—” Suddenly, a light danced in her peripheral vision, distracting her from finishing her thought. She squinted out into the darkness. “What was that?”

Noah looked in the direction she was pointing and sucked in his breath.

In the window of Valentina’s condo, they could both see the beam of a flashlight moving around inside it.

“What should we do?” Maggie whispered.

“Call the police,” Noah said, pulling out his cell phone.

“Wait!” Maggie reached out to lightly touch his arm. “Look!”

Noah glanced up. The light had disappeared, and a second later, they saw a figure dressed in black leap out of what would have been Valentina’s bedroom window. Only then did Maggie notice the white-framed piece of window glass leaning up against the side of the condo. The black-shrouded figure lifted the window and popped it back into place, then walked quickly from the building toward the parking lot.

“Duck!” Noah said. And they both scooted down low in their seats, peeking over the dashboard as the figure passed beneath the lone parking lot light.

“It’s him!” Maggie breathed.

It was the angry-looking man from the photographs. The one who had been following Valentina throughout the date on Friday night. The night she disappeared.

Chapter 17

“Shhh, down, boy!” Noah whispered as the dog again poked his head between the seats, a low rumble issuing from his throat.

The man walked directly to a compact-size car and climbed inside. He started the engine and rolled slowly out of the lot.

A moment later, Noah started his engine.

“What are you doing?” Maggie gasped.

“We’re going to follow him,” Noah said, slowly easing out of his own parking space, but he kept his headlights off.

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