Page 107 of Eldritch

They raided a utility closet on the second floor for blankets and pillows. In his duffle, he'd brought a utility kit with his toothbrush and toothpaste. Once back in the office, he threw together a makeshift bed on a couch almost big enough to accommodate his tall frame.

She noted his duffle sitting near the couch, and realization came to her. “You have a gun in there, don't you?”

He settled on the chair next to the desk. “Yeah. But reluctantly.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “Why?”

“Surprised?”

“Yes.” She felt a little sheepish. She shrugged. “I guess I shouldn’t make assumptions because you were in the military and law enforcement.”

He shrugged. “People shouldn’t make assumptions, but humans do it all the time, including me.”

Urged by the fact he didn’t seem offended by her reaction, she asked, “Why are you reluctant to have a weapon?”

He looked at the floor a moment before meeting her gaze. “Using weapons for years and seeing real time what they can do to people. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of how there are so many people raining havoc down on our world because of them. When you told me about Taggert and what he did to you, I asked Clinton if I could borrow a weapon.” He smirked. “He already knows that I hate guns. But because he understands what Taggert did to you, he loaned me a pistol.”

Another thing occurred to her, and she almost didn’t speak of it. She didn’t want to assume anything else she shouldn’t. A hard lump grew in her throat, and her eyes watered a little. She forced back the tears.

“You didn’t have to do that. I mean, for us,” she said.

His gaze turned serious. “I did. I couldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to you all. To you.”

They stared at each other for a moment, and a powerful wave of temptation hit her.

Before she could say anything that would incriminate her and give away her feelings, he said, “You hate guns, too?”

“My father did horrible things to those women and sometimes he used firearms.” She dared look into his eyes and saw pure understanding there. “But I hate to admit, I’m glad you have one right now.”

She settled on the chair nearby.

“When I saw Taggert's car,” he said, “It scared the shit out of me. I thought maybe he'd gotten in here somehow.”

“If he'd invaded the house somehow, you could've been in danger coming here.”

He shrugged. “I called 911 but it didn’t go through. Not a damned busy signal. Not a ring. It’s like this place…this house and forest play games with us.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Do you believe that?”

“Maybe. I can’t prove it.”

She couldn’t deny the warmth and appreciation building inside her. “Thank you for coming.”

A gentle smile touched his mouth. He started to speak when she saw a shadow pass over one window that faced east. She started and gasped.

He whirled around to look. “What is it?”

She stood and went to the window. “A shadow went by. I should've pulled these curtains earlier.”

He stood next to her, and they scanned the area outside.

“I don’t see anything,” he said.

As he hurried to the desk, she pulled the curtains together and did the same with the other window before returning to the desk. She pulled her chair closer to his as they examined the laptop that showed numerous views on the outside of the house. She practically held her breath as they checked each camera.

“I don't see anything,” she said softly.

She sat back with a sigh. “Maybe I imagined it. Maybe all the weird things that have happened in this house are my imagination.”

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