Page 10 of Crash and Burn

“About what?” she wasn’t going to let him sidestep.

He admitted half of it. “When I left the other day, I saw footsteps around the side of your house. They followed the flower bed and they went into the back woods.” He pointed at the wall as if to indicate the yard outside. At the time it had seemed silly to think they were sinister. “I told myself they were yours. But last night I remembered that I've never seen you wear work boots.”

Chapter Ten

Maggie felt her blood start to rush again.

She didn’t need this—as if having a break-in tonight hadn't been enough. She wanted to yell at Sebastian, “Why didn't you tell me there were footsteps in my yard?”

But it would just be rude, because honestly, she wouldn't have said anything either. Sebastian had thought they were her prints. And why would he think anything else?

Taking a deep breath, she fought to calm her racing thoughts. Her first clear idea was that she should thank him. The connection between the footprints and that he hadn’t seen her in work boots was the only reason she knew the other sounds she’d been hearing were truly concerning and not just her wild imagination.

The second clear thought was that her nightshirt hit mid thighs … maybe.

She looked up to see he was staring at her oddly, as though he knew she was about to lose it.

Was he staying? Was he going? He didn't look like he was done talking. Lord help her if he had other bad news. Well, she wouldn’t face it in this ridiculous nightshirt and no bra.

“Do you mind if I go change?”

He shook his headno, but then followed her up the stairs. For a moment Maggie wondered if he was going to stand in the doorway while she got dressed.

But Sebastian Kane stood respectfully in the hallway with the door closed and waited without a peep. She knew this man well enough that thinking any different was about her and not him.

Her breath whooshed out of her lungs and she realized she finally felt safe knowing he was just beyond the door. Still, she didn’t want to linger. She couldn’t leave him standing in the hallway for the rest of the night. Maggie quickly pulled jeans out of her closet and a comfy t-shirt out of her dresser drawer—well, Aunt Abbie’s dresser drawer.

Though it was barely 3:30 in the morning, she was fully dressed for the day now. No hair, no makeup, but that's what a man got when he showed up on a woman's doorstep in the middle of the night.

Sebastian smiled at her when she emerged, though whether it was for reassurance or because he was just happy she hadn’t taken longer she didn't know.

He motioned down the hallway with one hand. “Should we go sit at the table and talk there?”

Maggie nodded and led the way down the steps. Even before they hit the dining room, she turned back and said, “We have to call the police.”

Though he readily agreed, something about the too-quick nod made her wonder. She didn’t have long to wait. He started talking as soon as she was seated.

“I don't think the footsteps in the garden are the worst of it.”

Holy crap, she thought. Bracing her hands on the table, Maggie leaned forward and tried to untangle what had happened tonight.

Despite the fact that he was here at the same time as the prowler, she realized she trusted Sebastian implicitly.

Reaching out, he took her hand in his, probably offering a gentle kind of comfort. Did he know he sent a bolt of awareness up her arm? She fought the sigh that wanted to go with it.

“I don't know how to say this Maggie … But I think Kalan might have been right.”

“What?”

Her jaw fell open despite the fact that Maggie knew exactly what he meant. She was just so surprised that her reactions were getting away from her. At the time, everyone at the station house had told her Kalan’s idea was nuts. Now, she was more concerned that Sebastian agreed with her.

Rex had brushed her off each time she asked if it was possible. She’d become convinced she was imagining things and definitely overthinking it. Maybe Rex had just been too busy to pay attention.

The last thing Maggie needed tonight was to confirm her own deep fears. Why would the box have been hidden unless it was a secret? So at the very least it was contraband of some kind.

“You really think it's a serial killer?” she blurted the words out, dreading the answer.

“I don't know about that,” Sebastian replied calmly, as though he knew he was the eye of her hurricane tonight. “But Kalan made a good point. Who would keep such a random assortment of jewelry like that?”

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