Page 34 of Down and Dirty

I pulled it open, expecting to find Keaton or Jimbo on my stoop, but nope. Elenore Bell from across the street was staring at me.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” she said, holding out a covered dish. “I saw the ambulance earlier. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“Thanks,” I said, inviting her in. I stared out the door and looked both ways as if looking to see if I was being pranked before I shut the door.

“I got a concussion the other day, and I had another mishap today. I fainted again.”

“The concussion was from the landfill, right?” Elenore asked as she walked farther into the house, peeking into my living room. She turned and gestured to the dish she’d shoved in my hands. “That’s a cheesecake with caramel drizzles. You like those, right?”

I’d just thrown an empty container away. How had she known that unless she was snooping through my trash? “Sure, I do. Would you like a piece?”

“Oh, no. I never touch the stuff.”

I walked into the kitchen and put the plate on the counter. One more knife was added to the countertop, making me pause. “How about some coffee then?”

“Oh no, I can’t impose,” she answered as her gaze touched everything in the kitchen.

She was starting to freak me out a bit. “Is there something wrong, Elenore?”

She sighed. “When you were gone, I thought I saw someone in your house.”

My brows rose. “Did you notice any cars in the driveway?”

“None but yours. It’s kind of my thing. I notice every small detail of everything. I can’t help it. My brother calls me Sherlock.”

I should have asked what she was doing staring at my house, but I bit my tongue at that question and asked another, “What exactly did you see?”

“A shadow in your living room and then a shadow in whatever room that is upstairs that faces the street. I’m not sure you should go up there alone.”

Well, I wasn’t going to go check with my creepy neighbor. I wasn’t that girl from a horror flick.

“How long ago did you see the shadow?” I asked.

“An hour ago,” she answered.

“You should have skipped the small talk and probably led with that,” I said, ushering her out onto my porch and onto my lawn. I stared up at the second-story window as if expecting someone to go waltzing by, but nothing happened. “I’m going to go check it out. If I’m not back in five minutes, call the police.”

Turns out I was that stupid coed from a horror flick.

Elenore nodded furiously and pulled a phone out of her pocket.

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