Page 165 of Somebody's Watching Me
Evie straightened to glare at her husband. “You’re such an ass, Samuel.”
He sobered, but only slightly, and pressed his forehead to Evie’s. “After all these years, you still get it wrong,” he said, grinning directly in his wife’s face. “It’s not, you’re such an ass, Samuel. It’s, you have a nice ass, Samuel.” He nuzzled her nose with his. “Keep practicing. You’ll get it right one day.”
Taking the moment as her sign to leave, Jamison went for the door before she heard anything that might scar her for life. “And I’m out.”
Liam was waiting at the foot of the stairs. “Everything okay?”
Through the rear glass wall, Simone sat on one of the lounge chairs as the girls played in the heated pool. Holden sat with her, his eyes on the beach.
“Yeah, they’re fine.” She nodded at Holden rising to get a better look at a random couple walking along the beach. It was the off-season, and not many tourists were out and about. “Does he not realize he was stabbed yesterday?”
“Holden does best when he’s busy.”
Jamison didn’t like the girls out there with only Simone and an injured Holden to watch over them. “But what if Zanmi tries to come in from the beach like they did during Toby’s last appeal?”
Liam led her to the two-story glass wall. “Holden is armed, but do you see the new fencing installed down on the beach?”
The fence sat around ten feet from the edge of the patio expansion. “People can climb fences.”
“Not if they’re electric.”
Now, she really was upset. “Electric fences and kids don’t mix.”
“The girls know they’re electrified and don’t go near them, but as a backup, we have a secondary fence a few feet from the electrical one that will sound an alarm if they get anywhere near it.”
This was all too much. Too terrifyingly much. “And when do we start your plan?”
“In a minute or so.”
Samuel appeared on the landing, holding Evie in his arms as he carried her down the floating staircase. Neither of them spoke when he set her to stand on the ground floor, the two of them walking past as if she and Liam weren’t even there.
Jamison went to follow her siblings, but Liam grabbed her hand, keeping her with him when Samuel and Evie stepped outside. “Thank you for wearing the dress like I asked.”
“But why this dress?”
“Because it’s my favorite, and I know he’ll like it,” he whispered. “Three. Two.”
“Who? And why are you counting?”
“One.”
The lights went out, leaving only the late afternoon sun. The girls continued to play in the pool, happily unaware. No one else acknowledged the power outage either. Samuel sat with Evie on the round patio sofa directly off the pool while Simone stayed put in her lounger, chatting away with them.
Holden was the only one showing signs that he knew what was happening. Having moved to the sandy beach level, he stood ready and prepared if someone should approach.
“You wore the dress but not the shoes,” Liam said, the casual warmth that had been in his voice gone. He had wanted her to wear tennis shoes like Simone, but they hadn’t gone with the outfit. “One of these days, you’ll learn to listen.”
The shift in his tone and the grim look on his face had her defenses going up. “Don’t hold your breath.” The lights kicked on again, the generator working to save the day. “So, what is this all about?”
“Getting answers.” With her hand firmly in his, he pulled her along with him to the front of the house. “Let’s go for a walk.”
Chapter 35
“I’m beginning to think you’ve lost your mind.”
Liam didn’t reply, dragging her down the road to the edge of the Firewater development. The toe of her sandal snagged a rock, and she stumbled.
“Damn it, slow down.”
