Page 79 of Deathtoll
Mike sat behind the wheel in his cruiser by the curb, wide awake, not on his phone, alert and looking around, to his credit. He rolled his window down when he saw Murph walking up. “Nothing out of the ordinary so far.”
“No movement around Betty’s house?”
“Nothing. I’ve been watching the place like it’s the last doughnut in the break room. A dog was barking in one of the backyards a little while ago. I got out and walked around, but didn’t see anyone.” A glint sparked in his eyes. “Hey, do you know why the snowman named his dog Frost?”
“Why?”
“Because it bites.”
Murph covered his face with a hand as he shook his head. “You should ask Harper to host an open-mic night over at Finnegan’s.”
Mike shrugged. “He doesn’t appreciate my jokes. Lost all sense of humor now that he’s in loooooove.”
“What? He had a sense of humor before that?”
The two of them shared a laugh before Murph said, “Thanks for keeping watch. I’ll look around too. Just in case.”
He headed over to Betty’s place, passing the OPEN HOUSE sign on the front lawn—noon to 3:00 p.m. the next day. Things were moving fast.
He checked the front door. Locked. Windows. Locked. Back door. Locked.
No scratches on the wood anywhere, no sign of any locks being jimmied, no forced entry. Every piece of glass he came across, he looked through. Enough moonlight filtered inside so that he could see shadows—furniture that hadn’t been removed yet. Nothing moved. None of the shadows were man shaped.
The house felt deserted. Had Murph thought otherwise, he might have bent the law and pushed his way in there.
He walked back to his truck with a wave to Mike. Then he drove around to the next street over to talk to Chase.
* * *
Kate
Kate couldn’t sleep. She stared at the ceiling and cried, then swore alternately.
Oh God, Emma. I love you. Be safe, please.
Asael coming back was her worst nightmare. That and someone she loved getting hurt. And not a damn thing she could do about it.
This was exactly what she’d been trying to avoid, why she’d spent years on the run.
She tossed and turned.
She almost,almost, called Murph. But if Asael was here and he was after people Kate cared about, then she’d do best to stay as far away from Murph as possible. She didn’t want to paint a target on his back.
If anything happened to him…She couldn’t bear finishing the thought.
Was she being stupid holding him off?
Maybe she was being stupid.
They needed to talk. She just needed to share her fears and doubts with him.
After Emma was found.
Kate couldn’t think past that right now. Right now, finding her sister was everything. The only thing.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Murph
