Page 20 of Secret Silver Nights

“Don’t worry, miss lady. I’m not going to harm you.” He took off his glasses. “Now, the fool standing behind you, on the other hand…”

Confused, Monique looked from the stranger to Niko. He too was smiling. In her calmed state she noted that it was a black running outfit that the man wore, not an outfit meant to keep him from being seen while committing mayhem. Looking back once more, she took in Niko’s knee-length running shorts, Nike sneakers and coordinated black T-shirt. Realization dawned. She felt like a dodo. “You know him,” she said. Posing the words in a question was unnecessary.

“You might say that. Monique, this is my brother Ike Jr. Ike, this is Monique—excuse me, Mo Slater. She too is running for mayor of Paradise Cove.”

Ike Jr. held out his hand. “Running against my brother in his hometown stomping grounds?” Monique stepped away from Niko and shook Ike’s hand. “You’ve got cojones, woman. I’m impressed.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ike. I don’t normally scare easily but…”

Niko walked over to where his brother was standing so he could face her. “But what?”

Looking at the two of them next to each other, she was even more embarrassed. Not twins exactly, but they definitely shared the same bloodline. She decided that being honest beat any lie she could tell as she answered his question. “Would you believe…scary movies?”

Niko and Ike looked at each other. “Our mother,” they said at once.

“Excuse me?”

Ike responded, “Our mother won’t watch anything remotely frightening, and that includes knife-wielding characters in a Saturday-morning cartoon. I once saw her turn away from the Lifetime channel, and this was a movie that was on during daylight!”

“I don’t usually watch them, either. But I was visiting someone who loves the ID channel.” Ike’s stare was blank. Niko shrugged. “Investigation Discovery. It’s a channel with shows dedicated to real-life whodunits, murder mysteries and such, with most of the victims I watched today being female and one meeting her demise in surroundings similar to where we now stand. Not exactly the show to watch before deciding on a walk in the woods.”

“At the salon, you said you lived in a condo.”

“I do.”

“The Seventh Heaven complex.”

“That’s correct.”

“Then how did you get in here?” At Monique’s cocked brow, Niko held up a hand in defense. “Wait, that may not have come out as I intended. It’s just that after an incident here several years ago, the guards really cracked down on who they let beyond the gates, and there is also a patrol that walks the perimeters periodically.”

“My godmother lives in Golden Gates.”

“Who’s your godmother?” Niko asked. Monique told him. “Really? Good old Mrs. Gentry. It’s a small world.”

Monique chose not to satisfy his obvious curiosity by offering more information. Now that she was calm again, being near him was starting to affect her, and not in a way she liked.

“Listen, guys, I—”

“Nice to meet you, Monique—”

Both she and Ike talked at once. He motioned for her to continue.

“I’ll leave you two to your jog and be on my way.”

“Oh, no,” Ike said. “I was just getting ready to head back to the house. Figured you and Niko could finish the walk together.”

“No, really, I—”

“Great idea.” Niko reached for her hand. Electricity shot up through it. Monique swore it was a charge with enough voltage to light up Atlantis. The insane way she reacted to him simply had to stop.

She tried to pull away, but he resisted. “See you later, bro. And don’t eat all of the strawberry shortcake!”

“No promises!” Ike threw over his shoulder as he began a soft jog away from them.

Both Niko and Monique watched until he rounded a curve. And then it was just the two of them. Alone. In the near darkness. Monique began to shiver and, though there was a slight chill in the air, the weather had nothing to do with it. This time when she pulled her hand away Niko let it go.

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