Page 49 of Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbi 3)

I stopped when I reached the landing and peered into our bedroom. It was too dark to see anything. But if I switched on the lights, he'd know for sure I was up here. I didn't want to alert him of my presence if he was still in the nursery. The element of surprise was necessary if I was going to overpower him.

I tiptoed down the hall, past the hall bath and the guest room. When I reached the empty room I held my breath. Now what? My eyes weren't adjusted to the dark yet. I was surprised I'd made it down the hall without tripping and making a ton of noise. Just thinking about it made my stomach flip over. Going through the darkness with a knife was just as bad as running with scissors. I was lucky to be alive.

Focus. I needed to think of a plan before he came barreling out of the room and threw me down the stairs. I blinked, waiting for my eyes to adjust. But then I realized something… Noah had been up here for a while. He'd probably be blinded by a sudden burst of light and I wouldn't. Trying not to overthink my strategy, I reached my hand inside and flicked on the lights.

No one grabbed my hand to stop me. And no one screamed at the sudden invasion of light. It was eerily quiet upstairs. Too quiet. I peered around the doorjamb. The room was empty. Just polished wooden floors and green walls. I swallowed hard. Had the creaking noise really just been the house settling?

It was possible Noah had left out the front door after I'd run off into the woods. That door was unlocked just like I'd left it. And I'd been gone a while because I'd walked back slowly. I’d thought the game was done. I’d thought I'd failed. But what if I'd given him just enough time to get away?

Snuggle Muffins started barking and I jumped. I walked out of the room, trying not to think about the fact that Noah might be lurking in another room.

"Shh," I called down the stairs.

He started barking louder and I swear he was staring a little to the left. I followed his gaze to our bedroom. Had Snuggle Muffins just seen Noah sneak in there? Was he warning me?

Snuggle Muffins started barking louder as I switched on the bedroom lights. Everything looked in order except for the fact that Noah’s dirty shirt was lying in the middle of the floor. Jesus.

"Noah?"

No response.

He was messing with my head. It was possible the shirt had been there for a while. But it was equally possible that he'd just put it there. It hadn't been in the basement where he'd originally tossed it. He'd been creeping around my house with it for a while now.

The knife started shaking in my hand as I took a step into the room. "Noah, you can come out," I whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk. I swear I won't tie you up again." But I was much more worried about the fact that he was going to tie me up and torture me. "Noah, please." I peered behind the door.

Nothing.

I stared at the bed. I lived a clutter-free life. I hadn't been lying to Detective Torres when I told him that, even if I had been lying about the files. My clutter-free life meant that there were no storage containers under my bed. Not even a pair of shoes. Which meant someone could definitely hide under there. The only problem was that there was a bed skirt blocking my view. Instead of inching closer, I took a step back toward the door. There was no fucking way I was about to get down on my hands and knees and look underneath the bed. That was just asking to get stabbed in the face. Besides, I had a perfectly good dog that was probably more than willing to look under the bed for me.

I was done tiptoeing and sneaking around. This was my house. I needed to defend it properly. The thought made me feel like I was back in the plot of Home Alone. I dismissed the thought as I ran down the stairs and grabbed Snuggle Muffins. He immediately stopped barking when I picked him up. Maybe my presence settled him. Or maybe he settled me. Either way, neither of us was shaking when we went back upstairs. I set him down on the bedroom carpet.

"Go," I said and pointed to the bed.

He sat down by my feet.

"Snuggle Muffins, go look under the bed."

He lay down.

"Now." I pointed again.

He rolled over on his back.

Fuck. It looked like he was trying to get me to pet his furry little stomach. I don't have time for your nonsense. But Noah didn't know that Snuggle Muffins wasn't behaving. And he might be a monster, but even a monster wouldn't stab a puppy. "Good boy," I said, pretending that Snuggle Muffins was actually a good dog, as I got down on my hands and knees and made my way over to the bed. I can't believe I'm pretending to be a dog right now. I started panting loudly, adding to the charade. The little boost of confidence I'd gotten with Snuggle Muffins in my arms disappeared.

Please don't stab me. Please think I'm the dog. When I got to the edge of the bed, I threw up the bed skirt without hesitating. Because a dog wouldn't have hesitated. I think. I still didn't know anything about dogs. But it didn't matter because there was nothing under the bed. Not Noah. Not even a single dust bunny because I was a stupidly good housewife. Damn it.

I smoothed the bed

skirt back in place and accidentally sliced the fabric with the knife. I looked down at the knife in my hand. Oops. Normally I would have freaked out and tried to mend it right away. I had a needle threaded just for occasions like this. Well, not exactly like this. I rarely knifed my belongings.

But I didn't need to fix it. I was leaving soon anyway. And someone who was skipping town didn't care about the possessions they were leaving behind. I slid the knife down the length of the comforter. The fabric slit beautifully, stuffing pouring out. There was something oddly satisfying about it. Was that how it would feel to slice Noah open? I stabbed Noah's pillow all the way through and the knife only stopped because it hit a spring in the mattress. Would that be what Noah's bones felt like? A little resistance? I twisted the knife.

Snuggle Muffins whimpered.

I stared at the knife in the pillow. What the hell was I doing? I turned back to my dog, ignoring the fact that I'd just been fantasizing about cutting flesh. "I was practicing. Don't look at me like that." I yanked the knife out of the pillow.

He cocked his head to the side, judging me.

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