Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3)(78)

“Nah, if we hear him leave out the back, you go left and I’ll go right.”

She looked at the peephole in the middle of the door. “If it’s the same guy, he might not answer to you. Why don’t you stand over there and let me do the talking. If I get him to admit his name is Douglas Stone, then we know it’s not our guy, right?”

“Yeah.” Chase moved to a window a few feet from the door and peered in. Then he glanced back at her. “I can see the entryway from here. If he really has a shotgun, I’ll say move. You do it.”

“You think I should?” she asked with sarcasm and then motioned for him to move back a little. “Don’t let him see you.”

Della banged on the door. And listened.

When no one answered, she banged again.

“What the hell do you want?” someone yelled from inside.





Chapter Thirty-three

Chase stood at the very edge of the window, hoping he could see the homeowner, but the homeowner couldn’t see him.

“He’s coming,” Chase said in barely a whisper. “Not armed.” Chase tightened his eyes to catch the guy’s pattern on his forehead. “Human.” Chase was pretty sure it was the same guy he’d spoken with before.

“Go the hell away,” the man yelled out, but he kept coming.

“I just need a few minutes of your time,” Della said, and Chase noted she’d put a slightly flirty tone to her voice.

“Who are you?” The man put his eye to the peephole in the door.

“I’m a house flipper and wanted to ask you about a few of the empty houses on the street.” Damn, Della could come up with a story quickly.

“You can flip me anytime,” Chase heard the lowlife mutter and saw him run a hand through his hair and suck in a beer belly that appeared to have taken years to grow.

He opened the door. Chase eased closer, in case the lowlife put a finger on Della, but he kept against the wall where the guy couldn’t see him.

“Hi,” Della said as soon as the door creaked open. “My name’s Charlotte Nance.” She smiled and tilted her head to the side like a cute puppy. “I’m interested in some of the properties on the street and wondered if you could tell me who owns them.”

“You look kinda young to be in real estate,” he said.

“My curse. My mama says I’ll be happy about it in a few years.”

“Your mama is right, honey. Besides, I like ’em young.”

Chase saw a muscle in Della’s cheek start to twitch. Something told him that could mean trouble.

“Are any of these houses for sale?” she asked, still managing to keep her voice flirty.

“Well, uh, there were a couple of druggies living in that one, but I think they were renting it. Seemed to take off about two months ago. No one has even been around to mow the yard. The one next door has been condemned. It caught fire last year and no one’s even touched it.”

The dog barked, and Chase saw the man stick his head out, probably wondering why the animal wasn’t doing his job. “You might want to come inside. My dog eats pretty young things like you for lunch. I, on the other hand, don’t bite. Not too hard, anyway.”

Chase bit back the desire to show the guy how hard he could bite. Della hesitated for a second. The muscle in her cheek continued to twitch.

She put a smile on her face, but not a real one. “Are you the owner of this property? Mr. uh … I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Stone,” he said. “But call me Doug. All my lady friends do.”

Yeah, Chase bet the guy had a lot of those.

“Oh, well, that’s okay. If you don’t have the names…”

“I bet I have ’em in my address book.” He poked his head out again, but thankfully didn’t look Chase’s way. “You here all by your lonesome, sweetheart?”

Something about that question put Chase on instant alert. He almost stepped out, but Della cut him a glance and shook her head.

The man’s hand reached out, but Della moved faster. She bolted back and his grubby little hand missed her by an inch.

“Don’t play hard to get,” the man said. “I got a few beers and I could use some company.”

“Sorry. Gotta find a house to flip.” She started to walk off—none too quickly—and she sent Chase a look that said she had this.

The idiot reached for her. Della swung around and with one quick lift of her knee, brought the guy down on all fours.

No excess force had been Burnett’s rule. And it hadn’t been excess, just a direct hit. The guy rose up, but with his hands cupping his privates, his mouth wide open, he had yet to make a sound. No doubt, however, he was gonna be singing soprano when he found his voice.

“Sorry,” Della said, sneering down at the man. “I think I’m allergic to perverts. I get involuntary knee jerks whenever one is around.”

They walked back to the car, keeping to the far left, out of the dog’s reach. “Remind me,” Chase said smiling, “to never upset your allergies.”

*

“We got lucky,” Chase said twenty minutes later and followed behind a car into a gated apartment building complex. Della looked around. It wasn’t high rent, but it looked decent. He parked right against the building and hit a button that brought the top up and over.