A Humble Heart (Hollywood Hearts #1)(77)

“Sounds good, just don’t mess up.”

Edward cocked an eyebrow at him. “I’m not going to mess up.”

*******

Dana slipped into the pool and sighed with relief. It was well after one in the morning and she was finally done with the fourth Christian and Bailey book. Edward called two hours ago to let her know the game was going into extra innings and that he'd be late. She told him not to worry about it.

Now was the time to relax. It had been a very long day. They ran errands all day. Tyler was really nice and got along with Cole. She took the kids out to the water park and had a great time. It was tiring though. Tyler was a godsend, he let her relax while he took the kids in the water.

When she came home Eleanor and Amy were waiting for her in the kitchen. Eleanor scooped up the kids and took them away, freeing her for the night. Amy made her dress up and they went out with friends. They hit several clubs. Poor Tyler was kept busy pushing away drunk horny guys from them all night.

She got home an hour ago and put the finishing touches on the book. Tyler went home a half hour ago after double checking the house. Now she was alone for the first time in her house, ever. She planned to take full advantage of that by skinny dipping.

If anyone asked she would deny it up and down, but it was very relaxing as long as she knew no one would catch her. She figured she had at least one more hour before Edward came home, not that she would mind him seeing her, but there was always the possibility that Seth would be with him.

A noise caught her attention. “Hello?” She looked around the pool. She didn’t see anyone so she went back to swimming. A minute later she heard another noise. “Look, I know someone’s there. So you might as well come out,” she said, swimming to the edge of the pool, hoping to block the view of her body.

A man stepped out of the darkness in front of the gate. She didn’t recognize him. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“I…I’m sorry…I just had to meet you. I’m a huge fan,” the man said.

He took another step into the light and Dana realized to her horror that the man’s pants were unzipped and he was palming himself. “You need to leave! Now!”

The man reached for the gate and yanked on it. The padlock stopped him. Dana knew it would only keep him out until he found a way to pull himself over the top. Dana pulled herself out of the pool, wrapped a towel around her body quickly and grabbed her cell phone.

She looked back in time to see the man pull himself over the top of the gate. She made a mad dash to the house. She slid into the house and turned around in time to close the sliding glass door. The man grabbed the door and pulled. She shoved as hard she could and locked it. She reached over and hit the panic button on her security system.

Ear splitting sirens went off. Every light in the house and outside flew on. Within seconds the house phone rang. She grabbed it knowing it would be the security company.

The sound of glass shattering sent her flying through the house. The man threw a chair through the glass door and was coming inside. She ran into her office, locked the door and ran for the hidden panel. Her hands were shaking violently as she pressed the code in.

“Come on..come on!” she said. The phone was still ringing. The door slid open. She jumped inside and hit the button to shut the door. She dropped to her knees, gasping for air.

She answered the phone. “Ms. Mathews, this is McGuire Security. Are you okay?”

“No, a man is inside my house!”

“The police are already on the way, ma’am.”

“I have to call Edward and stop him from coming inside,” she said to herself.

“I have him on the other line, ma’am. He added himself to the account a few days ago. He’s on his way now.”

“Tell him not to come inside until the police are here. Tell him I’m safe in the office bathroom.”

“One minute, ma’am. Hold while I relay that message.”

Dana sat on the tile floor. She could hear the man tearing through her office. He sounded frustrated. She heard the office door slam shut. Whether or not it was a trick or the guy was really gone, she had no plans of finding out.

She heard a click followed by the operator's voice. “Mr. Pierce stated and I quote ‘you better keep your ass in that room or he’ll wring your neck’”

She chuckled while tears streamed down her face. “I’m staying, don’t worry about it.” She sat quietly on the floor for several minutes trying to hear what the man was doing.

“Ms. Mathews?” a woman’s voice said beyond the door.

“Ma’am, I’ve just been informed that the police are there,” the operator said.

“Thank you for everything.” Dana pulled herself to her feet and hit the button to open the door. It slid open. Four officers were standing in the trashed office.

“Are you okay?” the female officer asked.

Dana tightened her towel when she caught the male officers checking her out. “Yes, I’m fine. Did you get him?”

“Yes, he was searching the house for you,” one of the men said.

They heard screaming and rushed out of the room. Dana followed them. She could hear Edward screaming.

“You f**king piece of shit! I’ll f**king kill you!” Edward yelled. Dana came in the room to find Edward being restrained by three officers and a na**d intruder pinned to the floor ten feet away.