She Can Hide (She Can #4)(48)

Plus, the confidence in the grip suggested this wasn’t his first time. Pain bloomed like a Roman candle on the Fourth of July, overwhelming Roy’s senses.

His sight dimmed. The cord sliced deeper into his flesh. He gave his life one more last-ditch effort. He reached up and tried to claw for his assailant’s eyes. The guy shifted backward to avoid Roy’s hands. A knee slammed into his back, but he barely felt the kidney slam as he was hauled into a backbend. Agony exploded in his neck as the cord tightened more, cutting into his windpipe.

His lungs screamed, and his sight dimmed. His last vision was the sunlight glimmering on the ill-gotten boat in his yard.

What awaited him, heaven or hell?




Abby tiptoed into the kitchen in her socks. One hand held Zeus’s collar. Her boots dangled from the other. Sweetums was not in sight. Abby checked the top of the fridge and under the kitchen table before releasing the dog. Zeus headed for the large bowl of water Lorraine had placed on the floor. Abby poured some of the dog food she’d brought into a bowl. While the dog ate, she crossed to the window.

Behind the house, sunrise gleamed on the frozen yard and white-patched barn roof.

Where was Ethan?

They’d had dinner together. He’d driven her home to pack a bag and drop off Derek. Then she’d gone to bed in the guest room, and he’d returned to the barn to check on the horse.

“Good morning.” Lorraine buzzed into the kitchen in a floor-length robe. “I’ll have coffee on in a minute.”

“No rush,” Abby said.

“Sure there is. No sense in wasting daylight.” Lorraine started the fire under a huge griddle. She grabbed a dozen eggs from the refrigerator. A full pound of bacon went into the two-burner pan. She went to the bottom of the staircase in the hall. “Boys! Breakfast in ten.”

Footsteps thudded on the steps. Cam and Bryce walked in.

“Cam, please start coffee. Bryce, you’re on scrambled eggs.” Lorraine gave orders in a sweet voice that her sons jumped to obey. “Where’s Ethan?”

“Not in his room.” Cam filled the coffeemaker.

Abby pulled her boots on. “I’m going to take Zeus out.”

Lorraine moved bacon slices in the hot pan. “I imagine Ethan is out in the barn. Would you tell him to come in for breakfast?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Abby donned her coat and Ethan’s hat and gloves in the mudroom. Zeus cowered against her legs. Abby spied Sweetums glaring down at the dog from the space between the laundry cabinets and the ceiling.

She opened the back door, and Zeus trotted out into the snowy yard, relief evident in the spring in his step. Typically, he was a slow mover.

Her breath fogged in front of her as she rolled the heavy door open just enough to squeeze through. The barn wasn’t much warmer. The pony greeted her with a happy snort. Abby patted his nose as she walked by. She looked over the half door.

The horse was curled on its side in the middle of the stall. In the corner beyond, Ethan slept sitting up, hat pulled low on his brow, arms crossed over his chest, hands tucked into his armpits.

Had he been there all night?

At the sight of Abby, the horse heaved to its feet. It turned its head and nosed Ethan. His eyes opened. He touched the animal’s forehead. “How’re you feeling?”

The horse snorted. Ethan brushed at the front of his jacket and laughed. “That good, huh?”

He stood and stretched. His black hair was mussed, his jaw was shadowed, and his blue eyes were heavy with compassion and lack of sleep. He was the sexiest man she’d ever seen.

Inside her boots, Abby’s toes curled. “Good morning.”

He turned. His blue eyes brightened, and his mouth curled in a sexy smile. “Morning.”

“Breakfast is almost ready.”

“Great. I’m starving.”

“Did you stay out here all night?”

He rubbed the horse’s neck and let himself out of the stall. “Nah. Just from two to six. Cam and Bryce each took a shift.”

She nodded toward the horse. “He looks better this morning.”

“He does.” Ethan exhaled. “I’d kiss you, but I haven’t brushed my teeth.”

Abby popped up on her toes and planted a kiss on his mouth. “I don’t care.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to his chest. His stubble scraped her cheek. The hug was more about comfort and companionship than sex and felt more intimate. He released her. “How did you sleep?”

“Great.” Better than she had for years, which was strange. She’d left her light on, but the rest of the house had been dark. It hadn’t bothered her. Was that because she hadn’t been alone? Or because Faulkner was dead and that chapter of her life was finally closed? She wouldn’t ever have to worry about what would happen after he was paroled.

Ethan gave the horses a small amount of hay, and they left the barn.

Abby glanced back at the closed door. “Will he be all right alone today?”

Cam was driving Lorraine to the airport in Scranton for her Florida-bound flight. Later that afternoon, he and Bryce were driving back to school. Abby and Ethan were headed back to Jersey to talk to retired detective Roy Abrams.

“Yeah. I’ll give him his medicine before we leave, and Ronnie is sending one of her staff over to babysit while we’re gone.”