Scene #49
The phone startled Dante awake, sending adrenaline through his
system. Levering himself to a sitting position, he flipped open
his cell. "DiMarco," he rapped out, his voice husky with sleep.
"Dante?"
"Ellie?" Dante scrubbed a hand through his hair. "What’s going
on?"
"I woke you up, didn’t I?" Elinor sounded mortified. "I’m sorry,
this was stupid."
"No!" He cleared his throat. "I told you to call any time. I
honestly don’t mind."
"I’m probably being ridiculous," she started again, but he
interrupted her.
"What’s going on?" By now, the edge of fear was obvious in her
voice, so Dante let go of his brief but enticing hope that she was
calling for some hot and heavy phone sex. Injecting a little more
professionalism into his voice, he said, "Why don’t you tell me why
you called?"
In the background, he could hear a click. "I think I’ve got a
prowler."
All erotic thoughts immediately banished, he swung his legs over
the side of the bed and started pulling on his flannel pajama
bottoms over the boxers he’d worn to bed. "Tell me exactly what’s
happening. Don’t leave anything out."
"I was getting into bed when I saw a shadow go past my bedroom
window," she said. "Then I heard footsteps. At the back of the
house, not the front," she hurried, as if to forestall his next
question. "There’s someone out there."
"Have you called the police?" He lifted the phone away from his
ear long enough to drag on a t-shirt, put it back in time to hear
her tart response.
"That’s what I’m doing right now."
Holding the phone between his ear and shoulder, he grabbed his
shoes. "I meant 911," he growled.
Her huff of annoyance was unmistakable. "Look, I can hang up and
call 911 if you want. You just said I could call you, so I did."
He reined in his frustration. "For future reference, in an
emergency, call 911 first. They’ll get to you a lot quicker than I
can."
"I know." Her voice was low, rich. "I wanted you."
Hoo, boy. Visions of tangled sheets, sweat-slicked bodies,
tightened muscles spun across his vision. Dante pinched the bridge
of his nose to dispel them. Now was not the time to be distracted
by phone sex fantasies.
"Well, that’s weird." Her voice dipped to a near-whisper.
"What?" Dante could hear cars rushing by. "Elinor, where are
you?"
She didn’t answer for a minute. He grabbed his keys and wallet off
the nightstand and tucked them in his back pocket.
"The storage shed door is open. I never leave it open."
"Elinor, are you in the backyard?"
She ignored him. "What in the world?"
"Dammit, Elinor, I told you not to leave any details out! Leaving
the house is a bad idea. Get inside now!"
Dante heard a scuffling noise, a muffled "ergh", and then a thud.
"Elinor? Ellie!"
Silence greeted him over the phone.
He hit the front door at a dead run.
