Dead by Midnight - Beverly Barton [112]
She didn’t want to wake Shelley, but she was now wide-awake and knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. If she went down the hall and into the living room or kitchen, Shelley would hear her and get up to check on her. But what did it matter? It wasn’t as if either of them had anything to do tomorrow, anywhere to be. They could take afternoon naps.
Thinking that perhaps a glass of chocolate milk and a few cookies might help her relax—sugar certainly might help to soothe her rattled nerves—Lorie headed for the kitchen. As she neared the kitchen, she noticed light creeping out from beneath the closed door. Was Shelley in the kitchen? Had she been unable to sleep and had gotten up and that’s what had awakened Lorie?
She approached the door, then hesitated, her hand hovering in the air. “Shelley?” she called to her bodyguard.
No response. She called her name again. Silence.
A tremor of uncertainty began in Lorie’s belly and spread out into her limbs. Reminding herself that it was highly possible that they had simply not turned off the kitchen light before they went to bed, Lorie grasped the doorknob. When she opened the door, her pulse raced at an alarming speed. But once she looked into the room and saw that it was empty and nothing was out of place, she breathed a sigh of relief.
She decided that maybe ice cream was called for now, to go with the cookies, instead of chocolate milk. As she reached to open the small pantry where the cookies were stored, she noticed that the back door was cracked open ever so slightly. How was that possible? Shelley always locked the outside doors, soundly securing them, before she armed the alarm system and went to bed. Had Shelley heard something outside and gone into the yard to check the grounds?
Shaking nervously from head to toe, Lorie forced herself to go straight to the back door and check the alarm keypad. The green light winked at her, warning her that the system was deactivated.
Don’t panic. Shelley’s outside. There’s nothing to worry about, nothing at all. But what do I do? Go outside to find Shelley? Close the door, lock it, and telephone Jack?
Lorie stood behind the partially closed door and called Shelley’s name several times, but did not get a response of any kind. She eased the door open wide and looked outside. Moonlight washed the backyard and nearby woods with a faded yellow-white hue. Pallid gray shadows hovered at the corners of the house and the trees spattered cadaverous silhouettes across the lawn, their tips splintering into thin, finger-like shards.
Lorie shivered.
Dear God, where are you, Shelley?
Had the Midnight Killer come to Dunmore? Had he lured Shelley into a trap? Had he killed her?
Don’t assume the worst.
Shelley was a trained professional. She wouldn’t be easily duped.
Something is wrong. Close the door and lock it!
Lorie’s heartbeat pounded in her head. Her pulse rate revved up as fear-induced adrenaline flooded her system.
When she reached for the door handle, she looked down and in her peripheral vision saw a dark puddle on the back porch. The light from inside the kitchen cast a dim glow over the red liquid.
Blood?
God in heaven, it was a pool of blood!
She stared at the dark stain, her gaze riveted to the spot.
It was blood. No doubt about it.
Was it Shelley’s blood?
Off in the distance, a dog howled again. Lorie cried out, the unexpected sound startling her. Hesitating, uncertain what to do, she stood frozen to the spot, her unsteady hand hovering over the door handle.
Had he killed Shelley? Was he out there waiting to strike again?
But it was way past midnight. And he always killed at midnight, didn’t he?
Something rustled through the brush in the nearby wooded area, the sound echoing in the predawn quiet. Lorie looked away from the bloodstain and searched the semidarkness for any sign of Shelley—or someone else, possibly the Midnight Killer.
Whatever has happened, you can’t help Shelley. Do what she would want you to do—protect yourself.
Lorie slammed the door and locked it. And then she raced to the telephone.