Night Whispers - Leslie Kelly [54]
Mitch told himself he wasn’t disappointed.
9
THE DRIVING RAIN POUNDED against her window, and a crash of thunder reverberated, startling Kelsey awake with a jolt. Sitting up in bed, she stared around in dazed confusion. Then she glanced toward her bedside clock but didn’t see the familiar glowing green numbers. It wasn’t working. A long flash of lightning illuminated her nightstand. Grabbing her watch, she saw that it was just after two. She’d only been asleep for about an hour.
The storm that had brought drizzling rain all day had arrived with torrential fury. Kelsey shivered a little and pulled the covers up tighter. This old house was very drafty, and in the short time the electricity must have been out her room had become quite chilly. Remembering the spare comforter in the linen closet, she got up to get it, then noticed the streetlamp in front of the house was lit.
“That’s funny,” she said aloud, staring through the rain-streaked window at the muted yellow glow.
Some other houses had porch lights on, and Kelsey realized the electricity wasn’t out after all. It had probably just flickered, causing a breaker to flip in the basement. She thought about grabbing the comforter and going back to bed, but it really was very chilly, and Mitch or Fred might not realize until tomorrow morning that the heat wasn’t working.
Kelsey quickly felt around on the floor until she found her slippers. She didn’t bother with her robe, since she wore long satin pajamas. Making her way down the short hallway into the kitchen, she pulled open a drawer and located the flashlight she kept there for emergencies. She flicked it on, praying the batteries still worked, and sighed in relief when a weak yellow beam came forth.
Slipping quietly out of her apartment, Kelsey carefully avoided the creakiest steps as she descended the stairs. It was doubtful Mitch would hear her anyway, but she didn’t want to risk it. The last thing she wanted was for Mitch to find her lurking in the house in the middle of the night, and be all kind and solicitous, as he’d been at the ball. Mitch had been so darned friendly that she thought she could have cheerfully strangled him! It was as if, in that moment when Amanda had stepped between them, the invisible wall Mitch kept around himself had slipped back into place so firmly it couldn’t be blasted away with dynamite.
Kelsey stealthily entered his kitchen, playing the weak beam of light over the butcher-block table so she could maneuver around it.
“Ouch,” she muttered as she bumped her shin into a chair.
Limping slightly, she made her way to the basement door, opened it, silently cursing the loud creak, then went down into the basement. The breaker box was in the far corner, past the washing machine, Kelsey remembered. She began walking across the large basement floor when suddenly her flashlight dimmed then went out completely.
“Oh, no,” she said as she stopped to allow her eyes to become accustomed to the pitch-dark. Gradually shadows began to appear, and then a long flash of lightning seeped in through the basement windows along the back of the house. There were no piles of boxes or laundry on the floor before her, so she gingerly began to pick her way across the room.
MITCH’S NOSE WAS COLD. He came slowly out of a deep sleep, realizing that very chilly air circled his face. He heard the thunder first, then the rain, and assumed a breaker had popped, as usual, and knocked out the heat. He’d been fighting to get the electrician he’d had rewire the house to come back to check the breakers, which were very temperamental. Getting out of bed, he pulled a pair of sweatpants over his naked body. He walked to the kitchen, using flashes of lightning to help see the way.
Stopping near the oven, Mitch opened a cabinet and pulled out a box of long wooden kitchen matches. He lit one and began descending the stairs, cupping the match with his hand. The little flame banished the shadows in the stairwell until he