Samantha beamed. “Thanks.”
“Maybe you should ease up on the punch.” I tried to take the glass from her. She didn’t let me. “You took those Valiums earlier.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine.” Erica chugged a third glass then crunched across the room to the couch. She plopped down, flung a leg over her knee.
She patted the seat and crooked a finger at me. “Come here. Let’s talk.”
I lifted an empty flowerpot. “But don’t you think we should get things cleaned up? I’m happy to help.”
“Fuck that. The kids and that ass I’m married to will be home in a few minutes anyway. But the hell if I care. The lazy bum has nothing better to do. He can clean it up tomorrow.”
I exchanged looks with Samantha.
Samantha glanced at her watch. “I need to get the twins into bed.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “It’s getting late—”
“Fuck that. Joshua can get his own ass in bed. He’s not two. I need someone to talk to.”
Samantha made a hasty exit, leaving me with Erica, who was in the mood to talk.
Erica let her head flop back. Her eyelids fluttered closed. “Did you know that dumb bastard hasn’t even tried to get a job? It’s been five years. Five long years. He knew I wanted to have another baby before Paris started school. But now ...” Rocking her head to the side, she looked at me. “It’s too late.”
“Oh, Erica. Are you sure it’s too late? You’re not even thirty-five yet, are you? I’ve heard of women in their forties—”
“I can’t stand him. Can’t stand his voice. Can’t stand looking at him. And most definitely can’t stand him touching me.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she gripped her upper arms. “Can you blame me for taking a lover?”
“Um ...”
“Okay, maybe some people would. But I didn’t plan on cheating. It just sort of happened. We were both there. Lindsay had to leave, and the next thing I knew, we were making out in her living room.”
Was Erica telling me ... was she sleeping with Lindsay’s ex-boyfriend? Was Erica the other woman?
“Who?” I asked.
“Matt. I thought you figured it out already. That’s why you asked me about him, right?” Erica got up, sauntered into the kitchen, helped herself to another glass of punch, and drank it without taking a break to breathe.
In the interest of preserving her marriage—which was probably on its way to hell, anyway—I took the liberty of emptying the punch bowl down the drain. “Actually, no. I asked because I wanted to return his stuff. It’s still in my garage.”
“Here.” She scribbled a phone number on a napkin. “His phone number.” She slid the napkin across the granite counter. “The best time to reach him is early afternoon.”
“Thanks.” I tucked it into my pocket just as the echo of voices signaled the return of Erica’s family. “Well, I’d better be going.”
Erica threw her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re here. We’re going to be good friends. I can tell already.”
I wasn’t sure about that, not after she found out about her cat. Speaking of which ... “Um, Erica, I need to talk to you about your missing cat.”
“What the hell happened here?” Erica’s husband bellowed.
“Later,” Erica said, shooing me toward the door. “Paris, upstairs.” She pointed and a pretty little girl of about ten stomped toward the staircase. Then Erica turned an angry glare at her husband. “Listen up, asshole. I’ve had one hell of a day. Don’t you dare take that tone with me.”
I made a beeline for the front door.
The sounds of their argument followed me through the house and even outside. As I scuttled across the front lawn, heading home, someone grabbed my arm, giving it a tug.
I gave a little yipe! and spun around, half-expecting something to fly at my head.
Jon chuckled. Sneaky bastard.
“Ohmygod, where did you come from?” I asked him, clapping a hand over my racing heart.
“I was just heading to the party.”
“You’re a little late.”
“I’m sorry. I had some things to handle at work. They couldn’t wait.”
“Yeah, well. You missed the whole thing.”
“Tell me.” Looking all tall and dark and mysterious—the moonlight did amazing things for the man’s face—he gathered my hair over one shoulder. Then—no surprise here—he started nibbling on my neck. Outside. In the middle of the front lawn.
“Jon ...” I said, tipping my head to give him better access. Little tingles were quaking through my body. They felt mighty good. I decided I didn’t need to tell him about the party right now. It could wait. “Where’s Josh?”
“Up in his room. Why?” He nibbled on my earlobe.“Because I don’t think he should see us.”
“See us doing what? We’re not having sex ... yet. I’m just having a little snack.” He nipped at my neck.
“But I don’t think he likes me as it is. I don’t want him to dislike me even more.”
“What makes you say that?” He dragged his tongue down the column of my neck and I shivered.
“Because he hasn’t spoken to me in days.”
“It’s just stress. Tests. That kind of thing. Don’t worry. He likes you just fine. Now, since you’re so concerned about people seeing us, why don’t we go inside?” Before I could respond, he scooped me off my feet.
Grinning at nobody in particular, I tossed an arm around his neck. As he climbed the stairs, I squinted at a dark shadow sitting smack-dab in front of the door. My blood, which had warmed up nicely, chilled. “What is that?”
“What?” He halted at the door. “Can you grab the doorknob for me?”
“What’s under your feet?”
“Nothing.”
“It looks like something.”
“I don’t see anything.” In he went. He set me on my feet before pushing on the door to shut it.
I caught it just before it slammed, snapped on the porch light.
“Oh shit! What is that?” I stabbed a finger at the little pile of brown fur lying in front of the door. “See? I told you I saw something.”
“It’s probably a dead rabbit or cat,” he reasoned, acting as if it was no big deal to find dead animals lying on the welcome mat. “I’ll take care of it later.”
“But, Jon, there was a dead cat there last night. That’s two nights in a row. Whoever heard of such a coincidence?”
“It’s hardly a coincidence. There are a lot of stray animals around here. I used to leave food out for them. Some of them keep coming back, looking for more.”
Was I buying that explanation?
He licked the spot on my neck, the one that sent tingly shivers down my spine, and I decided I didn’t care. If it was still there in the morning, I’d worry about it then.
Laughter. In my dreams. Women laughing. Talking. A party?
My eyes opened.
The laughter continued.
I wasn’t dreaming.
Driven by overwhelming curiosity, I checked the clock. It was a little after midnight. I carefully extricated myself from Jon’s embrace—yes, he was a cuddler when he slept—and went to the window.
More laughter. Shadows moving. There. It was coming from Samantha’s yard.
I had to know what was going on. Having slept in a T-shirt and sweats, all I had to do was grab a pair of flip flops and quietly head downstairs. I bypassed the front door, opting for the French doors opening onto the back deck. Out I went into the cool, cloudless night. Yet another round of laughter beckoned to me, coaxing me to wander farther away from the house. My shoes smack-smacked under my feet, but nobody would hear. The laughter and lively chattering would drown out the sound.
Creeping closer, almost at the far side of Samantha’s house, I kept to the shadows. For some reason, I didn’t want Samantha, or whoever it was, to know I was spying.
But just as I rounded the far corner, everything went silent. No laughing. No chattering. Not even any insect buzzing. A strange chill raced up my spine.
I turned to go home. Stopped.
Were those ... ? Glowing eyes. Two. No, four. No ... six.
Three pairs of eyes were staring at me from the shadows between the houses. I had no idea what they belonged to. Dogs maybe. Big dogs. Instantly, the vision of that little scraggly Skippy came to mind. One of these ... dogs ... had snatched him. I knew it. What would they do to me?
Nothing if I could help it.
I backed up, moving as slowly, as quietly as possible.
Avoid eye contact, I told myself, remembering the first rule of Aggressive Dogs 101.
Protect your head and neck.
Remaining standing, but turning sideways, I inched along the back wall of the house. My foot landed on something soft. Rubber.
Squeak.
Damn.
One of the animals stepped out of the shadow. It was big, muscular, a dog of some kind, with a long pointed snout and a thick, dark coat. For some reason, my gaze snapped to its eyes. Blue? A clear, ice blue. The dog’s ears twitched, and I yanked my gaze away, hoping it wouldn’t attack.