Chapter 17
Chapter 17
L ater that night they were sitting on the couch in the basement, drowsily watching a movie. Even Paley had trouble staying awake, and Piedmont was already out. She should wake him to go to bed, but the movie was nearly done. She would finish it, and then they would go upstairs. In the meantime her blinks were becoming longer and longer, and then she sat up in alarm.
Had that been a beep? The same beep that happened whenever someone opened an outside door? Her ears strained as she leaned toward the basement’s opening. Overhead a board creaked. Paley knew that board; it was the same one in the kitchen she stepped on every day.
Frantically, she shook Piedmont awake, then covered his mouth and pressed her lips to his ear. “I think someone’s in the house and heading this way,” she whispered.
He blinked at her, sat up, took her hand, and herded her into a closet, all while pulling out his phone and hitting a button.
“Lights off,” he said into the phone, and everything went black. He closed the door of the closet and dialed the police. “There’s an intruder in my house.” He gave the address and said he would stay on the phone. The top step of the basement stairs creaked. Paley slowed her breathing and closed her eyes. She and Piedmont were sandwiched together. She huddled closer, pressing her face to his chest. His arm slid around her, his head rested on hers. His heart raced, or was that her heart? There was the soft shuffle of feet on carpet, the basement carpet, mere steps from the closet where they were hiding. Any minute the door would be opened and they would be discovered.
“The police have arrived,” the dispatcher whispered.
The upstairs door opened again. “Lights on,” Piedmont whispered. There was a frantic scrambling of feet, the grunting sounds of a physical struggle, and then the dispatcher spoke again.
“The suspect is in custody. The officers are going to sweep the house. One of them is heading toward your location. Please place your hands in the air as they open the door.”
Piedmont and Paley complied, putting their hands up as the door was opened by a gun-wielding policeman. Paley had never been so happy to see anyone in her life, and she knew Piedmont felt the same. The intruder was on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back, but he was mere feet away. A few minutes later, and he would have found them.
“Are you okay?” the officer asked.
“Yes, thank you for arriving so quickly,” Piedmont said.
“Ma’am?” the officer asked her. Paley tried to answer but no sound came out.
“Paley,” Piedmont prompted, his hand rubbing a soothing circle on her back.
She jumped to attention and leaned into him at the same time. “Yes, I’m fine. And ditto what he said. Thank you so much for arriving so quickly.”
The officer nodded and surveyed the suspect. “Either of you know him?”
They looked at the handcuffed man. “No,” they both agreed.
“Probably a drug seeker,” the officer said, but something in his tone worried them both. Or maybe they were so filled with fear everything sounded ominous. He wanted Piedmont to go with him to inspect the upstairs. Paley didn’t want to be left alone. Sensing as much, Piedmont snagged her hand and dragged her with him.
“Nothing seems disturbed,” they both agreed after an inspection of the house. “Nothing appears to have been taken.”
The officer’s frown increased. “We didn’t find anything in his pockets.”
“What does that mean?” Piedmont asked.
“Not for me to say, but I’ll hand it over to our detective. Are you certain you locked the door?”
“Yes, I locked the door,” Piedmont said.
“And I double checked that it was locked, I always do,” Paley added.
“You do?” Piedmont asked.
“Sometimes you forget.”
He tapped his temple and rolled his eyes. He was scatterbrained sometimes, but she had grown used to picking up the slack and making sure things got done. She squeezed his hand, offering up a smile.
“But you’re both sure it was locked,” the officer reiterated.
“Is there a reason you keep asking?”
“It doesn’t appear to have been tampered with, and the alarm wasn’t cut.”
Paley shuddered. If he’d cut the alarm, she wouldn’t have heard the beep, alerting her to the fact that the door had been opened. The man might have sneaked up on them unaware, and that was the disturbing thought she hadn’t been able to pin down. “He was coming for us,” she blurted.
Both men looked at her, Piedmont with surprise and the officer with affirmation. “He didn’t pause to steal anything. If he was a drug seeker looking to make a quick buck, he would have loaded up and gotten out. He headed straight for the stairs, for us.”
“It appears that way. Any reason?” Now the officer looked between them suspiciously.
“I deal with sensitive things occasionally. My last girlfriend was a target, she was kidnapped,” Piedmont said, scowling. Was it happening again? Was Paley a target because of him? Or had he been the intended target this time?
“You’re going to want to step up security,” the officer said.
“I’ll see what I can do. Should we go somewhere for the night?” Piedmont asked.
“No, I’ll send a car around the neighborhood every so often, make sure anyone out there knows you’re being watched. Unfortunately I can’t do more than that, so you need to do something else from here on out.”
“I will, thanks,” Piedmont assured him.
They were still swarming the house, gathering evidence, writing reports, taking pictures. Paley made coffee and set out cookies from the freezer. Piedmont sat at the table and watched her. He wanted to ask her how she was doing, but she appeared to be trying to stay busy. The men gathered in the kitchen to partake of the treats, and then they were on their way. Without them, the house felt overwhelmingly large, dark, and scary.
Paley perched on the stool beside Piedmont. “Well, that was terrifying.”
“Yep,” Piedmont agreed.
“Goodnight then,” she said, making no move to leave.
He laughed. “Heading off to the dark third floor alone, are you?”
“Mm, hmm. I’m brave.”
“Okay, go on.” He poked her.
“I couldn’t possibly leave my employer here alone,” she said. “Duty calls.”
“We might as well find a place to stay up all night together because neither of us is going to sleep, possibly ever again,” he said.
“I have a loveseat and a TV,” she offered.
“Third floor is out, too remote and with no easy escape. Basement is out for the same reason,” he said.
“Den couch is uncomfortable and not big enough for sprawling,” she said.
“There’s my bed, and I have a TV,” he said.
She licked her lips. “It’s too weird, isn’t it?”
“We’re grownups, we’ll be fully clothed. Nothing’s going to happen, just a little bit of human contact for comfort and reassurance,” he said. “Plus you routinely handle my underwear. It’s not like our boundaries are all that solid.”
“Okay,” she agreed. They stood, and she followed him to his room, pausing in the doorway to assess the large bed. “I don’t know why this is weird. I lay in here every day eating crackers and watching TV while you’re at work.”
“So you’re the source of the five pounds of cracker crumbs. I thought I was sleep eating again,” he said. He crawled up onto the bed and reached for the remote. Paley walked around the bed and crawled up onto the other side. “What do you want to watch?”
“Your bedroom, your choice.”
“Liar, you always have an opinion about things you think I need to see,” he said.
“Let’s watch baseball-themed movies.”
“Am I supposed to pretend I know which those are, or are you going to tell me?” he said.
“Let’s start with The Sandlot and work our way up to Field of Dreams,” she suggested.
He found The Sandlot and set the remote on his nightstand. He glanced at Paley and saw her shivering. “Get under the covers.”
She did so. A few minutes later when he looked at her again, she still shivered. “Are you doing that because you’re still cold or as a delayed reaction to fear?”
“Neither. This is my Chihuahua imitation,” she said.
He slid under the covers and reached for her. “You’re safe, Paley.”
“I know.” She rested her head on his chest. “You’re very good to have around in an emergency, quick thinking and lots of action. My first panicked thought was to run upstairs and save the knife block.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Those are really nice knives,” she said.
“My first thought was to save you,” he said.
“I noticed. That’s why I’m shivering now and not then because you made me feel safe, but now I’m thinking of all the ways it could have gone wrong,” she said, shuddering anew.
“But it didn’t. It’s okay, everything is all right.” His hand ran soothingly up and down her back. “Hey, look at me.” She did so. “We’re fine, we’re safe, everything is good.” He pushed the hair off her face. His hand slid to her cheek, cupping it, as his thumb slid over her lips. In the background, the movie blared.
“You’re missing all the good stuff,” she whispered.
“Pretty sure I’m not.”
“Piedmont.”
“Hmm.” His thumb continued to slide over her lips, caressing them as he stared at them.
“We had a big, traumatic evening. It left me shivering and needy and you…whatever this is you are at the moment. Don’t mistake it for something you’ll regret tomorrow.”
“I won’t,” he assured her, his hand not leaving her face.
“Don’t mistake it for something I’ll regret tomorrow.” She said, and he froze. “I’m still married, by a thread and in name only, but still. It’s not in my makeup to ignore that.”
“I see,” he said. He dropped his hand and eased away.
“Don’t go away completely,” she said, sounding pained.
“You want me to hold you and that’s all?” he said.
“Can’t that be enough?”
“For now,” he said. She rested her head on his chest again. He eased his arms around her and ran a soothing hand over her hair. A few minutes later, she was asleep. Piedmont stayed awake to watch the entire movie. Eventually he, too, fell asleep, Paley still cradled in his clasp. When he woke the next morning, she was gone. He entered the kitchen and saw her making coffee and breakfast like usual. She set a mug and plate before him with a smile. Neither of them mentioned their close encounter again.