Page 3 of Caught With the Sheriff

With a sobbed, quiet breath, I grab my phone from the end table where it’s charging and yank it out of the cord, rolling off the bed silently and running to my attached bathroom, yanking the door, but closing it quietly, turning the lock and then backing away until I’m on the far side of the little room.

I dial for help.

One heartbeat, two heartbeats. My ears strain to hear anything. Everything. Then a woman’s voice answers. “Emergency. Do you need fire, ambulance or police?”

Her voice seems so calm. But I can’t pry my tongue off the roof of my mouth and my eyes stay locked on the door.

“Hello? Are you there? Can you answer me?” But I can’t say a damn thing. Not when I hear the step outside the door. See the knob turning slowly. My breath goes quiet when I put my hand over my mouth to still the scream that’s trying to come up the back of my throat.

My body stiffens, my blood freezing in my veins.

“Alright, I’ve got somebody on the way. Don’t hang up. I’ve got you.”

If only.

My eyes lock on the damn doorknob turning again. So slowly. Carefully.

He’s going to get me this time and there’s nobody here to help me. This is the end.

CHAPTER 2

Jasper

“Hey, Sheriff. I got an emergency call out on Pine Hollow Road. Right on the edge of town.”

Clicking in, I sigh. “What was the call?” I turn on my car and head it out of town.

“I don’t really know. They didn’t answer. But I swear I could hear breathing so I know somebody was there.”

“Tessa,” I groan. “It’s probably just a kid.”

“You need to go check it out. I don’t know. I got a bad feeling about it. That’s the house where that woman never comes out. She might be hurt.”

“I know I have to check it out.” We both know that. It’s gonna piss me off when I get out there and there’s nothing but a cat that accidentally dialed emergency services or something stupid.

After all, it’s a quiet Sunday night. What the hell could possibly happen in sleepy old Whispering Pines on a Sunday night?

Absolutely nothing that’s what.

I hit my sirens and punch the gas pedal down, speeding towards the farthest house from town. It’s been updated. I even looked at it when I thought I might move out of myhouse, but my mom needs to be close to town for her doctor’s appointments.

She’s been better lately. But she’s not getting any younger. And she wanted to move in with me and be in the middle of town.

I wasn’t telling my mom no. She’s my hero. She raised me as a single mom. She’s the reason that when my wife ran off and divorced me that I didn’t lose my mind.

She takes care of my house and my daughter without any complaints. Even when her arthritis kicks up and she’s sore as hell.

She’s amazing. I’ve never met any woman that could hold a candle to her so I quit looking. After all, my ex was enough to kill any thoughts of romance. The woman was a menace but she sure as hell hid it well when I first met her. Hid the drug use and the partying and the alcohol. All of it.

I see a dimly-lit house up ahead of me and I pull up, eyeing the two-story farmhouse.

It’s my dream house to raise my daughter in. But not at the expense of my mother’s health.

I slip out of the car after I turn off the sirens and lights. As soon as I do, the quiet out here seeps over me and a chill goes down my spine. It feels like there’s something waiting out there. Just beyond the light.

I jog up the front porch steps and knock on the door. “Hey! This is Whispering Pines PD! Come to the door, please!”

No reply. No lights. Nothing. But I have this feeling that there’s somebody waiting. Somebody watching.