Sharpshooter (21 page)
Authors: Cynthia Eden
“Hello?” she called, loudly enough that a faint echo of her voice rang back to her from deep in the woods.
No answer.
The cabin door opened behind her, making her jump. “Dee Dee, is something wrong?”
“The soup is gone.”
“Oh.” Reesa looked nonplussed.
“Probably a raccoon or something.”
“Hope it’s not a bear.” Reesa shuddered. “Pam Colby said she saw a black bear in her backyard just last week, looking for a place to nest for the winter. She shooed it off by banging some pots together.”
“I don’t think it’s a bear.” Delilah’s gaze settled on the film of blood. “I’m going to take a look around, okay? I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“It’s freezing out there. I’m sure it was just an animal, Dee. Why don’t you come back in here where it’s warm? Let the raccoon have the soup. He probably needs it more than we do.”
“I’m just going to walk the perimeter. There’s some blood on the table—maybe it’s injured and needs help.”
“Oh, poor thing. Okay, but hurry up. The temperature’s dropping like crazy out here. They’re talking about maybe our first snow of the season.” Reesa backed into the house, closing the door behind her.
Stamping her feet to get some of the feeling back into her cold toes, Delilah headed out into the yard, keeping the beam of the flashlight moving in a slow, thorough arc in front of her.
She discovered more blood, spattered on the grass in a weaving line toward the tree line. Following the trail, she spotted a white birch tree with a dark streak of red marring its papery bark about four feet up. The mark seemed to form a long fingerprint.
She paused and checked the magazine of her pistol, reassuring herself that the Sig was loaded, with a round already chambered. If her mother was right and their intruder was a bear, she didn’t want to face it unarmed.
Though she listened carefully for any sounds that might reveal an animal or other intruder nearby, all she heard was the moan of the icy wind through the trees. But she felt something else there. Something living and watching, waiting for her to turn around and leave.
What would happen if she did just that? Would the watcher let her go? Or would he pounce the second she turned her back? Not caring to find out, she backed toward the clearing with slow, steady steps. She kept her eyes on the woods, trying to see past the moonless blackness outside the narrow, weakening beam of her flashlight.
Only the faintest of snapping sounds behind her gave her any warning at all.
It wasn’t enough.
She hit a solid wall of heat. One large arm curled around her, pulling her flush against that heat, while a hand closed over her mouth.
“Don’t scream,” he growled.
She didn’t.
But he did.
ISBN: 9781460317082
Copyright © 2013 by Cindy Roussos
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