Patricia Rosemoor: Heart Of A Lawman

How thrilling! she thought wryly. She’d never been able to see well in the dark….

Where had that thought come from?

Josie shook away another chill and concentrated.

Rubble decorated the interior of the abandoned shop as far as she could see—what was left of counters and shelves littered with plaster and rotting chunks of wood. As she moved with care, the floor squeaked and bounced beneath her boots. Her stomach tightened.

The place was dangerous, rotting, collapsing in on itself!

Stopping, she took a deep breath.

If any place could inspire paranoid delusions, this was it. Danger could lurk in every dark corner…in every inch of the area that she couldn’t see.

But of course it didn’t.

The only danger here was what she could inflict on herself.

Even so, reluctant to continue without reconnoitering, Josie softly called, “Kitty, where are you?”

A creak to her right startled her into stepping that way.

Until a loud “Mee-oow!” pulled her in the opposite direction.

For a second, she went rigid. Sounds from two directions? Then giddiness bubbled through her. The rotting wood was protesting, it being disturbed, was all. She veered left, feeling all but swallowed by the dark.

“Kitty, you owe me big time.”

She inched along until her foot hit something solid, the clank punctuated by a growl and a hiss.

Puzzled, she hunkered down. “Hey, I would never hurt you.” And reached out blindly, expecting to ruffle some fur. Instead, her fingers met an unexpected resistance, cold and hard. “What the heck…?”

Leaning forward, she ran her hand along the solid object and murmured reassurances. The cat continued to growl with increasing urgency. The angry-frightened protest raised the hair on the back of her neck even as Josie realized the poor animal was trapped in a cat carrier.

Who would leave a caged cat in an abandoned building?

Instinct snapped her upward, but upon rising, she whacked her shoulder into something ungiving. She took a misstep and twisted her ankle.

“Aah!”

Arms flailing, Josie tried to catch herself. She imagined hands on her even as she took another blind step. Rough hands. Hands that pushed her so that her boot heel came down hard and shoved right through some rotted boards.

For a second she felt suspended…her world turned upside down…a roller-coaster ride…only this time with no safety net….

Josie fought the panic attack that threatened to engulf her. Shaking…lack of breath…heart threatening to pound right out of her chest.

She hadn’t fallen far, she told herself as rationally as she could—only to the rotting floor—but her boot had gone through the boards, ankle-deep. She tried to free herself. But no matter how she turned or twisted her foot, she couldn’t seem to manage it.

She was stuck!

Gasping for air, ribs and chest hurting where the seat belt had constrained her, she told herself to calm down. She was all right. She could get through this.

Unless…

Ghost memories of hands on her, touching her, pushing her, jumped back at her in a flash.

But had it really even happened?

She couldn’t say for certain. She only knew that same sensation of personal violation had invaded the deep unconscious from which she’d thought she would never awaken while in the hospital. That same sense of physical unease had pressed down on her then, too.

The same paranoia.

Josie willed herself to focus on any lurking danger, but she could no more see a threat in the dark than she could her own fingernails, which were digging painful little ditches in her palms.

Through fear-stiff lips she whispered, “Is someone there?”

Every muscle in her body tightened into knots as she waited for a response.

“Meow.”

She jumped. The cat! She’d almost forgotten….

“Yes, kitty, I’m still here.”

But was she the only one?

No noise alerted her to another presence. No sudden intake of breath. No stirring of foot against rubble. And the cat’s call had once more sounded pitiful rather than angry.

If any threat had been present a moment ago, surely now it was gone.

Not wanting to think too deeply on it, she muttered, “Give me a minute, kitty, and I’ll get us both out of here.” And willed her hands to unclench.

Panic receding, Josie carefully slid her bottom forward over creaking boards and hunched up as close to her foot as her aching middle would allow. Blindly, she felt for the problem. Ragged wood had gashed and caught the worn leather of her boot and held it fast in several places.

Concentrating on working herself free, Josie almost missed the import of several quiet footfalls coming at her.

Then her hands stiffened again and sweat popped down her spine. A wave of intense heat poured through her as she literally ripped at the wooden slivers trapping her boot. Carefully, she wiggled her foot and pulled…even as a bright light suddenly blinded her more effectively than had the dark.

“What are you up to?” came an arrogant male demand.

Freed at last, avoiding looking directly into the beam, Josie put out a hand to shade her eyes. All she could fathom was a dark silhouette against the bright light. Her impression was of a tall man, one broader than most. She cautiously rose, careful not to step back into trouble.

“Maybe you should be the one answering that,” she said more bravely than she was feeling.

“I’m not the one sneaking around here in the dark.”

“I wasn’t sneaking! I heard the cat—”

“What cat?” The disembodied voice sounded rife with suspicion.

Helpfully, the animal she’d been trying to rescue chose that moment to agree in the tiniest of voices—one Josie hadn’t before heard—almost as if the feline were satisfied that her rescue was imminent.

The bright beam moved away from her toward the sound. She followed its course and finally was able to see the object she’d been fumbling over—a cat carrier with a glowing-eyed occupant peering out hopefully at them.

“Meow.”

Josie reconnoitered, decided to get going and fast. But she wasn’t about to leave the animal she’d determined to rescue. Thinking she could use the carrier as a weapon if she needed to—only if forced, of course, lest she further scared the poor creature inside—Josie swooped down on the cage. Ignoring the pain that twinged through her middle, she grabbed hold of the handle and proceeded to bluff her way out of the place, a distant gray haze identifying the general area that would lead to the street.

“Wait a minute!”

She quickened her step toward the film of light ahead, muttering, “Forget it. I’m outta here!”

The beam turned and swept before her. “Have some light before you really hurt yourself.”

Josie didn’t so much as falter. She kept right on going, straight out the door. Just in case she needed some, she looked around for help. The street was deserted—no chatty women, no sleepy cowpoke. But the black SUV had been abandoned at the curb opposite.

Had the driver been looking for her, after all?

Knowing she was alone but for her furry companion, Josie flipped around and bravely faced him.

He was tall. He was broad. And he was definitely unhappy. A scowl marred an otherwise attractive face—rather, as much as she could see of it beneath his broad-brimmed black hat. His hard gaze met hers, trapping her as effectively as had the broken boards.

Any thanks for the rescue she might have uttered died on her lips.

“So what was this cat doing inside what should be a boarded-up building?”

His demand for an explanation immediately made her bristle. “Like I should know?”

“You obviously knew the cat was there.”