No Way Out by Fern Michaels (great books for teens .TXT) 📗

“Positive. Besides, a visit from me may send a message that the police are watching him. Maybe he’ll rethink loitering at the end of the street and near the school.”

“That would be such a relief. We’d better hurry.” Colleen led Pedone down the hall. He picked up all four bags in both hands and headed toward the door. He put them in his trunk just in time, as Jackson was skipping toward the house.

“Hey, Jackson! How are you doing?”

“Hey, Officer Pedone! I’m great! How are you doing?”

“Very well, thank you.”

“So whattya doin’ here?”

“Just helping your mom fill out some papers.” He looked over at Colleen, who was standing on the steps. “Isn’t that right, Mrs. Haywood?” He gave her a wink.

“Yes! Just a little paperwork, that’s all.” Colleen motioned Jackson to go into the house. “Get cleaned up. Maybe even change your clothes. You look like you were rolling around in the grass.” She smiled at him. “Did you have a good time with Buddy?”

“The best!” Jackson had a big grin on his face. “He can run faster than I can! But tomorrow, I’m going to win the race around the fence!” He stomped through the door.

“That’s the happiest he’s been in weeks.” Colleen looked relieved. “And you have been such a help to me. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Do you bake?” Pedone asked.

“A little. But I’m not Betty Crocker.”

“Why don’t you bake me some muffins? That’ll be thanks enough.”

“I’ll give it a try.”

He gave her a wave and folded himself into the police car.

Colleen watched as he drove away. She had finally noticed him as a man. Not just a police officer. Nice-looking, with dark, curly hair graying at the temples. She figured he was a tad over six feet tall and in excellent shape. She could feel his muscles when he stood behind her and held the gun in her hands. And he made her feel safe. That was something she hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Chapter Eight

Hector was happy to see Buddy with a playmate. The yard was lovely, and the dog had been the only one enjoying it. He felt bad for Ellie. She had to be lonely in that house, all by herself. Sure, she claimed she was fine. But he didn’t really believe her. And after two years, he still didn’t know why she had asked him to find her a house. Especially one in a remote part of the country.

During one of their many personal exchanges over the Internet, Hector told her he lived in a small town in Missouri over a hundred miles from St. Louis. That’s why he was so good at gaming. There wasn’t much else to do. He joked that it was like Mayberry. The only difference was they had one sheriff and four police officers. The town had approximately five thousand residents spread over a fifteen-mile area. There was one elementary school in town and a high school in Manchester, the next town over, which also was not heavily populated. The entire county had maybe twenty thousand people. The biggest event was the county fair in July.

He warned Ellie that it was sticky and boring, but she didn’t care. She said she needed to find a quiet place. Well, she sure got “quiet,” all right. Except for that big hubbub at the Haywoods’ house, nothing ever happened in this town.

When she told him she needed his help relocating, he was happy to oblige. Before her request, they had spent many months online playing games, after which they became “cyber-friends.” Ellie was a whiz with computers and appreciated Hector’s skill and quick mind. She was floored when she found out he wasn’t quite sixteen. She was impressed with his aptitude and willingness to learn beyond just playing games.

It didn’t take long for them to develop a deeper geek friendship, and within a few months, they had designed a simple game for kids that Ellie was able to sell to a gaming company for a goodly sum.

He scouted around the area for a cottage-type place and came upon the house where she was now living. Years back a carpenter had bought it and made a lot of renovations. The main floor had two bedrooms, with a connecting bathroom suite. Ellie wasn’t concerned about sharing a bathroom with anyone because there wouldn’t be anyone. A modern kitchen with a center island opened up to the dining and living area. There was a sliding door on the dining-room wall that led to the screened-in porch. A small laundry room was adjacent to the kitchen, which also had a door leading to the back porch.

The second floor had been a storage loft, but the carpenter had opened up some of the space and made it an open loft that spanned above the first floor, with a railing on one side. It was like a large balcony overlooking the lower level. The carpenter had installed skylights and replaced the windows so that you could see both the yards, front and back.

Ellie had Hector find someone to set up special remote blinds that she could open and close by pushing a button. She divided the upper-level space, placing all of her computer equipment on one end and a small sofa and bookshelves on the other. During the day, Percy would curl up on the sofa, where he could get lots of sunshine coming through the skylights.

From the loft, Ellie had a bird’s-eye view of the block, enabling her to see who was coming and going. That’s where she kept several sets of binoculars. The rear of the house backed up against a forest that was protected from future development.

The front yard was enclosed with a four-foot-high, white, Madison-style fence that wrapped around both sides of the house and connected to an eight-foot-high wire fence along the perimeter of the backyard. When Hector worked as a landscaper during the summer, he had access to lots of plants and