Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021 by Karen Whiddon (good e books to read txt) 📗

A moment later, a squad car pulled up. Micha told the officers everything he knew. “No, I didn’t think to get the license plate number,” he said. “Everything happened really fast.”

“All right,” one of the uniformed men said. “Please wait here while we check out the house.”

Micha nodded. Another thing he should have done, except he hadn’t wanted to take the chance of missing the police when they pulled up, or worse, being taken for an intruder.

Debating whether or not to follow them, he stopped when his phone rang. “Carly,” he said. “I’m at your house with the police.” Explaining what he’d witnessed, he finished with letting her know the police were making sure she hadn’t been broken into.

“Bridget’s in the kitchen,” she said, her voice shaky. “I have to make sure she’s all right and didn’t get out. Can you please check on her for me?”

“Of course.” He spotted the two policemen returning. “Let me call you back.”

Moving to meet the officers, Micha tried to get a quick read from their expressions but couldn’t.

“Everything looks fine,” the first one told him. “No broken windows, back door is still locked. No idea what the guy might have been doing, but it doesn’t appear he gained entry into the house.”

“Well, the dog barking inside might have scared him away,” the second one said. “Listen, we’ve got this street on our daily patrol. We’ll keep a close eye on things.”

Thanking them, Micha stood by his car and watched as they drove away.

What had the intruder been doing in Carly’s backyard? If he hadn’t been trying to break in, and clearly he hadn’t since he’d emerged before Micha had a chance to confront him, then why had he been back there?”

Immediately, Micha wondered if he’d installed a camera or some sort of listening device. It would have to be hidden, and protected from the weather, but still have a good view of the house. Again, though, he had to ask himself why.

Either way, he needed to check it out.

Letting himself in through the gate, which the policemen had left open, he made a mental note to ask Carly to get a lock. Double-checking everything, he made sure the back door was still secure. The instant he checked the knob, Carly’s new dog began to bark. Micha grinned. At least he could tell Carly that Bridget was all right.

Next he moved on to the windows. They all were secure, locked up tight. The back shed door sat slightly ajar. Inside, Micha found an ancient push lawn mower and some old paint cans. He realized the small pile of leaves had likely been where Carly’s new dog had made her bed. Nothing appeared to have been disturbed, so Micha went back outside. He stood in front of the shed, facing the house, trying to ascertain where someone might place a hidden camera so they could keep an eye on things 24/7.

He searched every place that made sense and some that didn’t, finding nothing. Maybe he was being too paranoid. After all, a camera out here would only have an extremely limited view of Carly when she came outside.

But what if... What if the man had placed something up against a window with the intent of capturing activity inside the house? Unless Carly kept her back blinds or curtains closed, a camera like that would do an excellent job of monitoring her every movement.

Trying to remember the home’s layout, he checked the master bedroom’s windows first. Nothing. Moving on to the back door, he found that also clear. The last window was in the kitchen, over the sink. And that’s where he located the tiny camera, aimed inside. Which made sense, because Carly left those blinds raised a few inches so her plants could get light.

Micha debated, but left the camera in place for now. He also debated calling the police back out but decided to notify Carly instead. It would be her decision how to proceed from there.

Once he’d made his way back to his rental car, he called Carly. “First up, Bridget is fine,” he told her. “I can hear her inside the house, barking.”

“Thank goodness.” Carly sounded so relieved. “What about my house?”

“No break-in or damage. All the windows and doors are intact. The police checked everything out and left.”

“Really?” With an audible exhale, Carly sighed. Micha could picture her at that very moment, rolling her shoulders and practicing deep breathing exercises to try to get rid of her tension. “Then what was that guy doing in my backyard?” she asked. “Or do you suppose you surprised him before he could do anything?”

“He was leaving when I pulled up,” Micha reminded her. “After the police left, I went in your backyard to take another look. I found something. A tiny video camera installed on your kitchen window, looking inside.”

Carly went quiet before letting out a murmured curse word. “Did you call the police back out?”

“No, not yet. I wanted you to see it for yourself first. You’ve got to pretend like you don’t know it’s there until the police can check it out. They might have a way to trace the feed all the way back to the source,” he said.

“Which would mean we could catch the guy,” Carly finished. “Okay, that makes sense. But I’ve got to tell you, it seriously creeps me out.”

“Understandable.”

She made a sound, somewhere between a strangled laugh and an exasperated cry. “I guess they can watch videos of Bridget for the rest of the day. Talk about an invasion of privacy.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“I have a favor to ask you. Would you mind being there when I get home from work? I really don’t want to deal with that alone.”

With that, his day became a hundred times better. “Of course I’ll be here. What time do you get off?”

“I’m working a short shift today. I’ll be home around three.”

After ending the call, he got into