Hide My Thoughts: A Romantic Suspense Thriller Book (Hide Me Series 2) by Lisa Ladew Page B

about sixty years old, with salt-and-pepper hair and an affinity for cats, coming through the yard from her house. He took two steps backwards, his eyes still crawling over his living room through the open door, alert and ready for anything.
    Mrs. Lowell called out a greeting and West held up a hand to interrupt her, his eyes still on his house. “Mrs. Lowell, someone has been in my house. Can you stay out here with Katerina? Katerina, can you call the police? Stay on the line with the dispatcher until I come back out.”
    Without waiting for a reply from either of the women, he entered his front door quickly and quietly, his nerves on high alert. Something was very wrong here and he wanted to know what. He did a short circle through his living room, checking behind all the largest furniture, and then he headed into the kitchen. Everything was in order – there was no sign of anything being disturbed. He opened the walk-in pantry door and looked out the sliding glass door to the backyard: quiet and empty. He crept back to the living room and saw Katerina, still in the yard, talking on her phone. Good. A quick glance into his office showed that it was empty as well, so he headed up the stairs to the bedrooms. The guest bedroom, the bathroom, and the weight room were quiet and still. Pausing just outside his own bedroom door, he listened hard, trying to hear any betraying noises. If someone were in the house, this is where they would be. He didn’t believe someone was still in the house, but whatever had been done, had been done in here. Where it would hit him the hardest. That’s how this guy operated.
    Standing well away from the door, he pushed it open and waited for a moment. When nothing came out at him, he walked in slowly, every sense on high alert.
    The smell hit him first. The metallic, strong smell of blood. A woman in his bed. A dead woman, her blood soaking the blankets. She had not been killed and then placed here, someone had killed a woman in his bed. Strong surges of anger flushed through West. How dare this man? … this beast? This … non-human. No one human could kill people so indiscriminately. If only he could have five minutes alone with this guy, face-to-face. If only he could stop this somehow.
     
    ***
     
    West searched his house a bit more thoroughly, making sure not to touch anything, then retreated back out to the yard, trying to swallow his intense anger for now. There was no note, no mask, and no indication that this had anything to do with what was going on with Katerina. But of course it did. West didn’t know exactly what the point was of this most recent murder, but he knew it was awful.
    Katerina eyed him warily, the question in her eyes, but she didn’t ask it. Good, he didn’t want to tell her, although he knew he would have to eventually.
    “I called police dispatch, and they didn’t seem too impressed, so I called Blaise. He’s on his way over.”
    West took her hand, wanting to touch her, wanting suddenly to run away with her to a desert island and stay there forever. Somewhere where it could be just the two of them, and no one would ever find them. Somewhere where they could pretend crazy, murdering bastards didn’t exist.
    Mrs. Lowell stood next to Katerina, her eyes wide. “West, what is going on? Did someone break in your house?”
    West nodded, not sure how much he should say. “Mrs. Lowell, did you see anyone at my house in the last few days?”
    Mrs. Lowell shook her head. “No one. The neighborhood has been as quiet as usual, and your house has been empty as far as I could tell.”
    West nodded and looked distractedly off in the distance. He hoped that Blaise showed up before any uniformed police officer. He had to imagine how horrible this looked for him right now. He would be the first suspect, no matter what. A terrifying thought wormed its way into his consciousness. What if there were some evidence planted that made it look like he was indeed the killer? What