“Hold on.”
She glanced outside again but kept her body shielded from the window.
Only her bobbing neighbors were visible. Lights from several neighbors’ houses went on. Probably because of the noise coming from her house.
She stepped away from the window, and pointed the gun in front of her as she looked in the bathroom, checked under the bed, her closet. Nothing. She released a shuddering breath.
She heard Neil talking to someone else through her phone. “Directly behind the residence. My client sees two bodies in a backyard hot tub.”
Gwen scrambled into the middle of the bed and listened to Neil barking information and orders. His tone was deadly. One she’d never heard him use before.
“Gwen?”
“I’m here.”
“Hold on.”
Like she could do anything else. She asked herself why she wanted to live alone. This wasn’t independence…this was fear. Raw unadulterated fear. Seconds ticked into minutes.
Her body jolted as the screaming of her alarm went silent. “Did you do that?” she frantically asked Neil.
“Yes. I’m in my car. On the way. Don’t open the door for anyone.”
She already heard sirens approaching from outside. “But the police.”
“For no one. I’ll let you know when I’m there.” It was a twenty-minute drive under the best of conditions from Blake’s home to hers. She didn’t think she could wait that long.
“What’s going on, Neil?” Something was wrong. Very wrong.
“Ten minutes.”
There were flashes of lights behind her house. She crawled to the window and noticed the flashlights of the police as they roamed the neighbors’ yard.
“Gwen?”
“The police are here.” One of the uniformed officers moved to grab one of her dead neighbors from the water. Another man stopped him by pulling him back. The officer tossed something in the water, and the water sparked.
“Oh, God.”
“What?” Neil asked.
“The police are trying to remove my neighbors but the water…It’s charged. It just arced.”
“Electrical current?”
“I guess. How is that possible?”
“Is there a power line down in the water?”
She looked around, didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
“No.” She heard the horn of Neil’s car. “Be careful.”
“Are you still in your room?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Minutes ticked by at a painfully slow speed. Finally, Neil said, “I’m pulling onto your street.”
She squeezed her eyes closed and thanked God he was close.
“I’m coming in now.”
She heard him running up the stairs.
One urge from his foot and the door popped open, cracking the wood as it crashed against the wall.
Gwen flung the gun on the bed and jumped into Neil’s waiting arms.
He held her. His massive arms wrapped around her in a cocoon of safety.
“It’s OK.”
She held him tighter. Buried her face in his chest.
“Shhh, it’s OK.”
“I’ve never been so scared.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Miss Harrison?” Someone called from downstairs. “Tarzana Police.”
Neil loosened his hold and held her face in one hand.
Real fear traced Neil’s brow. He tried to smile and failed miserably.
“Miss Harrison?”
“Up here,” Neil answered for her.
The heavy feet of the officer made it up the stairs. He glanced briefly at the door and then at the two of them. The officer, a kid not much older than twenty-five, looked around the room.
“Miss Harrison?”
Gwen nodded, not trusting herself to speak just yet. Neil still held her and she wasn’t about to push away.
“I understand you saw the bodies and notified the police.”
“I was on the phone with her and sounded the alarm by remote access,” Neil said.
The officer raised a questioning brow. “Remote access?”
“That’s right.”
Gwen’s gaze slid to her blinds.
The officer moved into the room and looked out the window. “You can’t miss that. You spy on your neighbors often, Miss Harrison?”
Neil’s arm tightened around her. “You’re out of line, officer.” The anger in Neil’s voice was thinly reined.
“Duly noted, Mr.…?”
“MacBain,” he answered. “C’mon, Gwen, let’s get you out of this room.”
Gwen was still shaking as she made her way downstairs with Neil holding her up.
When she closed her eyes, she saw her neighbors bobbing in the bubbling water. How long would she live with that image as company?
Neil perched himself at the edge of the couch and sat her down beside him.
Another officer had made his way into the house. “Are you the homeowners?”
“I am.”
“You reported the bodies?”
Gwen blinked twice. “So they are dead?”
The officer looked at Neil and nodded once.
Bloody hell.
The officer upstairs called his colleague.
“I need to talk to the police. Are you going to be OK here?” Neil asked.
Gwen wrapped her robe closer to her body. “I’ll be fine.”
“Where’s your cell phone?”