It was already after ten and the moon was out. Bowie should be here soon, and when he showed up, he was in for a big surprise.
In her walk-in closet, Aspen smiled to herself as she slipped on her sexiest bra and panty set, a confection of black and purple lace, and topped it off with a form-fitting sheath dress that hugged every curve on her body. She’d bought it on a shopping trip with Nat shortly before the accident, and hadn’t worn it yet. It felt right to wear it for Bowie.
She stepped out of the closet and paused to check her reflection in the mirror attached to the antique dresser, smoothing her hands over the sleek, blood-red silk that came to just below the knee. The dress was pure sex, and totally different from anything Bowie had seen her in so far. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and still damp from her shower.
Which reminded her, she needed to close and lock the bathroom window now. The fan still wasn’t working, so she’d cracked the window a few inches to let the steam escape, but after last night’s robbery attempt, she wanted the house buttoned up tight.
Turning toward the bathroom, she caught sudden movement behind her in the mirror. She whipped around, her heart seizing when a shadow detached itself from the bathroom door.
Aspen jerked, retreating a step until she came up against the edge of the dresser as the shadow materialized into a human silhouette. A woman, dressed all in black. Her throat constricted, fear blasting through her. She couldn’t scream, shock paralyzing her.
And then the woman stepped into the light, pulling off the mask to reveal her face. The golden blond hair pulled back into a ponytail.
Gina. Her eyes glittering with hatred as she stared at Aspen. She held a knife in her gloved hand.
Aspen’s insides shriveled as she gaped at that knife. A big, military-style blade with a wickedly sharp tip.
Terror forked through her, unfreezing her enough to turn and lunge for the bedroom door. She heard the rapid footsteps behind her. A scream rose in her throat as she reached for the doorknob, Gina’s approaching shadow growing larger on the back of the door.
She saw Gina’s shadow arm rise, the outline of that deadly knife poised to strike. She whirled to the side at the last moment, a scream finally escaping her tight throat as she narrowly avoided the blade Gina swiped at her, missing her by inches.
Aspen leapt back out of range, her heart threatening to explode, fear blanketing her mind like a haze. Gina stood poised in front of the door, knife ready, blocking her only way out.
Aspen whirled and bolted for the bathroom, intending to lock herself in and escape through the window. Gina angled to cut her off, her face a mask of hatred as she swung the knife in a deadly arc toward Aspen’s neck. Aspen reared back, skin crawling, a sob catching in her throat as she grabbed a brass candlestick from the dresser.
She hurled it at Gina, who flinched and put up her hands. The heavy stick hit her in the forearm, her hiss of pain filling Aspen’s ears as she turned and raced for the bathroom.
Gina kicked out a leg and tripped her. Aspen hit the floor hard and rolled, a high-pitched sound of terror ripping from her as the knife whipped past her shoulder so fast it created a breeze an instant before it thudded into the wooden floor. She lunged for the bed and grabbed a pillow, holding it like a shield in front of her as she shoved to her feet.
Gina screeched in rage and drove the knife at her. Aspen managed to block it with the pillow. The blade sank right through it. She hissed at the hot sting of the tip slicing along her upper arm, barely had time to jerk away before Gina withdrew the knife and came at her for another strike.
Enraged, Aspen drew her foot up and kicked as hard as she could. She caught Gina in the thigh, knocking her off balance. The woman stumbled to the side and went down on one knee to catch herself, giving Aspen just enough time to dart away and get past her.
Gina jumped up and lunged at her, slashing with the knife as Aspen flew past. A hot burn sliced down the back of her shoulder, ripping a cry from her tight throat, her heart on the verge of exploding.
She snatched a jar candle from the dresser on the way to the door and hurled it at Gina. A solid thunk sounded behind her, telling her it had hit its mark, but Aspen didn’t check or slow down. She raced straight for the bedroom door, wrenched it open, then threw it shut and tore into the hallway.
The door flew open, banging against the wall. “I’m gonna kill you, bitch!”
Aspen dropped the pillow, the cuts on her arm and shoulder stinging, blood dripping over her skin. Panic turned her legs wobbly as she ran to the top of the stairs, Gina’s footsteps echoing over the blood pounding in her ears. She skidded down the carpeted stairs in her bare feet, every hair on her body standing on end, her lungs like concrete and her mind shrieking at her to run, run.
When she reached the bottom, she frantically twisted the lock on the side door, then ripped it open and ran through it, throwing it shut with all her might and praying the alarm would go off like it was supposed to. Gina burst through it just as Aspen made it down the wooden steps to the edge of the grass between her house and Jack’s.
Aspen sucked in as deep a breath as she could and screamed with all her might. “Help! Jack, help me!”
She ran for his back stairs, but Gina was too close, veering to the right, cutting off her path. She could hear Sinbad barking frantically inside, but no sign of Jack. She glanced around frantically, needing help now, but there was no one.
The beach. There would be people on the beach.
“Help me!” She darted to the left and raced for the steps leading down to the beach, desperate to get away from Gina and find help.
****
“Help!”
Jack jolted awake in his easy chair, his heart rocketing into his throat. What the hell? He’d fallen asleep with the TV on again.
Sinbad jumped off his bed in the corner and ran to the kitchen.
“Jack, help me!”
Aspen.
Jack shot to his feet and raced after his dog. Sinbad was barking his head off, pawing at the door to get out. Jack whipped back the curtain on the kitchen window to peer outside.
It was dark out, but there was enough moonlight for him to see Aspen as she raced down the steps toward the beach with someone chasing her, her shrill scream making the hair on his neck stand up. Then her house alarm screeched, drowning her out.
“Jesus,” he breathed, and raced for his gun locker. He grabbed a pistol, loaded a magazine into it and tore outside.
Sinbad raced ahead of him, barking frantically. Jack ran out the door just as a car pulled into Aspen’s driveway.
Jack waved his free arm frantically. “Bowie!” he shouted over the blaring alarm.
Bowie jumped out. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s attacking Aspen! They went down to the beach!” He could still hear Sinbad barking in the distance.
Bowie broke into a sprint, his car door still open. “Where?” he demanded as he ran toward Jack.
Jack held out the pistol for him. “Just went down the steps. Hurry!”
Bowie snatched it from him and raced toward the stairs. “Call the cops!”
Jack ran after him, yanking out his cell phone to call 911 and praying Aspen would be all right.