Alexandra studied the SUV in the carport. Was it JT’s car? It had to be.
She turned with a bit of dread and faced the house, which might not be her safe haven anymore. Whoever was here would have their phone with them in the house.
Oh, what she’d give for the car phones of her childhood. She remembered her dad’s excitement as he’d shown her five-year-old self the latest in cellular technology. He’d joked that he would need to get an answering machine for his car. Now, car phones and answering machines were a thing of the ancient past.
She took a deep breath and tried to mentally prepare herself to peek in the windows of the house. If JT had arrived and brought a girlfriend, there was a reasonable chance she’d get an eyeful of something she absolutely did not want to see.
JT had been a big fan of the privacy that ninety-plus acres provided. She’d lost count of the number of times she and JT had sex in the living room, curtains wide open for any Peeping Tom to see.
She shivered. The sun had set an hour ago, and the snow had begun to fall again. She’d spent the day burrowed into a shelter she’d made with branches, but she was chilled to her core. She needed to get inside and warm up, or grab her car and go.
After scouting through the windows, if the coast was clear, she’d use the hidden key to enter the house. Once inside, she’d steal JT’s phone if she could, then bolt. She had little doubt he still used the same six-digit password.
Easy-peasy, as long as JT was alone and upstairs.
If he wasn’t, she’d have to wait.
Silently, she stepped up onto the deck that lined the back of the house. She dropped to all fours and crawled to the window and peered inside. A light was on in the corner, but it was dim. She could barely see into the room, and she didn’t see anything but the back of the couch.
No JT. No other woman.
Thank god no one was having sex.
She took a slow, silent breath and crawled along the icy-cold treated wood planks. The dining room was dark, only a faint glow from the single lamp in the living room giving the outline of the table and ten chairs. Beyond it, the kitchen was completely dark. A blank, black wall.
She crawled to the edge of the deck and slowly rose to a crouch so she could skirt around the house to the front porch, where there was a window into the kitchen.
Snowflakes kissed her cheeks as she made her way around. She gave thanks for JT’s abhorrence of light pollution, which meant the porch lights were off.
Soon, the night would be nothing but inky darkness, even with the falling white snow.
One of the porch steps creaked under her feet, and she froze, waiting to see if anyone had heard the sound and knew what it meant. But no lights came on. No movement sounded.
The kitchen was as dark from this side as it had been from the back of the house.
There was no more putting it off. She had to go inside. If JT was alone and she couldn’t find his phone, she’d ask for his help. But if his phone was easily grabbable, she’d take it and run.
She toed off her shoes so she wouldn’t make a sound on the slate floor of the entryway or the hardwood in the living room and kitchen, then squared her shoulders and slipped the key into the dead bolt and turned. The door opened without so much as a squeak. She stepped inside and closed it silently behind her.
She went for the kitchen first. JT usually dropped his phone on the counter as he made a beeline for the fridge.
The counter was empty.
She turned for the living room. If she was lucky, he’d have left it on the coffee table.
She stepped softly into the living room. The L-shaped couch was at an angle, but she could see a male hand draped on the back cushion. Then she heard a loud snore.
JT. He must be sleeping on the couch. She’d bet anything the phone would be on the coffee table or end table closest to his head. He wasn’t the type to sleep with it in his pocket.
She held her breath to keep from making a sound as she tiptoed around the end of the couch. She didn’t look at the man, afraid even her gaze would wake him.
She spotted the phone and pressed her hand to her mouth to silence the gust of relieved breath. Her hands shook as she stepped closer and reached for it. Her heart pounded so loud, she was sure it would wake him.
She grabbed the phone, but it slipped from her shaking fingers and hit the table with a soft thunk.
Her gaze jerked to the man on the couch. His eyes popped open and widened in shock. His hand moved from the back of the couch and pressed to the bundle on his chest.
Her gaze dropped to his hand and took in the dark shape.
She let out a soft cry, and tears burst forth as what she was seeing in the dim room became clear.
Her daughter was sound asleep, snuggled in a ball against JT’s bare chest.