Page 3 of Forbidden Whispers
He looked confused. “Other places?”
She cleared her throat. “Clearly something happened here, Noah. Something...violent.” Her eyes flicked over the room again. She swallowed, then continued. “A friend of mine has had me listen to a few true crime podcasts with her, and sometimes people aren’t always where you might expect them to be.”
Noah felt lightheaded. “Are you talking about a dead body stuffed in a closet or something?”
Maggie winced at his words. “It’s...possible.”
A lump of panic rose in his throat, bringing with it the nausea he’d felt earlier. He raced into the kitchen and heaved over the sink. He was mortified to see out of the corner of his eye that Maggie had followed him. Her look of concern did nothing to assuage the embarrassment he felt.
He turned on the faucet and swished out his mouth for several long minutes.
“Would you like a piece of gum?” Maggie asked.
“Uh...yeah, that would be great.”
He dried his hands on the decorative towel hanging from Valentina’s pristine oven while Maggie rummaged through her purse. She pulled out a stick of gum and handed it to him. The crisp, clean flavor of peppermint filled his mouth, the scent of it helping to calm his nerves.
“So, I’m thinking we should probably go through the rooms more carefully then,” Maggie said, looking apologetic.
A feeling of dread rose in him, but he gave a small nod. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s do this.”
Together, they moved from the kitchen down the hallway leading to the other rooms. First, they checked the laundry room, then the bathroom. A peek behind the shower curtain revealed nothing more incriminating than a sparkling clean white tile shower.
Next, they stepped inside the master bedroom. Maggie dropped to the floor and peeked under the bed. She gave a sigh of relief. “It’s clear, except for a few dust bunnies.”
“Great,” Noah said, and turned to look at the closet with a feeling of distaste. He reached for the closet door handle and slowly opened it. Maggie was behind him, peeking around his shoulder.
The two sides of the walk-in closet held rows of women’s clothing that were organized by color from light to dark. There was an empty laundry basket and shelves that held a few neatly arranged pairs of women’s shoes. Nothing more.
Noah sighed with relief and shut the door.
They moved on to the final room, the second bedroom. After Maggie’s look under the bed, Noah started to feel himself relax a little. He opened this bedroom’s closet door more easily than he had the first. But he gave a sudden cry of shock and stumbled backward against Maggie as a large dog came bounding out from inside.
The dog made a beeline for the front door of the condo and began to whine.
Noah and Maggie exchanged a look and then raced after him. The dog appeared to be some type of German Shepherd mix, with a glossy coat of black, cream, and gold fur. One of his ears pointed straight upright, but the other was cocked at a forty-five degree angle. His long nose was pointed directly at the door. He wasn’t interested in them at all. He just continued to whine and began pawing at the door. A blue leash trailed from the collar around his neck.
“Maybe he needs to go to the bathroom?” Maggie suggested.
“Oookay,” Noah said. He picked up the leash and opened the front door. The dog bolted through it, pulling Noah along with him. He bounded down the steps of the small front porch and stopped at the fire hydrant in front of the building, lifting his leg.
Maggie stood at the front door watching while Noah waited, and waited, and waited for the dog to finish. His mission finally complete, the dog trotted back to sit in front of Noah. His soft, milk-chocolate brown eyes were expectant.
“I’m sorry, boy, but I don’t have anything for you,” Noah said. He reached out a tentative hand and let the dog sniff him. Then he scratched him behind his flopped-over ear.
Maggie spoke from the open doorway. “He seems to know you.”
Noah looked at her helplessly.
She sighed. “I know, I know. You don’t remember. I wonder what his name is.”
“He’s got a tag.” Noah slipped his hand to the dog’s collar and lifted the small, silver circle at its center. “Boon,” he said, and looked at the dog’s face. “Well, Boon. Feel better now?”
Boon licked Noah’s palm.
Noah looked back at Maggie, bemused, and shrugged one shoulder. She gave him a half smile back and shook her head. Her soft blond curls bobbed around her face and shoulders, looking like a halo of gold in the morning sunlight. Despite the utter craziness of the situation, he was struck afresh with how beautiful she was.
As he led Boon back up the porch steps, his thoughts drifted back to when they’d attended high school together. He’d had the most massive crush on the curvy, petite Maggie Milena. Actually, it was more than a crush. He’d been completely in love with her. But she never knew.