Page 79 of The Keeper and I

The only sound he could detect was the pounding of his own heart. Panting, he rounded the corner into the living room.

He heard Dane’s shout before he felt his weight against his back. Jordan went to ground, turning so he would land face up. Dane fell on top of Jordan, but the latter was quick. He put his hands up to catch Dane on the chest, then shoved with all his might to get Dane off him before he could be overpowered.

Dane stumbled back and landed on the coffee table.

The glass top shattered beneath his weight. Jordan scrambled to his feet. Dane stood, and shards crunched beneath his sneakers. Jordan stepped back.

Absurdly, he realized how vulnerable he was in only his boxers. He knew Dane had been armed. And with the cargo pants and coat he had on, there were plenty of places to conceal more. He didn’t dare steal a glance at the knife block to see if any more were missing though. He couldn’t risk taking his eyes off Dane for a second.

Laci appeared on the stairs.

Dane spotted her as soon as Jordan did, and Dane lunged. She jumped back with a yelp, but Jordan blocked Dane with a shove in the back before he could get close. Dane slid across the floor, stopping before his back hit the front door. He clamored to his feet and squared up to Jordan again.

Before they could trade any more blows, blue lights flashed outside the window, accompanied by the wail of a siren. Dane’s eyes went wide, and he bolted for the back door.

Jordan grabbed him by the coat. “Gotcha!”

“You wish.” Dane shrugged out of it. He hurtled over the couch and was in the back garden within seconds. Jordan pursued.

He heard Laci call after him, but he ignored her.

He scanned the darkness as he caught his breath. There had to be some way to tell where Dane went, motion in the bushes or tracks in the grass, but there was nothing.

He vanished.

“Fuck!” Jordan punched the siding on the house.

“Hands up!”

Jordan looked up at two officers approaching with sidearms drawn and pointed directly at his chest. He obeyed with a scowl. Before he got his hands in the air, Laci came out as well.

“Not him, that’s my boyfriend!” she cried.

“The guy you’re after took off,” Jordan explained, putting an arm around Laci’s shoulders. She was trembling.

The officers nodded and headed into the yard. Jordan led Laci back inside where a third officer, the same one who’d come the first time Dane showed up at Laci’s house, stood looking forlornly at the smashed remains of her coffee table. He turned to Jordan and Laci.

“We missed him?” the officer asked.

Jordan nodded. “Aye, he’s a slippery wee fucker.”

“I’ll need your statements.”

He interviewed Jordan and Laci separately. Laci went first so that the medics could look Jordan over, but he only had minor scrapes and bruises, nothing worse than what he got in training. He found himself impossibly angrier retelling what happened than he was when it happened. He should have been faster. He should never have let his guard down. He should have smashed Dane’s fucking skull in. Each time he looked at Laci, ashen-faced and frightened, he went through all the things he should have done again. How could he have been so careless?

“Miss Miller, I believe it is time to stay somewhere else,” the officer advised. “Especially since you don’t know how he got in. You’re certain the door was locked?”

“Positive,” she said. “I check every night before we go to bed.”

“Have you been away from home recently? Did you travel for Christmas?”

“Yes, but what’s that got to do with it?”

“It’s possible he cased the home while you were gone. Did you have any security installed? Cameras? Anything like that?”

“A couple outside by the doors.”

“We’ll need to see the footage from those. It could help us sort out how he managed to get inside.”