Page 49 of One Cut Deeper
I crawl under the blankets. Maybe I am fighting a little bit of shock, because I’m still not warm. Sheba does her usual circle pacing until she’s satisfied and plops down almost on top of me. I don’t mind. I use her flank as a pillow and wrap my arms around her. “No one’s going to hurt you, Sheba. No matter what he says.”
She licks my cheek and I bury my face in her fur. Somewhere out there, a man is running around with a bad dog bite. But I have a horrible feeling that it isn’t the man in the gold Suburban at all.
19
Imust have drifted to sleep. Something thuds in the distance. I try to open my eyes, but it’s like swimming through quicksand. My body won’t respond, even though I’m awake. At least, I think I’m awake.
“So where were you tonight, Mr. MacNiall?”
Thud thud thud.That’s the deputy again. I thought he was done with questioning.
“I was flying home from St. Paul. If you check Ranay’s phone, you’ll see that I texted her around 8 p.m. that I was on my way to the airport. Once I landed in Springfield, I saw her text that the alarm had gone off and I shut it off.”
“So you don’t have a monitoring company.”
“No. This is a DIY system I put in myself.”
“Oh, that’s right. You said you were doing this kind of work on the side. What’s your main job?”
Thud, thud.“I’m with Doctors Without Borders. I’m not a doctor, but I provide support for the team as needed.”
“So you’re gone a lot. Out of the country, even.”
“Quite often, yes. That’s why security on the house is so important to me.”
Thud, thud, thud.What are they doing? It sounds like a coffin getting nailed shut. I strain to lift my head to see, but a thousand pounds of bricks lay on top of me. At least my arm is starting to tingle.
“Why were you in St. Paul?”
Thud.“St. Paul wasn’t my original destination.”Thud.“I started in New York. Had a meeting there two days ago with the team about our next trip. On a whim, I decided to fly through St. Paul and try to catch up with an old friend, but I missed him. He was out of town for the holiday.”
Thud.My head is going to explode with all that pounding. Why is it so hard to breathe? I can’t seem to inflate my lungs all the way.
“I forgot to ask earlier—do you have a video feed that might have captured anything?”
“The cameras are outside, and only start capturing video once the alarm’s triggered. We can check, but I’m guessing all we got was the back of the guy’s head as he ran away. The panel’s in the bedroom. Hold on a second.” The door creaks open and Charlie calls softly, “Ranay?”
I try to answer, but all I can do is wiggle my fingers. Did someone drug me? I’ve never felt like this before. Sweat beads on my forehead. I can feel it, but I can’t make my body move.
“She must have fallen asleep. Here’s the panel. Let me pull up the video feed for you and I’ll check her.”
The panel beeps several times and then the bed dips. Charlie’s fingers smooth across my face. “Sheba, you big lazy slug. Move over and give her some room.”
The massive weight crawls off my chest and I take a deep breath. I want to scream, to tell him how scared I am that I can’t wake up, but the deputy is still here.
Somehow he senses my fear, because he scoops me up into his arms. His heart beats against my cheek, his hands so gentle and strong. “It’s alright. Just wait it out.”
“Anything wrong?” the deputy asks.
“I think she has sleep paralysis. Relax, kitten. I’ve got you. Give your body time to catch up with your mind.”
“You’re right—not much to go on,” the deputy says. “But when you get the chance, can you send us the feed? I’ll leave you my card with an email address on it. I doubt it’ll lead to anything but you never know.”
“Sure, I’d be glad to. Thanks for helping me with the plywood. We’d freeze to death before we could get a repairman out here to fix the glass, with it being a holiday and all.”
“No problem. If you think of anything else, just call. I’ll see myself out, Mr. MacNiall.”
The front door shuts. Charlie rocks me, his heart so strong and steady beneath my cheek. His body heat soaks into me, and muscle by muscle, I relax against him.