A Billionaire's Redemption - By Cindy Dees Page 0,29

lay down to sleep. She resorted to pulling the covers up entirely over her head when the fear became too much to stand. Then, she’d start to feel foolish and poke her head out once more. She’d emerged from the cocoon of her covers a fourth time, and her alarm clock said it was nearly

2:00 a.m. when she heard a noise.

Not a big noise. A rather innocuous little creak. Except she knew that creak. It was the spot just inside her dining room from the kitchen. A person had to step on the loose floorboard to make it squeak like that. Oh, God. Someone was out there!

She flew out of her bed in sudden terror, grabbed her cell phone from her nightstand, and tore into her bathroom. She closed the door as quietly as she could and locked it carefully. Finally daring to breathe, she eased away from the door and climbed into the bathtub.

She put a towel over her mouth and phone to muffle the sound of her call, dialed the police and whispered in panic, “This is Willa Merris. I’m at my house on Elm Street, and there’s an intruder in my home.”

“Ma’am, you thought there was an intruder last night, too. Are you sure there’s someone in your house? Is it possible your imagination is playing tricks on you?”

They didn’t believe her. Someone was right outside, and there was no telling what the intruder had planned for her. She had no time for arguments with skeptical sheriff’s deputies.

She disconnected the line, and in panic, dialed Gabe Dawson’s cell-phone number.

After three agonizingly slow rings, a gruff, sleepy voice muttered, “’Lo.”

“Gabe, it’s Willa,” she whispered frantically. “There’s someone in my house and the police don’t believe me. They refuse to come. I didn’t know who else to call.”

“I’ll be right there.” He abruptly sounded completely alert. “Where are you right now?”

“The bathtub.”

“Stay there. I’m going to be armed and will shoot anything that moves when I get there. I’ll be there in three minutes.”

The phone went dead and she pressed herself against the cold porcelain, uncomfortably cramped in her small tub. Please, please hurry, Gabe.

* * *

Gabe had never moved so fast as he snatched the shotgun off the mantel and tore outside. He leaped into his SUV and roared down the street and around the corner. He probably made it to the curb in front of Willa’s place in two minutes, but it felt like two hours. Making no attempt to be quiet or stealthy, he slammed his door and raced up the sidewalk toward her darkened house.

He swore as the front doorknob turned easily under his hand. No way had she left it unlocked like that. Willa was too scared of crap like this not to have double-checked it before she went to bed.

He threw the door open and surged into the front room, shotgun at the ready. He swung the barrel around the room. Clear. He burst into the dining room, which Willa had turned into an office. The place was a shambles, but no one moved in the space. He cleared the kitchen next and moved down the hall toward the back of the house. It looked like two bedrooms and a bathroom back here. He threw open the first door. Bedroom. Clear. He checked the closet fast and then backed out of the room.

Second door was locked. Probably the bathroom where Willa was hiding. She must be scared out of her mind. He moved on to the last door. It was already open and he spun inside aggressively. Nobody there. He heard a sound from the rear of the house and ran for the end of the hall and the door there. He burst onto the back porch in time to see a shadow atop the tall back fence of Willa’s yard. He yanked the gun up fast, but by the time he got it into firing position, the shadow had dropped out of sight on the other side of the fence.

Temptation to chase the intruder and blow a hole in him warred with his need to protect and comfort the terrified woman behind him.

Frustrated, Gabe turned for the house. He went through the place room by room throwing open closets and checking under beds and tables, anywhere a person could hide. Nothing seemed to be missing from the house. Television, stereo, silver and china were all in place. But the computer in the dining room was trashed. It looked like someone had smashed