December Frost (A Southern Romance Monthly) by CJ Hockenberry Read Free Book Online

and inhaled.  
    It smelled like him!  
    Oh no…when had she noticed his smell?  
    She inhaled the next one, and then the next one, until she was at the back of the closet. Cecelia was intoxicated from his scent and felt the old familiar warmth starting between her legs. Damn girl… get a hold of yourself. A smell doesn't prove a thing!
    She leaned against the back and looked up at the shelf along the top. Several shoe boxes were stacked above her so she pulled them down and carried them to the bed.  
    They were full of pictures.  
    And everyone of   them had her Phantom in them. There were older photos of him much younger, with a brunette. Even more of him later on with a blonde.  
    In fact, it looked like Mr. Carr—as she felt she could call him that now—had been with a variety of babes through the years.
    Figures.  
    The guy was a hottie.  
    Deb came in and looked at the photos. "Huh…I guess this means he was telling the truth?"  
    "Yep. This is his house."  
    "So now you need to get to that car."  
    A noise downstairs made Deb squeak and Cecelia jump off the bed. She had her gun in her hands as she mouthed for Deb to hide. Deb did as she was told and Cecelia went to the door and listened.  
    A door slammed shut. She had a good shot of the front door so it had to be the back door. She stood at the top of the stairs and listened as someone made noises in the kitchen and then there was a strange noise—like a moan—then nothing.  
    Cecelia held her gun out in front of her as she descended the steps quickly. She whipped around to her left and then looked past the steps to the kitchen just visible past the living room.  
    Someone lay on the floor of the kitchen, and from the look of the shirt and the blood on it, she knew it was "Thomas!"  
    She was beside him before she could blink. He was on his stomach and blood covered his back. There was so much of it his shirt was sticking to him. She pressed her fingers to his neck and felt a pulse.  
    "Oh no…" Deb said as she came down the stairs. "I'll call an ambulance."  
    "No don't…" Cecelia didn't know why she said that. She just felt like he was in danger. They were all in danger.  
    "But he needs medical help. It looks like he's been shot."
    "You're medical help. You look at him and tell me what to do." Her phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket as she stood. It was the Captain. "Inzmann."  
    "Cece, I need you back in here. I know you're tired from last night, but I could use you."  
    "What's wrong?"  
    "The Phantom escaped, and it looks like he shot someone to do it."  

CHAPTER TEN

    Thomas came to slowly as he swam through images he wasn't sure were real or memories or something he'd seen on TV.  
    He could see her…the woman of his dreams. She was bending over him and her hair fell around her face. She was so…lovely…
    "Thomas?"  
    Other images were of someone in a white mask. The mask came off the floor and covered his face. He could feel it sticking to his skin, becoming a part of him. And there was laughter. A lot of laughter.  
    "Thomas…I need you to look at me if you can hear me."  
    He heard a woman's voice through the laughter and focused on it. When he moved past the mask and the images of his dream woman, dressed in a little black dress with a gun in her hand, he opened his eyes.  
    But what he saw wasn't his dream woman. He did recognize her though. He cleared his throat. "You're the woman in blue."  
    "I beg your pardon?"  
    "You were wearing blue last night. You were with the angel in black."  
    The blue woman smirked. It was a cute look. Then she shined something in his eyes. "I need you to look straight ahead."  
    "Ow."  
    "Now the other one….good. You're stabilizing, Mr. Carr. So I need you to remain still for now, okay? You lost a lot of blood."  
    Mr. Carr. He watched her turn her attention to something just out of sight. He also recognized the ceiling in his bedroom. "I'm home…and you called me