Gingerbread Man by Maggie Shayne Read Free Book Online

she gasped. "There." She pointed.
    He looked where she pointed, and she jabbed her finger insistently when he looked back at her. So he let go of her shoulders, and ran to the rear of the house. Seconds later, he was back. "There's nothing there, Red. Okay?'
    "No." She was still panting, her heart still hammering like a runaway train.
    He knelt down, and she saw what he'd been carrying. A paper bag of groceries. He dumped out what remained in the bag, though most had already spilled, and then he squeezed the bag shut around its neck, and held it over her mouth. "Breathe slower," he told her. "Come on, slow down. Easy."
    Her lungs expanded the paper bag and deflated it, over and over, and the dizziness eased. Too much oxygen would put you on your back fast, she knew it from experience. It had been a long time, but not long enough that she had forgotten.
    He was talking. Saying the things her mom used to say to talk her through the panic attacks. "You're perfectly safe. I'm right here. Nothing can hurt you. You're safe, and everything's all right."
    She fought to control her breathing, tried to consciously slow it down. He led her toward a tree, and she put one hand flat against its rough bark. Her breathing finally slowed. Her heartbeat eased. She sat down, leaned against the strong tree trunk. It helped, for some reason.
    "There was a man ... in your cabin."
    He nodded, looking around them. "If there was, he's long gone now. Did you get a look at him?"
    "Not really." She took another breath, and another.
    He was still standing, but no longer examining the area quite as intensely. "You didn't see him?"
    "No."
    "Then how do you know he was there?"
    "I..." She averted her eyes. "There was something ... a shadow. And then the door creaked."
    He remained silent, studying her face.
    "And a twig snapped," she added for good measure, refusing to back down. "I didn't imagine it."
    "Okay. All right. You didn't imagine it." Again he looked around, and she noticed he'd unbuttoned his denim jacket. Better to reach his gun she thought.
    "And I'm not crazy."
    He looked at her sharply. "Did I say you were crazy?"
    "I'm not."
    "Are you all right now?"
    "Yes." She reached a hand up, and he took it and pulled her easily to her feet. "You ... should call Chief Mallory."
    He nodded as if considering her words. "Do you have panic attacks often, Holly?"
    She looked at the ground. "Not in years."
    Taking her by the hand, without even bothering to see whether she objected, he led her to the cabin and up the three steps to the front door. He tried to be casual about it as he searched the place to be sure it was safe. It was a small cabin, so it wasn't a major job. Bedroom, closet, bathroom, kitchen, that was it. But she got the distinct impression he was only doing it to humor her.
    She sank onto the plaid camelback sofa, embarrassed to the roots of her hair, wondering what he thought of her. He came back, went to the door, and locked it. Then he brought her a glass of water.
    Sitting up a little straighter, she took it and sipped. But she nearly choked on it when he said, "So you wanna tell me what you were doing snooping around my cabin?"
    "I wasn't," she lied.
    "No?"
    "No. It's a... a shortcut. To my uncle Marty and aunt Jen's place. There's a path through the woods. It forks in the middle. Left goes to my uncle and aunt's place. Right goes farther, all around the west bank of the lake."
    "Uh-huh." It was obvious he didn't believe her.
    "Look, I come out here all the time. My uncle Marty owns these cabins. I used to stay a couple of weeks in one of them every summer when I was a kid."
    "Should I assume that means you'll be out here snooping often?"
    "No!"
    His mouth narrowed. "Do you have a key?"
    "Oh, don't be ridiculous." She sighed, sipped more water, set the glass down. "How did you know what to do?" she asked, partly to change the subject, and partly because she was curious.
    "About the panic attack, you mean?" He shrugged. "It's not the first