Love Inspired Suspense September 2015 #1 by Alison Stone, Lisa Phillips, Margaret Daley Read Free Book Online Page A

constricted her chest. Panic drove her off the bed. But when she stood, she began to see shapes and glimpsed the clock. It was 9:30—obviously at night. She wasn’t trapped any longer. She was safe and at home.
    Just a dream—no, a nightmare.
    She flipped on the overhead light and drank in the sight of her bedroom. She eased onto the bed and dragged deep breaths into her lungs until her heartbeat slowed to a normal rate.
    Quiet melted the tension that had gripped her, and she thought of going back to sleep. But immediately dismissed that notion. She’d already slept over four hours, and her stomach rumbled. She decided to check on Kate and see if she’d ordered that pizza.
    Thoughts of her sister brought back what happened earlier and the fact that Kate was no doubt angry with her, her usual attitude toward Lydia. She hadn’t handled her sister right. She needed to apologize. She didn’t want what happened to disrupt her life any more than it already had.
    Out in the hallway, she found Cheri waiting at her door. Scooping her cat up into her arms, she started for the living room. The sound of Kate’s voice as well as a deep, masculine one floated to her. Who was here? She hoped it wasn’t the boy Kate was dating. Connor was a senior and from what she’d discovered, wild. Lydia didn’t want her sister making the mistake she’d made.
    She followed the voices to the kitchen. Stopping in the entrance, she stared first at Brutus, then Jesse sitting at the table with Kate across from him.
    â€œAre you sure you don’t want any more pizza? Lydia might not wake up until morning.” Kate was finishing off a piece, then slurped a long sip of her soft drink.
    Jesse’s gaze snagged Lydia’s.
    Kate twisted around in her chair and looked at Lydia. “How long have you been there?”
    She moved into the kitchen, Cheri wiggling in her arms. “A few seconds. Why?” She placed her cat on the floor, and Cheri stared at Brutus, then walked to him and settled down beside the Rottweiler as though that was where she belonged. Brutus gave her cat one look and closed his eyes.
    Kate shrugged. “Just wondering.”
    What had they been talking about? Lydia switched her attention to Jesse, his expression his usual neutral one whenever they were around each other. “Why are you here? Has something happened on the case?”
    Jesse and Kate exchanged a glance. “Kate called me.”
    â€œHow? Why?” Her sister had met Jesse at the hospital and had seen him again when she’d come home from school earlier, but that had all been casual.
    Kate scraped the chair back and shot to her feet, rounding on Lydia. “I called Bree and she gave me Jesse’s number. I started thinking about how someone might have been in the house, and I got scared.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you wake me up?”
    â€œAnd you’d do what? You’re hurting. Bree was working, and David is tied up. I thought of asking Connor to come over, but then you’d freak out if you found him here.”
    If she’d seen Connor, she probably would have. Connor reminded her of Aaron, and she didn’t want her sister to have anything to do with him, especially when she was sound asleep in another room. “I was wrong. I’m sure no one has been in the house while we were gone. The evening before the bombing, I was late going to bed, and I just didn’t shut the drawer all the way. I can’t even remember what happened at the bistro, let alone the night before.”
I’m panicking at the small things
.
    Kate curled her hands and then uncurled them. “Yeah, I guess. Anyway, I’ve got homework.” She looked over her shoulder at Jesse. “Thanks for sitting here with me.”
    â€œNo problem.” He gave her a smile that died the second Kate left the kitchen.
    Leaving them alone.
    The past few minutes left Lydia drained. She sank onto the