Captain Swan - Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

SNEAK PEEK

Chapter 12 

As Emma pulls into her garage the next evening, she doesn't know if accepting the chief of surgery position earlier was the right decision exactly, but she knows David would still consider her a suspect either way. Plus, she knows in her heart of hearts, she can do the job, and she can do it well. As Elsa said, she should stop overthinking everything and follow her heart more often, so that's what she's trying to do. She still doesn't feel completely right about taking Graham's position after his death, but the board is delaying making promotion official for two weeks, out of respect for him. She is relieved since it will give her time to put her life back in order again.

As soon as Emma steps into her kitchen from the garage, her purse falls to the floor, and she freezes before she can get the door closed behind her.

What the fuck?

Flickering lights appear through the connecting entryway to the living room and the song, The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra is playing. Which is odd because there should not be anything in her living room that would produce that type of light. She certainly didn't leave her TV on when she left this morning. Fear spikes in her blood, her heart racing as she tries to will her feet to move. Emma should run away, she should call the police, she should do something other than stand there, but her feet seem to be glued to the floor. Besides, she knows who's responsible, and she's not about to run out of her own house screaming.

No, that damn bastard will not break her.

Inhaling a long, shaky breath, she grabs a large knife from the knife block on the counter and tentatively forces her feet forward through the kitchen and into the living room. There are dozens of lit candles on every surface, another large bouquet of roses on the coffee table, just like the first time he broke into her house. Once again, she has no idea how he got in, but one thing's - make that two things are - for sure, he's obsessed with roses, and she is installing an alarm system as soon as she can. She doesn't know why she didn't after the first time he got in. Then again, the bastard would probably find a way to disable it.

The music is pouring from the speakers, but she can hear the sound of her heartbeat over it. She's not even sure where the music is coming from. It must be from a Bluetooth device, which means he can't be too far away.

She slowly heads down the hallway, which seems to stretch on forever, dark and ominous, despite all the candles in the living room. She checks her office, looking under the desk, behind the curtains and in the closet as she holds the hilt of the knife unsteadily in her hand, trying to keep her shit together. Next she goes into the bathroom and rips open the shower curtain. "Show yourself, you fucking coward!" She's amazed she's able to get the words out and not let her voice fail her.

Checking her bedroom somehow makes her heart pound even harder. There are more candles flickering through the room, casting menacing shadows over the walls and ceiling. She checks under the bed and in the closet but he's still nowhere to be seen. At this point, she's more angry than scared that he invaded her home - her personal retreat - once again. She moves to the window, peeling back the curtains that she has not opened since Neal last broke into her home. The street in front of her house is dark and empty.

She wonders if she should call David. If she doesn't, she won't be able to mention it later without him questioning her for not reporting this at the time it happened. She blows out as many candles as she can and marches her way back to the kitchen. Setting down the knife, she kneels down to grab her phone from her purse which is still on the floor. Her fingers are shaking as she grabs it, pulling up David's number.

When she rises, she looks up from her phone before pressing the phone icon and sees his reflection in the window.