The Rented Husband (Southern Nights Series)

Chapter 12

**Edited By krisgree***

“The Rented Husband”

2011 © All Rights Reserved

 Chapter 12

                Brody carefully pushed the door open with his foot and stood rooted in place while he strained to hear if there was any indication that an intruder was still in the house. 

                He remembered specifically looking in the rear view mirror once they were in the car and backing out of the driveway and seeing the front door closed.  It had also been daylight out when they first left for the restaurant and there was no reason for any of the lights to be on.  

                Right now, as bright as the place was lit up, you could land an airplane anywhere within a mile radius of the condo.  He had little doubt that someone had been in Olivia’s home while they were gone and with that thought cold chills erupted all along his arms.

                Brody slipped inside the open door quietly and on full scale alert.  It didn't escape his attention that all was eerily quiet throughout the condo with the exception of the low hum of the central air system blowing in the background.

                He stopped in the entry way for a moment and let his eyes roam, taking a cursory glance of the place to see if anything looked out of sorts.  

                At first glance, everything seemed perfectly fine - neat and tidy, the same way that the beautiful Ms. Olivia Murray presented herself.

                Stealthily, he moved towards the kitchen all the while keeping his eyes moving in every direction, taking in every nuance and cataloguing even the smallest of things all along the way.

                Stepping into the kitchen, he observed that nothing in there seemed to be out of place either.  He spotted the wooden knife block sitting on the counter and considered that it might be smart to have something just in case he ran into the perp.  After all, it was he that ran into the condo, all gung ho with nothing more than his bare hands to defend himself.  Reaching for the largest of the knives he gripped it in his hand, weighed it for familiarity and then continued on to the next room.

                Again, all the lamps and overhead lights were on in the den but not a sign of anything out of place. This was really strange he mused, glancing down at the most current issue of Lawyers Weekly sitting on the end table.  A small smile tugged at his lips because it was him that graced the cover this week due to his big win in the Demascus case last month.

                Shaking his head, he turned away and continued his search.  They were several thoughts that he just couldn't seem to shake though.

                Why would someone break into Olivia's house and just cut all of the lights on, not take anything and not hang around until she returned?  Something just wasn't adding up.

                Then his mind flashed back to the phone calls that Olivia had mentioned.  The "prank calls" as she referred to them.  She wanted to blow them off and blame it all on the kids.  Brody wasn't too sure about that.   He checked with security this morning and had learned that the caller used a disposable phone and there was no way to track it.

                Could she have a stalker?  He shuddered at the thought but it was a very real probability.

                He continued to creep down the back hall and was headed for the stairs when he heard a thump. Then a scraping sound like someone was walking across the hardwood floor in the dining room.  He listened carefully and decided that it was coming from the front of the stairs.