Ulysses’ low growl woke me. Groggily, I turned over and opened my eyes.
“What is it, Ulysses?” I whispered as I dropped my hand to his head. He stood stiff and alert on the floor beside my bed.
Moonlight flooded the room, making it seem almost like day. What was happening outside? It was of interest to my dog, whatever it was. Maybe a raccoon or possibly a coyote?
Swinging my feet off my bed, I followed Ulysses to the window and peered out. Nothing moved in the yard below me. Even the trees were still, for a change, dark silhouettes against the moon.
“It’s all right,” I told my dog. “Probably you just heard an owl. You’re a good boy, though, for being alert and on guard.”
As I turned from the window, a movement caught my eye. One of the shadows in the yard below me moved. My breath caught in my throat. The dark shape of a person ran from behind a tree, a person crouching over and moving fast toward my front porch. A man? A woman? What was he doing in my yard at three o’clock in the morning?
Ulysses cut loose. He struck the window with his front feet, barking and growling. The hair on his back stood up. The figure below us paused, then sprinted toward the street.
I ran for my phone and punched in Cade’s number. My heart was pounding so loudly, it nearly suffocated me. He answered, sounding half-asleep.
My voice was hoarse and strange, even to me. “Cade, somebody is in my yard.”
He came awake instantly. “Stay away from the windows,” he said. “Be sure your doors are locked. I’m on my way.”
I’ve heard that fear paralyzes a person. I know now how that feels. I moved in slow motion out the bedroom door. I wanted to run, to fly down the stairs, dash to all the doors, and grab a weapon, in case the intruder returned, but fear held me in a vise-like grip.
Editing, editing, editing, and I’ll finish today! This is an excerpt from the third Ned McNeil mystery, Moonstruck. It centers around an old house (all three books have this in the background) and the moon and Ned’s insatiable curiosity which, of course, always leads her into trouble.
Manos Mysteries
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