On the Scent

by Angela Campbell

  All she got in response was a soft meow and heavy panting.

  He was losing his friggin’ mind. That was all there was to it.

  Zach splashed his face with water from the bathroom sink and then blinked at himself in the mirror. He’d taken a painkiller and spent the past several hours out cold.

  He knew he had a concussion, but seriously? He was nuts to even consider that the weird feelings and voices he’d heard at Hannah’s had belonged to the cat and dog.

  He needed to get his head back in the game and get over there. It wouldn’t do him or anyone else any good if he started psyching himself out now.

  The mouth-watering aroma of bacon teased his nostrils, and he found Brian’s wife at the stove cooking. A stab of guilt speared his chest when he saw the dark circles under her eyes when she looked up at him. Jenny hadn’t been home from the hospital a day, and here she was, taking care of him and a new baby while her husband was working a case Zach should have been handling.

  He hurried to take the spatula from her grip. “What do you think you’re doing, young lady?” He guided her over to a chair and urged her to sit. “You shouldn’t be up and cooking yet.”

  Jenny yawned. “What else would I be doing? I’ve got to eat.”

  “Resting,” he pointed out, and waved the spatula toward her bedroom. “You could have woken me and I would have gotten you breakfast.”

  “I’m not an invalid, Zach.” She rested her elbow on the table and lowered her chin to her hand. “But I am damn tired. How about you? How’s the head?” She eyed his arm. “Oh, Zach, you didn’t hurt your arm, did you?”

  He flexed his hand for her benefit. There was usually a dull pain in that arm, but no, he hadn’t injured it yesterday.

  “All good.” He flipped the bacon onto a plate and tended to a pan of scrambled eggs. “As soon as I get some food into you, I’ll go get your husband so he can take care of you. Don’t worry. He’ll be home for the next week at least.”

  “We can’t afford for him to miss work, Zach.”

  He pointed the spatula at her. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve got it covered. He’s got paid leave for as long as he needs it.”

  “You sure?” Jenny’s hazel gaze softened with hope. She knew how dire the agency’s finances had been, and like Brian, had probably lost her own fair amount of sleep over the dilemma. But neither of their parents were in the picture to help, financially or otherwise. They were also too damn proud to ask for help from their friends. Zach would have to rally the troops into action. A little help with meals. Some babysitting duties. Clothes and toy donations. Whatever it took.

  “Positive.” He arranged a plate full of food in front of her before moving to the fridge to get her some orange juice. “How is my baby niece doing anyway?”

  A happy grin tugged the edges of Jenny’s mouth. “She’s amazing. I still can’t believe she’s here.”

  “Of course she’s amazing.” He snagged a couple of pieces of bacon and thrust them into his mouth. “Can I go peek in at her?”

  “Sure.” She waved her fork at him. “Please don’t wake her up. I was hoping to get a nap in after breakfast.”

  Baby Jessica was sound asleep when Zach looked into the crib he’d helped Brian assemble a month or so ago. He took a deep breath and released it, glad things felt normal again.

  He had no idea what the hell had happened to him at Hannah’s place last night. Maybe he was finally losing it. He could’ve sworn there’d been other people in the room with them, jabbering random things about food and going for a walk and the best windows with a view.

  He’d had the crazy idea the cat had been talking to him.

  Absurd.

  The baby in the crib released a slight coo, and Zach reached in to tug the collar of her onesie up higher. Baby Jessica’s eyes slowly opened and met his, but the kid didn’t make a sound. She stared up at him with her big, blueish-gray eyes, so much like her father’s. Her mouth made an O shape.

  He hadn’t been around a baby since his little brother Dylan, a helluva long time ago. Dylan. Did his brother have any kids yet? A bitter laugh escaped his control. Wouldn’t that be something, if he were already an uncle, a real one, and didn’t even know it.

  “Hey, kiddo. Go back to sleep. Uncle Zach didn’t mean to wake you up,” he whispered.

  A weird feeling gripped his gut.

  It was quickly followed by the sensation of intense hunger, so strong it sent a bolt of pain through his belly.

  The sound of Jessica’s cry shattered the silence. She flung her tiny, clenched fists to the side and then quickly brought them back to her middle again. Jenny appeared in the doorway and scooped the infant up. “Uh oh. Somebody’s hungry.” Turning around to face him, she added, “Some privacy, please?”

  He shut the door behind him, and not even a minute later, the hunger chewing at his insides began to dissipate.

  Nah, it couldn’t be.

  He shook his head. No friggin’ way.

  A chuckle shook his chest. He’d better watch himself. He was starting to buy his own con.

  Chapter Six

  It was official. This isolation was making Hannah nutso.

  She’d had spent the past hour having a mostly one-sided conversation with her dog—in British. Well, with a British accent on her part. In her defense, she was pretty sure Costello had mumbled an uh-huh sound when she’d asked, “Aren’t these candles just the dog’s bollocks?”

  She really needed to stop watching every version of Pride and Prejudice in her DVD collection when the classic film channel started showing weird stuff, which happened without fail every morning around two o’clock. And no more online streaming Doctor Who. It was making her wonky.

  “Maybe I should have moved to London like Sarah suggested. What do you think, Costello? Would you like to live in England? I think you have some corgi in you, and we all know the Queen loves corgis.”

  The dog made a whiney-growling sound, rolled onto his side and covered his eyes with one stubby leg. She’d take that as You’re a completely nutter, woman. Leave me alone.

  Sighing, Hannah stepped away from the bookshelf and made sure the three baby blue candles she’d found in a box were positioned in a way that didn’t clutter the thing, but ah, who was she kidding? She didn’t own enough of anything to clutter a house of this size. It had been whimsical of her to buy this place in such a ridiculously wealthy neighborhood, but she’d wanted to start fresh somewhere memories couldn’t haunt her—without leaving the city she loved.

  When she’d lived in a dorm at college, she’d had so little space and money, she’d never bothered to decorate with more than a few posters or torn pages from a magazine. Her first apartment had been shared with two roommates, and she’d spent so little time there, she’d never seen the point. With Eric, she —

  No. Don’t go there. Don’t think about him.

  She sighed and rerouted her thoughts. When she’d moved in as Ellie’s caretaker, she’d never felt right about trying to mix her own personal style with the older woman’s outdated décor.

  She’d lived there, but it hadn’t been her home. She’d never really had a home, until now.

  As soon as she’d seen this house—built in the 1930s and in need of a few repairs—she’d liked the idea of patching it up and making it hers. Maybe someday she’d have her own family, enough kids to fill the four bedrooms.

  Hannah knelt beside one of the boxes filled with items from Ellie’s house she either needed to sell, donate or put away and discovered a bunch of knickknacks she didn’t remember packing. Ellie had owned a lot of knickknacks that seemed cruel to discard now without closer inspection. The older woman had spent almost ninety years collecting the things. The least Hannah could do was make sure they went to a home with someone who appreciated them.

  She fingered a porcelain figurine of a white cat and shook her head. So far, she’d found at least one other box filled with similar figures. She felt the sting of tears behind he
r eyes. “Ellie did love animals, didn’t she?”

  Hearing her voice, Costello picked up the chew toy he’d been playing with and wandered closer, plopping down a few feet away before returning his focus to mauling the fuzzy goat.

  She missed the older woman so much. Hannah hadn’t realized how much she’d come to care for Ellie Parham until the woman had been gone. It was hard to believe her friend had been dead almost a year.

  When Ellie’s dog Fairbanks had passed away a few weeks after Hannah had moved in with her, Ellie had said, “Let’s go save another life. This time the lucky critter will have two moms. Trust me. Whoever said money can’t buy happiness has never paid a shelter fee.”

  They’d come home with not only a puppy, but a kitten, too. Hannah had always thought of Abbott and Costello as partially hers from that day forward. Even without the inheritance, Hannah would have taken care of the boys. Ellie had known that.

  Blinking away the emotion that particular memory caused, Hannah closed the box and slid it toward the ones she’d marked “Garage.” She twisted and turned to inspect a bigger box, only to squeal when Abbott sprang out of nowhere and landed in it before she could look inside. Crazy cat. Hannah would have made a lot more progress unpacking if Abbott stopped jumping into and making a bed inside of every box she opened.

  The sound of the doorbell startled all three of them. Hannah jumped. Costello clambered to his feet barking, and Abbott darted out of the box and under the nearby sofa for safety.

  She glanced at the clock she’d recently sat on the mantle. Almost ten. Brian had said he would be changing shifts with Zach soon. The idea of seeing him again spawned a ridiculous flutter of butterflies in her stomach.

  Pushing to her feet, she dusted her jeans off then tugged at her ponytail to straighten it. Lord, she probably looked atrocious.

  She opened the door, but instead of the man who’d been occupying her thoughts more than he should have, a well-dressed, dark-haired, middle-aged woman stood there smiling and holding …a casserole dish?

  Not far behind her, Brian stood propped against the hood of his car, watching. He nodded and gave a discreet two-fingered wave, which was the code they’d decided for “All clear.”

  “I hope you don’t mind me intruding, but I wanted to come over and introduce myself.” The woman held out her hand. “I’m Carolyn Carter, from down the street.”

  “Oh.” Hannah accepted the gesture. “Hannah Dawson. Nice to meet you.”

  “Hannah.” The woman repeated her name as if it were the lyric of a song. “What a beautiful name.”

  “Thank you.”

  Carolyn cast a backward glance at Brian before beaming a friendly smile in Hannah’s direction again. “I know how hard it can be getting settled into a new neighborhood. I thought the least I could do was bring you over a casserole as a housewarming gift.”

  Oh, right. This was the part where she should invite the woman inside. Hannah rubbed her forehead and cringed at her social ineptness. “I’m sorry. Would you like to come in? I’ve been unpacking, and I’m afraid it’s a bit of a mess right now.” She used her foot to guide Costello back and out of the way. Please, Lord, don’t let him hump my new neighbor. “Forgive my manners, but I’m not used to having company.”

  The woman stepped inside and immediately began looking around. “Don’t worry about it, dear. I won’t stay long. Like I said, I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood. I’ve lived here for six years, and believe me, if I didn’t come over to greet you, no one would.” She held up the dish. “Do you like chicken and broccoli?”

  “I love it.” Hannah awkwardly took the offering and moved to the kitchen. “Thank you.” After storing the casserole out of paws’ way, she turned and found the woman bent over and scratching behind Costello’s ear. The dog’s tail wagged in ecstasy. “That’s Costello. My cat is around here somewhere. He’s Abbott.”

  “Abbott and Costello.” The woman clapped once and laughed with delight. “That’s precious. I used to love to watch their films when I was a little girl.”

  “So did their former owner. She named all of her pets after her favorite movie stars.”

  Carolyn Carter stayed for at least ten more minutes, doing her best to learn as much about Hannah as possible. Was she married? Did she have children? Had she always lived in Atlanta?

  “I don’t mean to pry, dear, but I can’t help but wonder—” She leaned closer to Hannah and said, “Are you a famous actress or something?”

  Hannah’s eyebrows shot up. “Me?” She laughed. “No, I’m a nurse.”

  Carolyn glanced at the window. “Oh, I just assumed with the police cars patrolling the neighborhood and that man outside —” She waved her hand dripping with rings dismissively. “Never mind me. I’m an aging housewife whose only excitement is what I see on television. My imagination runs wild sometimes.”

  Hannah bit her lip, wondering how wise it would be to reveal the truth to her new neighbor. She wasn’t stupid. Chances were the woman would leave and be on the phone within minutes, sharing all that she had learned with a network of their more curious neighbors. Hannah had been living here for almost three weeks, and this was the first time any of them had attempted contact. She’d feared becoming a source of gossip after calling the police during the first break-in, and now she had police cars and strange men coming and going at all hours. Yeah, she’d have been curious too, but she didn’t want to scare the other residents unnecessarily by hinting they were in danger of burglary or anything.

  “Well, I—”

  She was saved from further explanation by the sound of the doorbell.

  Hannah hurried to answer it, eager for any reason to usher this woman out.

  Zach stood there, looking gorgeous and casual in jeans paired with a well-worn leather jacket. He tugged the sunglasses from his eyes as his lips spread into a killer smile—aimed right at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but his gaze drifted toward her guest. She saw confusion flitter across his face, but he recovered fast.

  His grin kicked it up a notch when he leaned down toward her. Hannah wasn’t sure what shocked her more. The fast, firm press of his warm lips against hers, or the feel of his hand sliding to the small of her back. She slid into the curve of his body without an ounce of protest.

  Before she could react, he reached his free hand toward Carolyn. “Hi, I’m Zach. You must be one of Hannah’s new neighbors.”

  Carolyn’s face turned a shade redder than it had been as she accepted Zach’s gentle handshake. She quickly brought her hand back to her chest. “Nice to meet you.”

  Hannah swallowed. Should she wrap her arm around his waist too? He obviously wanted to give the woman the idea they were a couple. Her left hand fluttered awkwardly at her side. She really, really wanted to touch him though.

  “Um, Zach, this is Carolyn, my neighbor.”

  “I appreciate you coming over,” he said, squeezing Hannah even closer to his side. “I’ve been so worried about Hannah since the break-in. It’s good to know she’s finally meeting some of the other residents.”

  Hannah’s eyes widened—but probably not as much as Carolyn’s did.

  “The break-in?” The woman’s hand fiddled with the necklace at her throat.

  “Yes, I’m sure you saw the police cars and the ambulance.” He shook his head and sighed loud. He waved his hand toward the bruise on his face. “I almost caught the guys, but they clobbered me pretty good. I’m out of the hospital now, and I’m not going anywhere until I’m sure she’s safe.” He pointed his thumb toward the door. “My best friend Brian and my other friend, E.J., have been helping me keep an eye out. You haven’t seen anything, have you? Any strange behavior in the neighborhood?”

  She shook her head, a worried frown highlighting the wrinkles on her aging face. “My goodness. No. No, I haven’t. We did wonder…” Her voice trailed off as her gaze drifted toward the door. “Do you think it’s safe now?”

  Zach chuckled. “Oh yeah. I’m not lett
ing her out of my sight for personal reasons, but my friend Brian is tight with the cops. The guys who broke in are probably long gone.”

  “It is a nice community,” Carolyn said, somewhat distractedly. “We have a neighborhood watch.”

  “We figure the robbers probably saw the moving trucks one day and figured it would be an easy hit.” He lowered his gaze to Hannah’s, and winked. “Hell, the cops think they might have even worked for the moving company.”

  “Oh, you poor dear.” Carolyn reached out and pressed a gentle squeeze against Hannah’s hand. “What an awful way to start out in a new home. I assure you, I’ve lived here many years, and I have never known of such a thing to happen. If you need anything—anything at all—please call me. I’ll leave you the Wilkinsons’ number too. They’re right next door.”

  When Zach closed the door behind Carolyn a few minutes later, Hannah put plenty of distance between them. This man was like kryptonite to her control. He turned her brain to mush.

  “What was that about?”

  He turned and offered her a boyish grin. “That was me, feeding your nosy neighbors enough information to satisfy their curiosity and keep them out of your hair for a while.”

  “Why didn’t you tell her the truth?” She swallowed. “Why did you pretend that you —” She shook her head and looked at the floor. “Why did you let her think —?”

  “That we were a couple?” He moved around her and headed down the hall. He glanced in every room. When he turned, his jacket exposed a leather holster and the handle of a gun at his waist. “Would you have rather I told them I was your bodyguard?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “No way.” He stepped forward until they were within touching distance. “She might get curious, go on the internet and try to figure out who you are and why you need protection. Next thing you know, some tabloid has paid her money to show some photographers around.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” She frowned up at him. “My name hasn’t been reported. No one knows that I was Ellie’s nurse.”