He held up a hand to quiet her and turned back to the door. The clicking and scratching had subsided but he could still make out noises that seemed out of place. The wind, yes. But not the swishing sound. His senses kept misfiring so he couldn’t tell how close or far away the noise was from them.

She stood at his arm, practically on top of him. “There’s nothing out here.”

A dog barked and it sounded close.

“Something is out there,” they said at the same time.

He grabbed her hands and put the knife in them. Curled her fingers around the handle. “I want you to—”

“Don’t even think of separating from me.” She shook her head. “That is not negotiable.”

Reasonable but he didn’t have a choice. They could be right on top of the one person they needed to catch. “I need to check outside.”

“You’re an engineer, not a self-defense expert. Wait for Ben.”

She no sooner said the words than he heard a car door. Then another. He stepped closer to the window along the side of the door. Not an easy task since she was almost attached to him and trying to drag him backward, away from the glass.

He could see flashlights and make out two figures. When he recognized the steady gait of one of them, a wave of relief strong enough to threaten his balance hit him. “Ben’s here.”

“How do you know?”

“I can see him.” Connor took the time to undo each lock and waited for Ben to come fully into view before opening the door. When he did, two men stood there.

Ben looked like he’d gotten dressed in the dark. His shirt was half unbuttoned and he didn’t have a jacket despite the biting night cold. Evan wasn’t much better. He yawned as he looked around the front area of the house.

“You two okay?” Ben asked as he looked at Connor and to Maddie behind his shoulder.

“Yeah.” The way she grabbed on to Connor’s arm and twisted suggested otherwise.

Ben raised a flashlight and scanned the room behind them. “Anyone get in?”

“Not that we can tell.” Connor figured they’d already know if that happened, but so much of Whitaker was a mystery to him, so who knew?

Evan nodded. “I’ll do a walk-around.”

He took off around the side of the house before anyone could stop him. Connor didn’t really want to. Right now he appreciated the law enforcement expertise that both Ben and Evan brought to the situation.

Ben looked from Connor to Maddie. “What’s going on?”

“We heard noises.” Maddie reached around Connor to flip on the lights. The living room filled with brightness but the porch light stayed off. “It was probably an animal. No big—”