Her sister’s caution was warranted.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Marina could hear Snooze barking when she pulled up to the cabin. Crap. Her good weapons were all inside. She dug around in her purse and came up with cuticle scissors. They would have to do. She could always aim for the eyes.

She hurried to the front door, trying to cross the porch as quietly as possible. She slipped the key in the lock and slowly turned it, then inched the door open and peered inside. Snooze stood staring at the back door, still barking like a maniac. She hurried inside, locking the door behind her, then grabbed the pistol from the kitchen drawer and ran to look out the back window.

Nothing.

At least nothing she could see, but something was clearly bothering Snooze now as it had this morning. She went back to the kitchen and snagged her cell phone from her bag, then yelled at Snooze to stop barking. She’d never gotten a chance to call Luke, and it looked as though it was past time now. He didn’t answer, but she left a voice mail, gave him a brief description of her concern, and slipped the phone in her jeans pocket. Hopefully, he’d check messages soon and call her back.

Snooze looked over at her and whined, then scratched the door.

“Do you need to go potty?” Marina asked.

Two barks.

“Is something out there?”

One bark.

Crap!

“Is it an animal?”

Please let it be a bear. Or an alligator. Or a rabid raccoon.

Two barks.

Marina drew in a breath.

“Is it a human?”

One bark.

“Do you know who it is?”

Please let it be Alexios or Luke or even Harold.

Two barks.

Marina’s heartbeat ticked up a notch.

“Was it the same person this morning?”

One bark.

This so wasn’t good. Someone was lurking around her cabin and they were persistent, despite the fact that she had a loud dog and they’d probably seen her on the porch with a gun. What kind of fool went up against those odds? And why? For some worn-out furniture or her collection of yoga pants? It wasn’t worth being shot just to get some food, and if that was what he was after, wouldn’t he have waited until she left and broken in then?

None of this made sense.

A knock sounded on her front door and she choked back a scream. Snooze turned to look at the door, then her, clearly waiting to see if he needed to spring into action or take a nap. The door was a solid slab of wood with no peephole and there wasn’t a window that she could look out and see the area in front of the door, so she decided to go old school and ask who was there—standing behind the refrigerator.

Bullets couldn’t go through the refrigerator, right?

“It’s Luke.”

A breath of air she hadn’t even realized she was holding rushed out of her and she hurried over to let him in. He took one look at her and his face was filled with concern.