Halcyon frowned. “I don’t like it.”

“You think I do? What in the world could he want? You think he’s a PI or something? That Harold is having me followed?”

“For what? He’s the one cheating.”

“I know, but why was this guy standing around staring at the place I used to live this morning and the place I now live this evening?”

“Let’s go ask him.”

Before Marina could protest, Halcyon hurried to the front door, threw it open, and strode across her front lawn.

“You!” she shouted as she walked. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

His eyes widened and he looked a tiny bit afraid. A second later, he hurried off down the street. Marina took off after Halcyon and they half jogged, half limped to the end of the block but when they checked the streets, he was nowhere to be seen.

“I need oxygen,” Marina said, wheezing.

“I need a defibrillator,” Halcyon said. “How did he move so fast without running?”

“And where did he go?”

“It’s like a horror movie. You know, where the cute girl is running like she’s in the last leg of the 1,200-meter relay and the scary dude is just loping along but always gaining on her.”

Marina frowned. “Except this guy didn’t look scary.”

He wasn’t a big guy. Maybe five ten and thin, not muscular. His haircut was the typical corporate job. If he’d been dressed in slacks and a dress shirt instead of purple skinny jeans and a white T-shirt, he could have passed for her banker.

“Of course he wasn’t scary,” Halcyon said. “I would have brought my gun if he was scary. But that doesn’t make him lurking around houses any less creepy.”

“It’s definitely a ten on the creepy scale.”

“You sure you don’t recognize him? His haircut didn’t look like the usual barbershop hack job most of the guys around here have.”

“Definitely a salon cut, but I’ve never seen him before. And I took a really long look at him this time. You sure he’s not one of your past admirers?”

“Please. You know my rules. If I can kick his butt and I can’t fit in his pants, it’s a no. And I’m betting I’d be two for two on that one. Come on. Let’s get back to my house before people start wondering why we’re standing here.”

Marina took one last glance up and down the street but the strange man in the purple pants had simply vanished. She supposed he could be ducked behind a bush or a car, but why? And why hurry off when it was clear that Halcyon was addressing him? The only answer she could come up with was because he was up to no good.

Which sucked. Because this week had already had enough “no good” to last a lifetime.

Chapter Eight

Marina hurried out of the bakery, carrying a box of doughnuts. It wasn’t the healthiest breakfast, but it was certain to be one of the tastiest. Her car was already filled with cleaning supplies and items for some of the smaller repairs the cabin needed, including the dead bolts that Halcyon had insisted she buy. Most importantly, a shiny new coffeepot sat on the front seat next to a bag of expensive gourmet coffee she’d picked up on her last trip to New Orleans. No way was she leaving Harold with the good stuff.