Free The Carriage House by Carla Neggers

she know about the Beacon-by-the-Sea police? She was alone up here in a strange town, at night. Susanna would come in a flash. Her ex-husband was a Texas Ranger, her parents both in law enforcement.
    No. Tess shook her head, breathing more slowly now, more deeply. She must have imagined the skeleton—or, with her vivid imagination, turned something innocent into a skull. This place had been in the Beacon Historic Project’s hands for five years before Ike had turned it over to her. Surely they’d have noticed if a damn skeleton was buried in the cellar.
    Maybe it was just a dog skeleton, or a raccoon. Not human.
    Ike.
    That was more than her mind could comprehend. She wouldn’t even let the thought form completely. This was an old house. Whatever was down in her dirt cellar could have been there for more than a century.
    Maybe it was Ike’s idea of a joke.
    She brushed herself off, wondering what had happened to the cat. And if her neighbors had heard her scream.

Seven
    H arl showed up at Andrew’s back door with a baseball bat. It was after ten, dark outside. “You hear that?”
    Andrew nodded. “It wasn’t the wind.”
    â€œNope.” Harl rolled the bat in his big, callused palm. “I know a scream when I hear one. You want to call 911?”
    That had been Andrew’s first impulse, but he shook his head. “We don’t know enough. I’ll check next door. You stay here with Dolly. She’s asleep.”
    â€œWatch yourself.”
    â€œOur new neighbor probably just tripped in the dark. Let me see what’s up.”
    The bloody-murder scream had drawn him to the back porch, where he’d already flipped a light. He had his flashlight from the kitchen, debated taking some sort of weapon. He dismissed the idea. That was Harl-thinking.
    â€œI’ll stay out here,” Harl said. He wasn’t giving up his baseball bat. “You need help, yell.”
    â€œUnder no circumstances are you to leave Dolly here alone.”
    Harl nodded. “Understood.”
    Andrew set out across the lawn, the grass soft under his feet. He didn’t need his flashlight until he was at the lilac hedge at the far side of the yard. Dolly was small enough to find an opening she could fit through, but he followed his side of the hedge out to the street, then hooked around to the carriage house driveway.
    He heard someone breathing, gulping in air in the dark.
    â€œTess?” He pointed his bright arc of light at her kitchen steps, moved it back toward the lilacs. “Tess, are you out here?”
    His light caught her in the face as she stood in the overgrown grass at the other end of the driveway. She blinked rapidly, blinded, and he lowered the flashlight.
    â€œOh, it’s you.” She choked a little as she spoke, then rallied. “Thank God. I didn’t know who might be sneaking around out here. You heard me yell?”
    He nodded, watching her closely. “Are you all right?”
    â€œYes. Yes, fine.”
    She walked over to the steps, moving unsteadily, almost drunkenly, and sat, putting a hand on her upper chest, as if trying to still a wild heartbeat. She pushed her other hand through her short curls. She wasn’t looking at him, didn’t seem to be looking at anything.
    Andrew switched off the flashlight, the light from the open kitchen door sufficient. “What’s going on?”
    â€œI was startled, and I yelled. Screamed my head off, actually.” She cleared her throat and attempted a smile. “I found your cat.”
    â€œTippy Tail?” He took another step toward her, still watching. She had strong, attractive features, nothing delicate or tentative about her. But she’d had a scare. He could see that. “Dolly will be pleased.”
    Tess nodded. “I hope my scream didn’t wake her up.”
    He saw she was more pale than he’d thought, and her clothes were streaked with dirt and cobwebs.