Free TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) by Melissa Mayhue

possibility. She had to be inside.
    The second time he pounded on the door, he also wiggled the handle. The knob turned easily in his hand and, with only a little forward pressure, the door swung wide open.
    The whole shop was bathed in the black that comes only on an almost moonless night, and Logan’s senses sharpened. He pulled the high-powered little flashlight he always carried from his pocket and switched it on.
    He didn’t like this. Not one damn bit.
    “Allie?”
    He waited for a full minute in the silence that followed his call before heading to the back of the building, where he knew he’d find the stairs to the upper level. The twins had told Susie that they’d left Allie going through the storage items up there.
    Midway up the stairs he paused, listening for any sound of activity.
    “Allie?” he tried again, a little louder this time.
    He’d been up here about six months ago conducting a fire inspection. Thanks to Harley Flynn’s lifelong passion for “collecting,” the second floor was a hoarder’s fantasy. Even as neatly as the twins had tried to arrange things, the old man’s obsession had ensured that the place was loaded to the gills.
    Remembering how it had looked on his last visit, Logan quickened his step. Anything could have happened up there. Allie might have fallen and hurt herself. She could even be trapped.
    The thought of her wedged under a pile of toppled antique furniture sent him pounding up the remaining stairs toward the light spilling out through the open door.
    He’d no more than stepped into the doorway before a missile flew directly toward his head. He ducked, deflecting the heavy projectile with a quickly lifted forearm.
    “What the hell?” he grunted.
    Crouching or shifting behind the doorframe would have been the smart thing to do, but Logan thought of neither. He barged into the room, ready to deal with whatever had attacked him.
    “Logan?”
    Allie knelt in the center of the room, surrounded by stacks of boxes and books piled higher than the top of her head. Her voice sounded small and breathless, and her wide, rounded eyes confirmed the surprise he’d heard there.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked. “You scared me half to death!”
    He could understand that easily enough. This place, with its looming shadows, was creepy as hell at night.
    “I yelled your name a couple of times. You didn’t answer. Your family was worried when you didn’t come home.” At least, her brother was worried.
    “I didn’t hear you.” She pushed up to stand, teetering on one foot while she dusted off her hands on her jeans before making eye contact with him again. “I got into the books and sort of lost track of time. And then I heard some noises and…” Her words trailed off and she shrugged one shoulder.
    “So that’s why you launched the aerial attack?”
    Shaking her head, she defensively crossed her arms in front of her. “I told you. It’s kind of weird up here in the dark and, I’ll admit it, I freaked a little. You don’t look any worse for it though.”
    “Yeah? Well, you and…” Logan leaned down to pick up the object that she’d thrown in his direction, pausing to glance at the cover. “You and Jane Austen almost took my arm off.”
    For the first time since he’d entered the room, the beginning of a smile curved her lips, an expression that lit her face. “Then I guess we can both be thankful that Jane and I were off our game tonight, because I was aiming for your head. Well,”—her eyes darted away toward the floor again—“not actually your head. The head of whatever creature was coming after me.”
    Her eyes flickered back up toward him, and he returned her grin as he gradually made his way through the furniture and boxes to the spot where she stood.
    “Your mom says you’re thinking of opening a bookstore downstairs.”
    “And a lending library.” Her expression turned wistful. “If I can get my hands on enough books. I think there’s