Free The Seance by Heather Graham

just…there.”
    â€œWhat was he doing?”
    â€œStaring at me. I…felt him there, opened my eyes and saw him, then jumped up and ran out,” she explained.
    â€œYou locked up, right? You made sure you locked up after everyone left?”
    He stood then, and reached down to help her to her feet. He was in jeans, a knit polo shirt and a casual suede jacket, towering and at ease. “Christina, usually people run somewhere when they’re running away from danger. They don’t just curl up and go to sleep on the front lawn.”
    â€œI didn’t just curl up and go to sleep!” she flashed angrily.
    â€œOh?”
    â€œLook, I’m not kidding.”
    â€œChristie, bad things are happening,” he said softly, dark eyes on her like onyx. “This is no time to cry wolf.”
    â€œI would never do that,” she said, her temper growing, her tone an aggrieved growl.
    â€œAll right, so exactly what happened?”
    â€œI came running out here and…”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œAnd I’m not sure.”
    His voice went very soft then. “You’re sure you weren’t molested in any way?”
    Was she? She’d passed out cold. But she hadn’t been assaulted or anything. She was certain of it.
    â€œNo. I wasn’t hurt. I wasn’t even touched,” she murmured.
    â€œOkay, so this man broke into your house to stare at you and then did…what when you ran out? Ransacked the place?”
    No…somehow he moved faster than I did. He tapped me on the shoulder and scared me so badly I fainted. But she could hardly say that.
    She lowered her head, lashes falling, flushing. “I’m not sure.”
    â€œWell, let’s take a look around, huh?” He strode toward the house. For a moment she stood watching him; then she hurried after him.
    â€œJed, what are you doing here, anyway?” she asked.
    â€œI came over to have coffee with Ana, and then I saw you lying out here.” He motioned for her to stay on the porch, his face wearing a stern mask of warning.
    â€œHe could still be here,” he said, and it made sense—except that she knew he didn’t believe her that anyone had been there in the first place.
    But she knew he didn’t dare ignore her. He might think that she was crazy, that she’d had too much to drink while playing with the occult, but there was a killer in the area, and he couldn’t take chances.
    â€œI think I’d be safer with you,” she called as he disappeared into the house. “In all those slasher movies, when the guy goes off and leaves the girl she ends up dead!”
    There was no answer.
    She stood nervously on the porch, feeling like a fool. Despite the fact that this was Florida, autumn was well on the way, and she was chilled, standing there in her damp cotton nightgown and bare feet.
    â€œJed?”
    There was still no answer. She looked around, since there was nothing else to do. The day was coming on nicely. By midafternoon, it would be hot. The sky was crystal-blue now, but no doubt this afternoon the thunderclouds would come rolling through.
    Jed returned at last, startling her out of her reverie as he stepped outside and shook his head. “Nothing. There’s no one in there now.”
    She let out a long breath. “Jed, it was real. He was real. I opened my eyes, and I saw a man standing at the foot of my bed.”
    â€œWe’ll walk through the house together,” he told her, the expression in his dark eyes an enigma. “You can see if anything is out of place.”
    She followed him into the house. “Upstairs first?” he suggested.
    Upstairs, the rooms that her family had claimed in earlier days were empty and undisturbed. Even in her bedroom, everything looked normal. The sheets were tossed back, as they had been when she bolted, but everything else looked just as she had left it.
    â€œAnything?” Jed asked.
    She