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Snippet Saturday – Bump In The Night

This week I’m sharing a scene from Coyote Home where there’s an unexpected ‘bump in the night’.

Quinn jolted awake, reaching for Rowan as he sat up. Already up and moving off the bed, she grabbed for a shirt.

“What the hell was that?”

He didn’t get a chance to answer her, the door flung open and Brogan burst into the room. “Are you two all right?” He scanned the room for some perceived menace.

“We’re fine. What was it?” Quinn asked while he pulled on pants.

“I think we’ve got a broken window. I thought it came from in here.” Brogan turned and left as quickly as he’d come in.

“I think it was my old room,” Rowan said as she followed him out the door, Quinn right on her heels.

Brogan stood three feet inside the doorway staring at the mess of broken glass and snow littering the floor and furniture. They hadn’t left much in this room, a queen bed and dresser the only large items. There was a small writing desk and chair in one corner and a plush recliner in another. The desk and dresser remained unmarked but the bed and recliner had a layer of snow and glass glittering on them. The wind howled through the window and filled the room, dropping the temperature a good thirty degrees. Rowan shivered and Quinn moved around her to block the worst of the cold.

“How would the wind pick up a rock and hurl it through the window?”

“What rock?” Quinn surveyed the debris for what she was talking about.

Brogan stepped forward and Rowan’s hand shot out and stopped him in his tracks.

“You’ve got no shoes on, Brogan.”

Her reminder came just in time. They were all barefoot and not exactly dressed to tackle the clean up and repair of the window. Walking backward, Quinn pulled Rowan with him as he moved into the hall.

“Close the door to stop the chill from getting into the rest of the house, Brogan. We’ll get dressed and clean this up now. I’m not leaving it until morning, if the snow gets any worse the room will be soaked by then.” Rowan spun away from them and went back to their room.

“The weather didn’t do this,” Brogan said.

Quinn thought the same but remained quiet on the subject for now. “Let’s fix the window first and worry about the rest later.”

He found Rowan not getting dressed but standing by the window peering out into the darkness. The rollers on the timber door of the wardrobe squeaked as he pushed it open. He grabbed jeans and a flannel shirt to throw over his T-shirt. She hadn’t moved when he turned back and he walked over to see what she was looking at.

“Why would someone be out on a snowmobile in near blizzard conditions?”

“What?” Quinn cupped his hand on the glass and scrutinized the darkness. “I can’t see a damn thing.”

“Over by the trees on the left, see the tracks? They’re not covered because of the tree canopy.”

She was right. Once he knew where to look, his keen coyote vision picked up the distinct trails of a snowmobile leading off into the forest. It appeared he’d be going out in the storm to scout around. He wouldn’t follow the path cut into the snow but he’d be sure to find anything that might have been left behind. If the person had sat watching the house for long there could be a clue as to their identity. Not that he needed one. His gut told him it was Marcus but what was he playing at throwing rocks?

Quinn was of the opinion the man was impulsive and stupid but sitting in a snow storm in the dead of winter was downright insane. And if Marcus had crossed over that fine line into the mentally unstable they were in for far more trouble than he ever could have imagined or expected.