Trail Of Danger. Valerie Hansen

hallway around him was empty. Reed knocked. “Abigail. Ms. Jones! It’s me.”

      Not only did the dogs fall silent, it was quiet enough for him to hear her footsteps approaching. “It’s really you?”

      “Yes.” He held his badge in front of the peephole. “See?”

      Abigail opened the door and instead of ushering him in, threw both arms around his neck and fell into his embrace.

      At their feet, Jessie was panting and wagging her tail. Midnight was so excited she ran in circles around the couple and wrapped their legs together with the trailing leash.

      Reed braced himself against the doorjamb for balance. “Whoa. What happened? What’s wrong?”

      “I—I don’t know.”

      “Okay. One thing at a time.” He checked to make sure there was no immediate threat, then bent to unravel the snare of the short leash. “There. Let’s go back inside.”

      Abigail didn’t comply as quickly as he liked so he slid an arm around her waist and half carried her through the open doorway. Jessie entered ahead of them with the pup bringing up the rear, much to Reed’s relief.

      He closed the door, then escorted her to the sofa, sat down with her and clasped her hands. “All right. Tell me everything.”

      Although her blue eyes were wide and she still looked frightened, she said, “I think the dogs heard a prowler in the hallway. I—I heard a funny noise and thought I saw the doorknob turning but nobody came in.”

      “Not surprising considering the racket Jessie was making. She’s not trained for personal protection but she knew she was supposed to look after you—and the puppy.”

      “Midnight barked, too. It would have been kind of cute if I hadn’t been so scared.”