Read Beyond the Waves (Pacific Shores Book 1) for Free Online

she felt sure, but…
    A thud followed by a grunt of pain penetrated the silence.
    She gasped softly. Someone was in the house! They had stumbled into a piece of furniture!
    Suddenly wishing she owned a guard dog, Taysia fumbled for her bedside phone and pressed 9-1-1 with trembling fingers.
    Another thud, and something shattered in the dining room. Taysia pressed back against her headboard, clutching the phone like a security blanket.
    “9-1-1 emergency, how may I help you?”
    “There is someone in my house,” Taysia whispered, willing down the panic surging through her veins.
    “All right, ma’am. I’ll get a unit on their way to you right now. Do you think you are in immediate danger?”
    “I don’t know.” She dared not raise her voice even a fraction above a whisper. She fixed her eyes on the dark, gaping shadow of her bedroom door, shuddering at the thought of someone stepping through it. Suddenly Kylen’s earlier concerns didn’t seem so ludicrous.
    “Okay, ma’am, listen to me. Are you alone in the room you are calling from?”
    “Yes.” She pulled the covers up closer to her chin, then rolled her eyes. Like that would prevent her from being discovered by whatever fiend was creeping through her house.
    “Do you have a place you could hide? Maybe someplace you could lock yourself into? Like a bathroom or a closet? If you do, I want you to take the phone with you and go there now.”
    Taysia eyed her parents’ old armoire and tried to imagine opening its creaky old doors and climbing inside quietly. She shook her head. No way . The hinges on that thing groaned like a dam about to break. And the bathroom was two doors down the no-pinprick-of-light-to-be-found hallway. A tremor of fear slithered down her spine. There wasn’t one thing that could entice her to step out there for even a second. She glanced at her bedroom’s one window. Even if she could get the jam-prone wooden frame to open, she hadn’t removed the storm windows yet. Blast this old house!
    “No. No place to go.”
    “Okay, ma’am. Hang on. Our unit should be there shortly.”
    Suddenly Taysia remembered. “Kylen,” she whispered. “He lives next door.”
    “I’m sorry, ma’am. Who?”
    “Officer Sumner. He’s my neighbor. Can you call him?”

    Kylen groaned and rolled over, ignoring the phone. Two more rings and he flopped back and fumbled for the receiver.
    “‘Lo,” he mumbled, squinting at his clock. Three twenty-eight.
    “Officer Sumner?”
    “Yes.”
    “This is Candy Bower from 9-1-1 dispatch. Your neighbor, ahh”—she paused, a keyboard clicking in the background—”Green, Anastaysia Green, is on the phone with us. She says there is an intruder on the premises and requested we call you.”
    Kylen came wide awake, lurched out of bed, and dropped the phone onto his nightstand. Grabbing his gun, he sprinted for his front door.
    Barefoot and wearing only a pair of jogging shorts, he stepped out into the darkness, gripping his gun with both hands. He studied Taysia’s house carefully. Jesus, let her be okay. Please keep her safe .
    He ran toward the back of her house where her bedroom was. Pistol held at the ready, he pressed his shoulder against the siding at the corner and peered into her backyard. Empty. He slid along the wall, heading for the sliding door. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and he tried to quiet his breathing. Feet planted next to her door, he quickly glanced into the room’s interior, then jerked his head back. Everything looked still. He tried the door. It slid open easily, and he grimaced in frustration at Taysia’s naïve irresponsibility. Quietly he pushed the door open farther and eased inside.
    All was silent except for the crunch of something under his feet. Shards of pain pierced through him. He hissed a flinch, then gritted his teeth and moved on. There was no time for pain right now. He had to find Taysia.
    He peered down the hallway. Nothing. Moving methodically, he cleared