Shadow in the Pines Read Online Free PDF Page A

isn’t she?” His dry wit had escaped her at first, but she was getting used to that, too. It reminded her of the early days with Shelly, her first roommate at college. A time when she liked herself a lot more than she had lately. It was a comfortable feeling, like finally coming home after a long absence.
    “Have you heard anything about students disappearing out here?” she asked, trying to sound casual. The whole thing bothered her more than she cared to admit.
    “No-o,” he said around a mouthful of chicken. “She was serious?”
    “I think so,” Dani said. “Something about the guy who ran the Ophidian Colony. She said he brought students out here to catch snakes and two of them disappeared… …about six years ago.”
    “You know, I did hear something about that when I first moved here,” he shook his head. “Pretty weird shit, as I recall. They don’t get much of that around here.”
    “I think it’s pretty creepy,” she said, concentrating on her food. When she looked up, he was watching her intently.
    “Does it bother you?” he asked quietly, shifting into his cop mode.
    Shrugging, she said, “A little, I guess. I never lived alone before…”
    That wasn’t exactly true. She’d lived at home until she went to college. Then she’d married Mark right out of the dorm. The time she’d spent alone in Austin after they separated, she didn’t really feel alone. Surrounded by Mark’s things and the neighbors, it didn’t seem the same. He was hardly ever home even before he moved out and she could always hear the neighbors thumping around behind a common wall. But out here, the quiet at night seemed to take on a presence of its own.
    “I’ll look into it if you want,” he offered.
    Dani was quiet for a moment and Noah waited. Finally, she asked, “Have you ever seen anyone out here? Walking around in the woods, I mean?”
    Noah’s eyes narrowed. “No. Why?”
    She shrugged. “A couple of times, I’ve thought I did…across the road. Then I thought it was probably just a shadow or something. But after I talked to Beth about it, I started to wonder. It’s probably nothing.”
    “There’s not another house for miles,” he said, like she didn’t already know that.
    “I know. I’m sure it’s my imagination.”
    “I guess maybe hunters might wander this way sometimes,” he offered. “I haven’t lived here during deer season before.”
    “Whatever,” she shrugged again, wishing she hadn’t brought it up. She didn’t really want to think about it. “Wanna watch a movie tonight?”
    “I guess ‘Silence of the Lambs’ is out of the question,” he teased, relaxing a little.
    Dani rolled her eyes and got up to clear the table.
    They ended up watching a rerun of “Face Off” on TV, sitting together on the couch while he gave a running commentary of why things weren’t done right in the movie. A big fan of Nicolas Cage, she’d seen it several times before, but it was fun to hear Noah’s take on the whole thing. Still, she sighed softly when it ended, knowing he’d leave soon and she’d be alone again. Maybe it was his police training, but he had an uncanny knack for knowing just what she was thinking.
    “I better go,” he said, contradicting his words by pulling her close and kissing her soundly. The touch of his lips sent a jolt of electricity coursing through her body. Mark never kissed her like this. “You okay?” he asked, so close to her face she could smell the remnants of the cologne he’d probably splashed on in a hurry this morning. Aramis, she thought, smiling as she mentally compared him to the pretty-boy Aramis man in the commercials.
    “Yeah,” she said, wondering if it was possible to fall into the warm brown eyes that stared back at her. This man was trouble.
    “You know I’m right here if you need me,” he whispered, caressing her with his voice.
    “I know,” she said softly, reveling in the feel of his strong arms around her. “Thank you for