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Terri made a two-punch move.Right. Left.Arms now free, she swung around fast, guessing at the position of his head. Her whole body jarred when her elbow smacked his jaw.
His head snapped back with a nasty cracking sound. He cursed, stumbled backward, but quickly caught his balance and blocked her exit.
Crap. This one wasn't going down easy. And she couldn't reach for her weapon without lowering her defense.
She couldn't make out his face in the dark, but had no problem discerning his size. Moonlight threw shadows past his massive silhouette.
Options ran through her mind. She'd taken her instructor down and he wasn't exactly a weakling at over two hundred pounds. Not this big, though.
The man shook his head and stood very still, watching her.
Blood pumped furiously through her chest. She licked her lips, hoping the adrenaline charge would give her enough of an edge to beat him.
No matter what, she would make him pay for anything he got.
"You're a surprising little thing."
The disbelief in his muttered words stroked her ego until she picked up the underlying anger.
"No, I'm adangerouslittle thing." She positioned her feet and feinted to his right. Her bluff worked to draw him out of position. She gritted her teeth against the inevitable pain, took a step, and threw her weight onto her injured leg.
Then shoved her left knee up hard. Big mistake.
The bastard blocked his groin with both hands faster than she'd ever seen a man move.
Terri lost her balance, hopping to stay off her right leg, but pain knifed up her side.
She sucked in her breath. The white-hot burning in her thigh caused her to hesitate to attack again.
And cost her what little edge she'd just gained.
Quick as a whip, he caught her by one arm and spun her back against his chest. His arms wrapped her like giant manacles, immobilizing her.
Shit!
Terri struggled but knew when she'd been beat. This was the downside of refusing to work with a partner again.
"What do you want?" she demanded and damn if she didn't sound mad enough to back up the fury in her tone. Her pulse kicked into hyperspeed. She struggled. Panic would not help her, but the fear of being a victim again after the knife attack hid just beneath the surface under a thin veneer of confidence.
He said nothing. His chest expanded with each breath, but she hadn't been a real challenge for this guy. No one with his lightning reflexes would be winded. In fact, he'd contained her without roughing her up, which took effort.
Hope blossomed in her chest. He might not kill her.
Maybe he was just a thief.
"You find anything good here?" she asked, trying to prod him to confirm his presence.
Still no reply. Great impression of a statue.
She had to calm down and think. Calm equaled control. Her handbag was still intact and had moved back to her hip, but still out of reach while he held her. She glanced around for a weapon or something she could use as one.
The papers and open drawer snagged her gaze. Why go through the drawers of this house? What did people hide of value in drawers?
Jewelry, cash, checkbooks, credit cards...
The possibility of him being a thief was beginning to sound pretty plausible. Maybe he read obits, knew how to locate the houses and hit the ones that looked like easy pickings. She wanted to slap her head for not taking the unlocked door more seriously.
"Guess you've combed this place pretty good." She tried to turn her head. Not going to happen until he gave up this intimidation routine.
She knew the stay silent tactic. Let the other person babble. No problem. She'd play along and talk if that gave her any chance of weaseling her way out of this.
Terri took a breath, feeling back on her game, even if she was in a compromised position. Her best bet would be to convince him she'd also come here for a heist.
"Hey, buddy, I had no idea we were casing the same house. My bad. If you'll let me go, I'll stay off your turf." She tried to flex her arms, but she'd have an easier time flexing against a tree limb. This guy must spend his days as a gym rat.
A lock of her wavy hair tumbled into her eyes. She huffed the curl back and waited for him to make a move. Preferably, not an aggressive one.
"What are you doing here?" The softly spoken words were delivered in a voice as chilling as a block of ice.
She would not let him intimidate her. Her palms were slick, but everyone got sweaty palms, even undercover agents. She'd dealt with dangerous perps back when she was with the DEA.
"Same as you, just looking for something to pawn." Terri prayed she was right. He didn't act like someone on crack so maybe he'd just been sifting through the house for loose cash, credit cards, and jewelry. A smart thief wouldn't want to add assault to the charges if he ever got caught.
An encouraging thought... if he was sharp.
"Right." He made a sound that was a cross between a scoff and a grunt.
What? He didn't think she was capable of B&E, just got lucky with the door being open. If he only knew. She could pick a lock faster than he could sneeze. Just ask the judge who sentenced her to a year in juvie when she was sixteen.
"Hey, I can get into anything." She scoffed right back. "And had I broken in first I wouldn't have left the door unlocked. So what are you after? Jewelry?" Play along and keep him talking even if he did act as though he was being charged by the word to speak. He'd lower his guard at some point.
"Nothing here to pawn," he said.
Just as she'd thought. A thief. He hadn't tried to peel her clothes off. If she acted cool and casual about all this, she might just walk away unscathed.
Unfortunately, she'd never been cool in her life so friendly was the best to expect from her acting repertoire.
"What do you want?" His blunt question made her jump.
She clenched her fingers to keep from snapping at him. "Nothing, really. Just making a quick hit and moving on. I've already told you this place is all yours. You're right, there's not a thing I can make a dime on."
"You left a desk job in a suit and put on sneakers to hit a house you hadn't even cased properly?"
The teasing curl of his voice insulted her, but she was beginning to feel better about getting out of this little mess she didn't want Brady or anyone in the NOPD to find out about. If this guy had been a serious whacko he probably would have hurt her by now or said something creepy.
"Okay, I admit I suck at B and E." Not really, but he might take pity on a novice. "And, yes, it's obvious I haven't been cracking houses long. I may just give it up after tonight. I'm embarrassed enough. Can I go... please?" She smiled, working the whole blonde act to the hilt.
"Not yet. You owe me for stepping on my turf."
Copyright © 2008 by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love Snell
Excerpted from Phantom in the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dianna Love, Sherrilyn Kenyon
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
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