Page 33 of Blake

Devon turned and flipped off the bathroom lights.

Willow appeared in her bedroom doorway with an insistent meow.

“You hungry?”

The cat immediately headed toward the kitchen.

Of course, you are.

She’d fed the greedy kitty two hours ago, but the small crumbles of food remaining in her bowl no longer met Her Highness’s finicky feline standards.

So picky.

Devon dumped the old water into the sink and refilled the dish. Then she topped off Willow’s food.

“There. Try not to starve before morning, would ya?”

Willow ignored her and immediately began eating. Devon couldn’t help but smile as she reached for an empty glass she’d left on the counter earlier. That’s when she saw it.

Her hand stopped.

Devon’s gaze moved toward the small dining area. One of the wooden chairs was pulled away from the table. Not a lot. Barely, really. A couple inches. Maybe three.

Her heartbeat stumbled as she stared.

No.

She always pushed in her chairs.

Always.

It was a compulsion that didn’t begin until after Billy. Before her abduction, Devon had been lucky if half the clothes she owned weren’t draped over her furniture. Now everything she owned had a place.

If everything had a place, it was easy to see when something had changed.

Nothing did. Not ever. Not once since Devon’s obsessive attention to detail had first begun. But today was different. Today, the chair had changed.

A cold sensation crawled across the back of her neck.

Maybe you did it and forgot.

Devon thought back, remembering she had eaten dinner there earlier . . . hadn’t she?

No. You ate at your desk while you were responding to emails.

She looked toward the living room, and suddenly, the entire apartment felt different. It was too quiet. Too still.

Soft crunching came from Willow as she continued eating.

Devon’s heart beat faster.

“It’s nothing.”

The reassuring words came out as barely a whisper.

She walked to the chair but didn’t touch it. She stared at the narrow gap between the wooden legs and the table.

Had she bumped it at some point without realizing it? Or maybe Willow had jumped onto it earlier.