There were few barriers in the neighborhood, so she moved quietly through the trees and shrubs to Grace’s house. The fact that it was completely enclosed was unusual. Chelsea wondered if Grace had done it or if the house was fenced when she bought it.
Toward the back of the chain-link fence she could see the concrete wall of the shed. It was about eight feet square and looked as solid as a bank vault. But then, it wasn’t as though she planned to break into it. She just wanted to . . . Actually, she wasn’t sure why she was here.
As she got closer to the shed, she wondered where the lights Melissa had mentioned were. She could see two tall poles but they were dark.
Her first thought was that if Orin’s files had been confiscated, that might make him work harder to get whatever papers Grace had in storage. Maybe he’d sent someone and that’s why the lights were out. If so, Chelsea knew she should call the police.
She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, but before she could even turn it on, a hand went over her mouth and another around her waist. Her phone fell to the ground.
Chelsea kicked backward, her heel contacting hard with a shin. At the same time, she jammed both elbows back and hit a rib cage on both sides.
There was a grunt of pain, then in a deft move, her attacker’s leg went around her knees. In the next moment she was on the ground and he was on top of her, his hands pinning her arms above her head.
“That hurt,” Eli said.
Chelsea took about a quarter of a second to register her astonishment that he was there and on her, then she started thrashing about under him, trying to get away.
“I hope you keep this up,” he said. “It feels quite good, actually.”
Chelsea went still. It was very dark but she had an idea that he could see her face. She was glaring at him with all the anger she felt. He’d left her on the couch! “I thought you wanted to sleep.” Her teeth were clenched shut.
“Eventually,” he said. He was still holding her hands above her head, but he moved one hand down to touch her hair. “You should have covered this more. The moonlight on it makes it shine like liquid gold.”
“Now you get romantic? Now?!”
With a chuckle, Eli rolled off to lie beside her, but he didn’t let go of her hand. “Want to tell me why you’re here?”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” she said. “You’re not going to turn this around so you’re the one who gets to ask the questions. Why are you here? And why did you leave me sitting on the sofa with my clothes half off? I could have murdered you.”
“Since you’ve been in town, I’ve taken about twenty cold showers. I think I could fill a bathtub with ice and step into it and turn it all to steam.”
“Really?” she asked, sounding interested. But then she sat up and looked down at him. “You’re trying to distract me, aren’t you? Why did you lie about sleeping? Why are you here?”
“I didn’t lie. I just—”
“Eli!”
“Okay, I left you because I had to call Jeff. I wanted him to come over here and find out what kind of lock was on the shed and get me a duplicate.”
“You made him leave Melissa?”
“Funny you should mention that because he said he’d rather not do what I asked.”
“Curse you out, did he?”
“Oh yeah,” Eli said. “He sent Pilar over here. But then, she’s better at sneaking than he is. She was on a date with your number three.”
“Lanny?”
“You sound like you know him.”
“Just wishing,” Chelsea said. “What else did you do?”
“Packed a bag with what I need. Called a few people. I think—” He lifted one side of his body and pulled her cell phone out from under him. “I believe this is yours. D
o not turn it on. You weren’t planning to call the police, were you?”
“Yes, I was. The lights over the shed are out and— Did you put them out?”