Copper Beach

can.”

    “Good.”

    She waited a beat. Sam did not say anything else. He and Newton continued to contemplate the night.

    She cleared her throat. “So do you plan on returning to Copper Beach tonight? It’s a long trip.”

    “What?” Sam sounded distracted, as if she had interrupted his train of thought. He turned around. “No, I’m not going back tonight. I thought I made it clear I’ll be sticking close to you until this is finished. Got a spare blanket for your sofa?”

    Blindsided. She stared at him, speechless. A tiny tingle of panic iced her spine. Should have seen this coming.

    “I really don’t think it’s necessary for you to spend the night here,” she said quickly. “It’s not like there is an immediate threat to my safety.”

    “Sure there is.”

    “I don’t see it.”

    “Let’s review,” Sam said. “You are suddenly very hot, in more ways than one. Every time I turn around, someone else is either trying to bribe you or trying to blackmail you into working for him.”

    “Just two people,” she said. “Three, counting you.”

    “That’s two too many. Sooner or later, someone may decide to take more direct action. This place is not exactly a fortress.”

    “I’ve got Newton,” she said. But she was grasping at straws, and she knew it.

    “I’m sure Newton is a fine animal, but he’s not exactly a pit bull or a rottweiler. Tonight, I sleep here.”

    She thought about the black leather duffel he had left in the entry hall. “I’m guessing that whatever is inside that bag you brought, it’s not your gym stuff.”

    “Overnight kit, a change of clothes and some of the equipment I use in my consulting work. I never leave home without it.”

    “You came prepared.”

    “We’re in this together, Abby.”

    “Right.” She took a deep breath. “Actually, there are three of us involved in this thing. You, me and Newton. And right now Newton has priority. It’s time for his late-night walk.”

    “Please don’t tell me that you make a habit of going out onto the street alone at this hour every night?”

    “No need for that,” Abby said. “The main reason I chose this particular condo building is because it has a lovely dog garden on the roof.”

    Newton bounded toward the front door, claws skidding on the floor.

    “He knows the word walk, ” Abby explained.

    “Maybe you’re right,” Sam said. “Maybe he is a little bit psychic.”

    “All dogs have a psychic vibe,” Abby said. “But Newton has more talent than most. I knew that the instant I saw him in the animal shelter.”

    Some time later, she closed her bedroom door, turned off the lights and pulled back the covers. The curtains were open, allowing the nighttime glow of the city to spill into the room.
    Newton jumped up onto the foot of the bed and settled down.

    “Feels weird knowing he’s out there in the other room, doesn’t it?” Abby whispered.

    Newton regarded her alertly, his proud, intelligent head silhouetted against the city lights.

    She pulled the down quilt up to her chin and contemplated the shadows on the ceiling. She should have been more uneasy about the situation, she thought. She was not accustomed to having a man spend the night. Her dates were never invited to stay until morning. Even with Kane, she had not taken that step. Maybe that had been a sign that the relationship was doomed, she thought. A woman should long for that kind of domestic intimacy with the man she was thinking of marrying. But she had never felt the need to have Kane stay. And in the post-Kane era, she had been living something of a cloistered life. There had been no other relationship that had even come close to being serious.

    Her new home was her refuge, her fortress, her private, personal space. It was the first place that had ever truly belonged to her. She had filled it with things that had meaning to her. She had decorated it with the colors and fabrics and furnishings that she loved. And tonight a man she had known for less than a day was sleeping on her new sofa. She was still making payments on that sofa.

    “I probably won’t sleep well tonight,” she said to Newton. “But what if I have that damn dream and go sleepwalking out into the front room? It would be so embarrassing.”

    Newton put his head down on his paws.

    Abby looked out into the night and thought about the lucid-dreaming advice that Gwen had given her. Set your psychic alarm clock to alert you when you start