Jenna Black - Watchers in the Night

Carolyn Mathers felt ridiculous carrying a gun on a date, but that didnt stop her from donning her shoulder holster and slipping in the Glock. Pathetic, she supposed. Certainly not romantic. But Paul was a cophed understand in some kind of basic way. If she let him get close enough to find out she was carrying, that is.

Grimacing at the thought, she stepped out into the frosty night. The weatherman had said it was ten degrees out. But Carolyns palms were sweating.

Its just a date, she muttered under her breath, exasperated with herself. Her words formed a misty white cloud before the bitter wind dispersed it. Sticking her hands into her coat pockets, she braced herself against the cold and descended her front steps, hurrying toward the open parking lot a block and a half away.

Shed chosen ten oclock on a Wednesday night for this date because when shed tried to meet Paul at a civilized hour, her work had interfered and shed had to stand him up. Now, however, she felt tired and unenergetic, and if it werent for the scrap of pride she had leftthe one that told her she was being a cowardshe would have begged off again. It appeared that even after three years, she wasnt fully ready to date again.

As soon as her feet hit the sidewalk, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled in a way that was becoming infuriatingly familiar. She stopped and took a slow look around her, searching for the prying eyes her body insisted were upon her no matter what her rational mind told her. Row houses lined both sides of the street, but no faces peeked out from any of the lighted windows. An occasional car passed bythe streets of Philadelphia were never truly desertedbut there wasnt a single pedestrian in sight.

Shaking her head at herself, she started toward the parking lot once more. One of the big street lights in the lot flickered, then went out, leaving her car buried in an intimidating pool of shadow where the light had once been. The creepy-crawly feeling of being watched heightened, and she hunched her shoulders against it.

This was why shed brought the gun, this constant uneasiness shed been feeling for several months now every time she went out at night. Most likely, she was just being paranoid. But shed been a cop for eight years and a P.I. for three, and in both lines of work shed naturally made some enemies. It wasnt a bad idea to be on her guard.

If some nut case were following you, he would have made his move by now, she told herself. No matter how nutty they were, they didnt stalk you for months at a time without making some kind of move, if only to let you know you were in danger.

Forcing herself to relax, she strode briskly toward her car. She glared briefly at the burned-out light. It buzzed to life for a second, then died again. She paid this place one-fifty a month to park her carthe least they could do was keep the lights on! There wasnt even anyone at the booth tonight, and with the cold weather keeping most sensible people in their houses, the lot felt deserted. And ominous.

She was just a few steps from her car when she heard the unmistakable sound of a footstep behind her. She whirled around so fast she almost made herself dizzy.

In the dismal pool of shadow, not ten feet away from her, stood a white male, maybe eighteen or twenty. The street lamp made another feeble attempt to come back to life, and Carolyn got a good look at him. Blond hair spiked with some kind of greasy gel, blue eyes with the color and warmth of a glacier, thin, heavily chapped lips twisted into a menacing sneer. Despite the cold, he wore only a denim jacket for warmth, but from his dilated pupils she gathered hed found a chemical solution to the cold. His hand moved, and she saw the gleam of a wicked-looking switch blade.