CELEBRITY STATUS (The Kate Huntington mystery series #4) by Kassandra Lamb Page A

away.
                “Kids today,” the man said, shaking his head. “They’ll make you old before your time.”
                “Mine are still preschoolers,” Skip said.
                “Enjoy them while they’re cute, sir, cause that’s what they morph into eventually. What can I do for you?”
                Skip introduced himself, showing the man his private investigator’s license, then said, “Your neighbor, Elise Thomas, thinks you all might have a prowler. She’s hired me to watch her house for a few nights and see if I can catch him.”
                “Hmm, I haven’t seen any strangers in the neighborhood lately, but I don’t blame Elise a bit. A woman living alone with her kids. I’d be nervous in her shoes if I thought someone was hanging around.”
                Skip politely turned down the man’s offer to help, then pointed out the hiding place he had chosen. “I’ll be making a circuit around Elise’s house every fifteen minutes or so,” he said.  “Didn’t want you to see me out there and think I was the prowler.”
                “Gotcha. Happy hunting.”
                Elise and the kids left at six. By eight, Skip, despite the catnap he’d gotten in that afternoon, was wishing he’d brought a thermos of coffee. By eight-thirty, he was making his circuits of the house more often, mostly to keep himself alert. By nine-fifteen he was resigning himself to the idea that he might have to spend another Saturday night doing this. When Elise got home he was going to suggest she get the locks changed, and invest in an alarm system to keep her and her kids safe between now and then.
                At nine-thirty-five he was on the far side of the house when he heard car doors slamming in the driveway. Elise and the kids were home. He decided to make one more circuit around back before going to the front door to talk to her.
                Skip came around the corner of the house and froze when the lights going on in the kitchen revealed the silhouette of a man standing outside the kitchen door. Skip expected the guy to run but he didn’t. Instead, he moved into the shadows beside the door.
                Skip eased slowly along the back of the house, trying to decide if he should draw his gun sooner instead of later. Perhaps better to keep his hands free until he saw what he was up against. He eased a little closer.
                The man had his back to Skip and was peering around the edge of the window in the door into Elise’s kitchen.
                When Skip was close enough to reach out and touch the guy, he heard the sound of a key slipping into a lock. He lunged for where the door knob should be and clamped down on a skinny wrist with his right hand. The guy swung toward him and the light from the window glinted on metal. Skip’s left hand was up in the air in an instant, grabbing the guy’s other wrist.
                He was staring into the face of the pimply kid from next door.
                Skip had the kid face down on the ground, both arms twisted up behind his back in the next second. He was wishing he’d thought to bring handcuffs when he saw what was lying next to his right knee. He wasn’t about to use the coil of rope to restrain the kid, however. It was evidence.
                The kitchen door opened and Elise let out a stifled scream.
                “Call the police,” Skip said. “Then find me something to tie this guy up.”
                “Jack?” Elise said, recognizing the side of the kid’s face that wasn’t mashed against the ground. “You can let him up, Skip. He lives next door. My babysitter is his girlfriend.”
                “That would explain how he got his hands on a key,” Skip said, without moving. “He had a knife and a rope this time. Looks like he was