The Rocky Road to Romance by Janet Evanovich

took a blanket, a pillow, a thermos of coffee, and a package of Oreos out to the SUV. He locked his house and drove to Daisy’s subdivision. As a reporter, he’d acquired a certain amount of street smarts over the years, and experiencetold him Daisy probably wasn’t in a lot of danger. The Roach had threatened to get even, but there were lots of ways of getting even. Steve thought harassment would be high on the list. If someone were serious about hurting Daisy, they wouldn’t have called to tell her about it. That was providing the guy with the spray paint and bad phone manners was a card-carrying, professional dope pusher. If the man was a druggie with a few cans missing from his case, the prognosis wasn’t nearly so positive. No sense taking chances, Steve thought. Until he had a better handle on the situation, he was sticking close to Daisy. He parked across the street from her house. He rolled his window down, adjusted the pillow for comfort, and poured himself a cup of coffee.
    At two-fifteen his head snapped off the back of the seat. The crack of a gunshot had broken the stillness of the night. Another shot rang out, and Steve was on his feet, running to Daisy’s house. He pulled at the front door, but it was locked. The windows were dark. He heard shouting behind the locked door. Heheard the muffled thud of feet pounding downstairs. A light blinked on in the foyer, the living room, and upstairs behind bedroom curtains. He hammered at the door. “It’s Steve. Let me in.”
    Elsie opened the door with her gun in her hand. “What are you doing here?”
    He pushed past Elsie and almost collapsed with relief when he saw Daisy. “You aren’t shot?” he asked, not so subtly examining her for bullet holes.
    Daisy rolled her eyes.
    â€œSome yahoo broke into the house,” Elsie said. “I got up to go to the john and thought I heard a funny noise coming from downstairs. So I got my purse and went down to investigate. Danged if I didn’t catch some slimeball creeping through the kitchen. I said, ‘Stop or I’ll blast you from here to kingdom come.’ It was real dark, and I couldn’t get a good look at him, but it didn’t take much sight to know he wasn’t stopping.”
    â€œThere isn’t anyone bleeding to death on the kitchen floor, is there?” Steve asked.
    â€œNo,” Elsie said. “He was moving fast oncehe saw me take out my gun. He was heading for the back door, and I had to aim real low so as to get him in the leg. Police get testy when you shoot a man too high in the back.”
    â€œDid you get him in the leg?”
    â€œNo. I’m not so good at legs.”
    Steve went into the kitchen. There was a large hole in the back door and another one in the wastebasket beside the door.
    Kevin was at the kitchen table, eating a piece of leftover pie. “She’s death to wastebaskets,” he said. “Got it right in the kneecap.”
    â€œHow’d he get in?”
    Kevin pointed to the patio door in the dining room. “Carved out a chunk of glass with a glazier’s knife and unlocked the door.”
    Steve started to dial the police. He punched in two numbers and stopped. Elsie didn’t have a license for her gun. If Elsie were in trouble with the police, he wouldn’t have anyone to ride with Daisy. He ran his hand through his hair and swore under his breath. “Everyone pack up. You’re all coming to my house, and you’re going to stay there until we find out what’s going on with this guy. Take clothes forovernight. We can do a more thorough move tomorrow.”
    â€œThat’s fine with me,” Kevin said. “I’m no hero. I’m not excited about staying here to get blown away while I sleep. I’m only fourteen. I have a long life ahead of me. I got an A in sex ed last year. It would be terrible to waste all that knowledge.”
    Elsie shrugged.