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Levi peered over to the balcony wall. “That’s a steep drop.”
“No shit,” Press said. “And I sure as hell wasn’t chasing him over it.”
“Him?”
“Yeah, bulky dude. White from what I could see of his neck between the mask and jacket he wore. Also saw a car waiting for him at the bottom.”
“Make and model?” Marsh asked as he stepped beside Levi.
“Old four-door of some sort. Sorry, it was dark out and so was the car.”
Marsh craned over the balcony, glancing left and right, then pointed at the intersection and signal lights to the north. “I’ll pull cams.” He rotated back around, leaning against the rail. “About what time was this?”
“Just before ten,” Press answered. “I was about to call—” His abrupt halt drew Levi back around and Brax and Aidan to the edge of their seats, the SAC beating Levi to his next question.
“Why did you buy this place?” Aidan said. “You could’ve gotten into a law school in LA. Somewhere closer to the facility and your place up there.”
The baller blushed again, deeper this time. “Well, I won’t be playing forever, and I don’t love LA.”
“But you do love someone here,” Levi surmised, following the clues in Press’s carefully chosen words and his less carefully hidden reactions.
His gaze flickered to Levi and Marsh, then bounced to Jamie, a safer, more familiar ear for him. “He’s got a job here, a good one, so I figured I’d put down some roots too, for whenever I decide to stop playing.”
Jamie clasped his shoulder. “He’s a lucky guy.”
“I’m the lucky one,” Press said, the corners of his lips turned up in a shy smile, clearly smitten. Maybe even in love. But if so, why hadn’t he mentioned the boyfriend to Jamie? Where was he now?
“Have you been staying with him since the break-in?” Levi asked. It had been two nights now—the night of the incident, then last night, when, after no follow-up from the sheriff’s department, Press had called Jamie. “Doesn’t look like you’ve been here much.”
“No, he’s... umm... out of town. Special occasion. I didn’t want to bother him.” Chin ducked, he ran his hand over his head again. “I’ve been at a hotel near campus.”
While Levi was curious what Press was holding back, he sensed Press would be more comfortable having that conversation with Jamie. And Levi didn’t sense it was relevant to the case; Press didn’t seem the sort who would hold back that kind of information, especially not after calling them in to help. Levi circled back to an earlier, more relevant thread instead. “What did the local officer say? The one who was here Saturday night.”
“Random break-in.”
“Was anything missing?” Aidan asked.
Press shook his head. “Nothing as far as I can tell. Just trashed the place, then ran.” He gestured again at the balcony wall. “I mean, what could he carry out and over?”
“Your championship ring,” Jamie said.
“Nope,” Press said. “Still in the glass case on my desk.”
“Anything else small and valuable like that?” Brax asked. “A safe with cash or papers?”
Press shook his head. “Nope and nope. Nothing’s missing as far as I can tell.”
“What do you know about the house?” Marsh asked.
“That I got it for way cheaper than everything else around here. Figured it was the highway noise.” As if on cue, a car horn blew from not far off, some Monday morning commuter clearly unhappy about the traffic. Press, however, didn’t seem too bothered by it. “I can close the balcony doors and hardly hear it.”
“We’ll look into it,” Jamie said before his gaze strayed to Marsh’s, and Levi could practically hear their hacker game plan coming together.
“Could it have been someone targeting you?” Brax gently asked. “You are kind of famous.”
“Not that famous. Definitely not his kind of famous,” he said with a head tilt toward Jamie. “So that leaves who? The asshole I beat at mock trial?” He shrugged again. “Whoever it was, he ran away when I got here.”
“I’d still like to put a protection detail on you, especially if you intend to stay here,” Levi said.
