AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As if on cue, Damon pulled up. He got out of the truck and met up with us on the porch. With barely a glance at me, he demanded, “What is he doing here?”
“He followed me,” McCrae said.
They were probably glaring at me, but I was already looking around the outside of the house. Maybe I could find footprints or something that had been dropped.
I’d wandered partway down the driveway, thinking about where they would’ve parked, when Damon called out to me. “What are you doing?”
I glanced back at him. “Investigating.” Obviously. I was in private security, and before that, I had caught terrorists. This was what I did.
“Get out of here. This doesn’t involve you.”
I ignored him and kept moving down the driveway. Before long, I reached the regular road and swung my phone flashlight in a wide arc.
“I mean it. You’re not supposed to be here.” Damon bore down on me. “You need to leave. This is an official call.”
I whirled on my brother. “She’s my friend too. I might have left eight years ago, which you all remind me about every day, and she might not be my girlfriend, but she is my friend.”
Damon hesitated. After a moment, he moved across the road. “I’ll check this side for tire tracks.”
Gratitude flashed through me.
We didn’t find anything, and as we walked back, Damon said, “I don’t know if she wants you here, bro.”
We returned to the house, entering the living room, and I heard McCrae talking things over with Ella. Then she leaned into him. He opened his arms, and she let him hug her.
Jealousy pulsed through me. I wanted to be the one comforting her—wanted it more fiercely than I’d ever thought possible.
McCrae turned to us. “We couldn’t find anything missing. Just a lamp turned over.”
Ella pulled back and looked from me to Damon. “I don’t know what to do from here.”
“Who would want to hurt you?” Damon asked.
McCrae raised a hand. “I already took down her statement.”
“Would you mind repeating it?”
“Fine.” Ella glanced at me, relenting. “Clint texted me a couple times today and told me he was sorry and still wanted to go out. But I don’t think he would break in.”
This put me off, but I didn’t say a word. I tried to keep my face neutral, although I wanted to ask a dozen of my own questions.
She sighed. “My ex is still texting me about our marriage certificate. Apparently, he needs it for some life insurance. He keeps saying he needs an original copy, but he has one.”
I said, “I’d be willing to come and help you put some security up—cameras, sensor lights where it’s dark.” I pointed to some spots on the ceiling, indicating a few areas on the roof.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to be on camera.”
Frustration boiled within me. I wanted to tell her she was at risk, but I bit the words back.
No one said anything for a few seconds. Then Damon said slowly, “I think he’s right. A couple cameras can’t hurt. You could just make the feed go to your phone, and then we’d at least have something if someone comes back.”
I pointed to the door, then right by the bookcase in the main living room. “You could put cameras here and here. That would cover both entrances as well as this room.”
Ella was shaking her head, ready to refuse again, when she looked past me to the bookcase. “What is that?” We watched as she picked up a small picture frame. “How did this get here?”
Confused, I followed, peering over her shoulder. It was a picture of her whole family out on the dock one summer day. If I had to guess, she and Greg were probably ten or twelve in the picture. “What do you mean?”
Her face turned pale. “This wasn’t here.” She backed up and put a hand against the couch, looking like she would pass out. “I haven’t seen this picture since I was little.”
