Page 87 of Rogue Wave

25

“Octopuses leave no fingerprints…but criminals do.”

—It’s science

Hank

What the hell was taking her so long?

If we didn’t leave now, we weren’t going to make it before the storm hit.

It was getting darker by the minute, and the deep-gray clouds in the distance were coming in quickly. The wind also started to pick up, bringing a sudden chill to the air that hadn’t been there before.

Hazel had gone inside to grab a bucket and some gloves. That should’ve taken two minutes.

It had been ten.

I knew she was mad at me, and rightfully so. I wasn’t trying to be a controlling asshole that she probably thought I was. There was just something about her dad that didn’t sit well with me, and I didn’t like the fact that she would put herself in that dangerous situation.

Regardless, I hadn’t handled that well. I wanted to apologize to her, which was why Shadow and I were standing in the driveway waiting for Hazel to come back outside to go to the beach. But she hadn’t come out of her house.

Something felt off, and even Shadow seemed restless beside me.

A rumble of thunder in the distance had me shaking my head. Beach walk was out now.

I put Shadow back inside, grabbed my phone off the entry console, and made my way over toward Hazel’s house to see what was going on.

My phone buzzed in my hand, and I glanced down to see a new text from Dougie. I ignored it for now, the need to check Hazel outweighing everything else, and put it back in my pocket.

The moment I stepped onto her porch, I noticed she’d left the front door slightly open. That alone wasn’t enough to concern me.

The voices coming from inside were.

Male voices. Low and angry.

Every instinct I’d developed over the years kicked in. I pulled out my gun as I stepped quietly toward one of the windows to peek inside.

The sight stole the breath from my lungs and sent fire racing through my veins.

Hazel was in there with her father. Across from them was Samson, and seeing him was what brought my temper coiling tight.

The second I saw his gun, real fear hit me square in the chest.

He was getting edgier by the second, which was increasing my discomfort too.

People who were paranoid or nervous in high-stress environments made mistakes. Mistakes that I could take advantage of. But they were also often reckless, and that could turn volatile in an instant.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see another text from Dougie.

Dougie:

I’m inside Hazel’s house. Carson and Samson are in here. Call for backup. I’ll do my best to get Hazel out of the house, but I need backup.

He was inside her house? How had he gotten in there so quickly?

I realized he had sent several texts, so I scrolled back to see what I had missed. A lot, apparently. Two suspects had broken in through her back door. Dougie had pursued. Realized who they were. Then Hazel had entered the picture.

Shit.