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One officer who appeared to be in charge told her that her front door had been wide open when they’d arrived, but they’d checked in and around the house and no one was there. They must have fled when the alarm went off.
Shrugging on a robe, Mia went downstairs to where she could hear Lane and Mike pleading with another cop to let them go upstairs to find her.
“I’m right here, guys. I’m okay.”
That must have been the signal to let them go. The officer stepped aside, and Mia was engulfed in a huge hug from her friends who were both talking at once, peppering her with questions. After the last thirty minutes, she simply didn’t want to answer them.
“Can we just slow down?” she finally said. “I was woken up by my alarm, and I’m still not sure what’s gone on here. The police want me to walk around and see if anything has been stolen.”
“Of course, of course,” Mike said, taking a step back and dragging Lane reluctantly with him. “You must be really upset. We were just frantic with worry when we looked out the window and saw the cop cars here.”
The officer in charge took Mia around the downstairs while she looked for anything missing. There didn’t seem to be anything gone. Her television was still there, and her laptop was upstairs in her bedroom as she’d been checking a few emails before bed.
“I don’t think they took anything,” she said when she’d checked every inch of the house, even the upstairs, which had her a bit shaken. She didn’t want to think that an intruder had been that close. “If they did take something, it’s tiny and not anything of value.”
The officer in charge assured her that they would look at her security footage and see if that helped. Her cautious nature after Kevin just might pay off this time. The sun was coming up when the last law enforcement vehicle pulled away from her home, leaving her with Lane and Mike.
“I’m going to call Grant,” she said with a sigh. “And then I’ll put on a pot of coffee. I know I could use some.”
“We could go out to breakfast,” Lane replied with a forced smile. “You always love going out for breakfast.”
There wasn’t a Denver omelet in the world that was going to make her feel better this morning. Her feeling of safety and security had been breached, and it wasn’t going to heal immediately.
Lane and Mike didn’t even know about the text messages. Not that they necessarily had anything to do with this. But they’d be ten times more worried if she told them.
“I think I just want to take a shower and stay home. Maybe try and work a bit after I talk to Grant. Or maybe I’ll just watch a movie or something.”
“A Christmas movie,” Lane suggested. “Those always make you happy. And we can order breakfast.”
“I’ll go get it,” Mike offered. “We can eat and watch some television. I don’t want to leave you alone after what happened.”
Mia wasn’t sure she wanted to be alone either, but she wasn’t the first victim of a home invasion. Lots of people all over the world had been through it, and they didn’t up and sell their home so they never had to sleep in it again.
But one day wouldn’t hurt. Lane and Mike clearly didn’t want her to be by herself, and she didn’t, either so…
“Breakfast does sound good,” she finally replied, although she wasn’t sure her stomach was going to be able to handle much. “I’ll make some coffee after I talk to Grant.”
“You call him, I’ll make coffee,” Lane offered, pulling out her phone. “And we’ll put in a breakfast order. We know your favorites.”
“Double bacon,” Mia said. “This morning demands lots of bacon.”
“I’ll make it triple. You can have all the bacon that you want,” Lane vowed.
Pork products weren’t going to take away the nasty and violated feeling that Mia was currently experiencing, but it was a start.
Someone had broken into her home last night. Did it have something to do with the strange text messages, the feelings of being watched? Had someone been casing her house for the break-in? Or was it completely unrelated? A weird coincidence?
Mia knew exactly how Grant felt about coincidences. He didn’t like them one bit. She was beginning to agree with him.
Looking over her shoulder was about to become a habit once again.
15
After Mia’s call telling him about the break-in, Grant threw an overnight bag - just in case - in the car, and immediately headed down to her place. Luckily, his second-in-command had been happy to step in, plus one of the part-time guys was looking for more hours so it had all worked out. What should have been an hour drive felt like it was days. While she had assured him she was fine, he wouldn’t believe it until he could see that with his own eyes.
He had to tell himself several times to calm the fuck down and stay in control. The last thing Mia needed was for him to be as upset or more than she was. She needed him to be someone she could lean and depend on. She needed him to be in control of the situation.
Twice during the drive his phone had buzzed with a call from Ashley. Since he was driving, he didn’t answer, and she didn’t leave a voicemail, either. After their last conversation, there wasn’t much left to say. He had heard through the grapevine that she hadn’t been saying anything positive about him. He didn’t blame her. He’d hurt her, and he was sad about that. But he also had never led her on or made her believe that he was more involved than he truly was in reality. He’d been honest and upfront, and he’d thought she had as well. Emotions and relationships were never easy, and this one had ended badly.
