”Yes, sir. Your wife gave dispatch the plate number and that’s all it took. His truck fits the description of several robberies in the area. He stupidly drove right home after leaving here. Probably to change his underpants.” The officer chuckles. “I’d certainly crap my pants if that dog came after me.”
I’m so proud of her for thinking quickly to get a plate number.
“Do you think this guy targeted my wife?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think so, but we’ll do a full investigation into it.”
“Good.”
Hours later, I’m awake in bed staring at the ceiling. Heat radiates through my veins. It’s an indescribable anger of knowing someone—some bastard—almost broke into my house. He could have hurt my family. I shove the sheets off and stand up, pacing the length of our bedroom. Keanna sleeps soundly, exhausted after the crazy night we had. The police checked all around the house and got camera footage from neighbors, but since our nearest neighbors are much further away than in our old neighborhood, they didn’t have much.
But one thing’s for sure: we are getting cameras.
I sit at the kitchen table and add a ton of security cameras to my shopping cart online. I add motion lights, stronger deadbolts, and enough cameras for every inch of the outside of our house.
Before I know it, the sun starts rising on the horizon, turning the black night sky into a warm, inviting dawn. I’ve been up most of the night and I’m not even tired. I brew a pot of coffee after looking in a few different cabinets for the coffee. Keanna knows her way around here, but I’m still learning. I’ve been working my ass off at The Track lately, while she’s been spending more time home.
I like that she’s loving her time at home, doing her crafts and making things feel special around here. At the old house, it felt like we were constantly go, go, go. But here we can relax and settle in.
At least, we could. Last night changed everything.
The staircase creaks softly with Keanna’s light footsteps. I look up and see her peering at me in confusion.
“Jett? Is everything okay?”
”No,” I say, pouring a cup of coffee.
The alarm on her face has me changing my answer. “I mean—yeah it’s fine now. I’m just… in general, no it’s not okay. I can’t stop thinking about what happened and how pissed off it makes me.”
She pours herself a cup of coffee and sits next to at the kitchen table. “When did you wake up?”
”Hours ago,” I admit. “I couldn’t sleep. I just ordered us a badass security system. I’m going to install it the day it arrives, and I’m not leaving the house until it’s ready and everyone is safe.”
I look over at the living room window that we boarded up with a random piece of plywood we found in the garage. Our new window guy is coming out today to fix it.
“I’m getting a lock for the gate to the back yard. I’m wondering what it would cost to get one of those big iron fences in the front yard with a big gate we can drive through…”
”Babe, slow down.” She puts a hand on my arm. “You don’t need to go crazy making this place more secure than the White House.”
”Yes, I do. I absolutely do. Something bad happened last night and it could have been worse.” I look at her and honest-to-God, I almost want to cry. She is so precious and I can’t fathom what could have happened if that guy broke into our house last night.
I take her face in my hands as I peer into her eyes. “I can’t let anything happen to you.”
Closing my eyes, I let my forehead drop to hers. We sit like this for a long moment. Then I pull back and kiss her forehead. “And don’t worry—I’m done with teaching night classes.”
”Babe, no. Keep your classes.”
I shake my head. “Hell no. You and Harper won’t be in this house at night without me.”
”Babe, seriously. We don’t need you all the time.” She looks over and makes a clicky sound with the side of her mouth. Arko comes trotting into the room, ears up and alert.
She pets a hand over the top of his head then looks at me. “We’ve got Arko. He’s not going to let anything bad happen to us.”
My lips press into a frown. “He can’t fully control everything. He’s a dog, not a person. A dog who happens to like breaking windows.”
”Yeah, and he saved us. He dove through a freaking window to save us,” she says, speaking slowly, letting each word take up the space it needs to prove her point. “You weren’t there so you don’t get it but…I’ve never seen anything like it. Arko will protect us. That’s what he was born to do.”
”You’re a good boy,” I tell him, ruffling up his super fluffy neck fur. “Even if you do break a lot of windows.”
