He hesitated before he spoke, his face still clouded with frustration. “Probably, but not close enough where I could find him. He probably snuck away when I was closing the curtains and getting my stuff to go out there.”
I nodded and a shiver ran through me.
“Rae, I want to apologize to you for something. I should have put up security cameras here, but I didn’t. If I had done so, we would possibly have proof of it being him.”
I reached for his hand, lacing my fingers with his. “Ranger, you can’t beat yourself for this. I never would have guessed that he would be so bold as to come to an officer’s home.”
“We'll get this guy, Sunshine. I'm going to protect my girl with everything I have in me.”
Chapter 47
Caleb
“Alright, babe, whatwould you like for lunch?” I attempted to sound overly cheerful as I tried to keep her mind off last night. “Rae?” I looked over at her, sitting on the couch, staring out the window.
“I'm sorry, Caleb, I zoned out. What did you ask?”
I walked over to her and held out my hand, encouraging her to move away from the window. “Come on, let's get you some lunch.”
“I'm not really hungry.”
“You didn't eat breakfast either and I made your favorite, bacon. You have to eat something, Rae.” I understood how scared she must be, but I was really concerned about her. Every time she closed her eyes after I’d searched the perimeter of the house, she started to dream within minutes of getting to sleep and woke up screaming. Not even sleeping next to me helped her. I barely slept as well. The first couple times she woke up screaming, I had been able to doze off once she did, but then I woke up with her. After the first couple of times, I was awake and watching her.
“I'm sorry, I—”
I held up my hand. “Do not apologize, please, for something you can't control. This place was your safe place, and someone took it from you last night.”
“I'm so tired.” She rubbed her eyes and her voice cracked from how tired she was.
“How about you try and get some sleep? I'll sit by the bed, watching over you so you can rest.”
Rae nodded. “Can you hold me, though? I want to feel safe.”
We walked to the bedroom and crawled into bed, my arm around her, protecting her from whatever may come her way in her sleep.
Rae got two hours ofdecent sleep and then insisted on me getting sleep as well. Despite trying to sleep more, I was only able to get an hour of broken sleep.Thankfully, Luke and Jenny told me they'd take over everything on the farm today.
