“My niece is in the back seat. She’s almost five.”
Maren watched two police officers enter her home as another squad car came up the opposite end of the street. They went through her side yard to the back. Nothing happened for the longest five minutes of her life, then two officers came back out the front door, spoke for a minute, and headed toward her car.
“Are we under arrest?” Juni asked.
“No, we’re not, but they need to talk to us.”
“Can I ask them if Mr. Kibble is okay?”
“Let me talk to them first, okay?”
“Maren?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“It’s okay if the ice cream melted.”
Maren blinked back sudden, surprised tears even as she smiled. “Thanks, Juni.”
Maren rolled her window down, then changed her mind and got out of the car. The officers introduced themselves as Officers Brown and Gebhardt.
“I take it you didn’t find anyone in there?”
“No. It looks like you might have interrupted them when you came home,” Officer Brown said. “They did a thorough job of tearing the place apart, but you’ll need to verify how much has been taken.”
“I see.” Maren was afraid her legs might give out under her. She felt lightheaded, and like this was all happening to someone else—the same way she’d felt when an officer arrived at her door to tell her Mira was gone. “Do I need to go in now?”
Officer Gebhardt nodded. “We’ll come with you of course. We’ll take your statement.”
“Do you think they’ll come back?” Maren had lowered her voice as she glanced at the back seat.
“Doubtful. It’s probably kids looking for prescription pills and drug money.”
Maren nodded. She turned to the car and opened Juni’s door. “Come on, sweetie. We need to go inside and look around.”
“Is Mr. Kibble okay?” Juni asked the officers.
“You have a pet?” Brown and Gebhardt shared a concerned look.
“No,” Maren explained. “It’s her teddy bear. I’m sure he’s okay.”
“They did hit the little girl’s room, too,” Brown told her.
Shit. Of course they did.
“Hit my room?”
Maren picked Juni up to carry her. Juni’s weight in her arms actually made her feel more stable. “That means they went through your things, but it’ll be okay, I promise.” Maren nuzzled the little girl’s hair as she carried her down the street, hating that she was making promises to a little girl she wasn’t certain she could keep.
The front room was just the beginning. The most disturbing thing was the couch cushions. They’d been ripped open and the stuffing torn out. Maren’s bedroom was a disaster—every drawer pulled out and tossed, the closet stripped of all her clothes, shoeboxes open and strewn everywhere with all her belongings. Her jewelry box was gone of course, which made her sick to her stomach. At least she was wearing the locket with her sister’s and their parents photos inside, a gift from her brothers. But her mother’s engagement and wedding rings were gone, along with a pair of diamond earrings from Maren’s last boyfriend—a guy who took off as soon as he realized that Maren was about to become an insta-mom.
I should have sold those last month instead of changing my mind again.
Worse, though—they’d taken her computer—her sole source of income. She’d have to report the theft to her supervisor at the hospital who would have to alert compliance since therewere sensitive medical documents. Maren’s head throbbed just thinking about making that call. She told the officers so they could note it in their reports.
The kitchen was probably the least torn up, though Maren’s instinct was right and the freezer door was wide open. She looked inside for the little container of frozen water with her spare credit card suspended in the middle, but it was gone. Just to add insult to injury, her squashed bread dough was lying in the middle of the kitchen floor. She reported everything to Brown while Gebhardt took pictures. The other two officers had gone on their way—probably to another robbery.
“Actually, we haven’t had any break-ins in this area lately,” Brown said when Maren asked.
