Page 58 of Fools in Love

“I’ll go check,” Nick said, and quickly disappeared.

“What about my father’s new wife?” he suggested. “He could be using her?”

“We’ve got people looking for her as well. I’m going to have anyone on shift right now drive around. Maybe check a couple of the hotels and see if anyone matching their descriptions have checked in recently,” Aiden suggested. “Until then, Kate’s right. She’s better off staying at your place.” Aiden lowered his voice. “She doesn’t want to worry her folks, but Nick has already called them.” Aiden motioned to the parking lot below them, where her parents’ car had pulled in and parked next to his. Her mother and father rushed out and headed towards the stairs.

Shit. Now he’d have to apologize to them about causing this mess. If he’d just stayed away from Kate…

“Where is she?” Becca rushed in. Sean was right behind her.

“She’s in her bedroom packing,” Aiden answered. “She wasn’t hurt,” he assured them.

Sean walked over to them and took the brick from Tom’s hands.

“Any ideas?” Sean asked.

“It’s no doubt thanks to my father. If not directly, then indirectly,” he explained. “Nick’s downstairs seeing if Patty’s cameras caught anything.”

Sean walked over and looked down at the front of the building. “It would take some doing to chuck this thing up here.”

“Yeah.” Aiden sighed and pointed. “From the angle, they’d have to stand about there, we figure.”

“Here.” Tom picked up a blue ball that Kate had to roll out her muscles. “I’ll give it a try.” He walked outside and down the stairs.

It took him two tries to get the right position so he could throw the ball through the gaping hole in the window. When he returned upstairs, Kate and Becca were back in the living room. Her bags sat by the doorway.

“A brick is a lot heavier, but yeah, it could be done.”

Everyone looked out. “Classy and Sassy has cameras,” Aiden said. “If someone stood there, it might be in view.”

“I’ll call Lilly.” Becca pulled out her phone.

While he walked Kate’s stuff down to his car, the rest of them hunted down any videos of the incident. He wanted to help, but his first priority from here on out was Kate’s protection.

When he returned upstairs, everyone was gathered around Becca’s phone screen, watching the video from across the street.

“It’s too dark to see who it is clearly, but it’s obviously a woman,” Aiden said. “Send me a copy and I’ll pass it around the station.”

Becca sent him the video. “What now?” Becca asked.

“We keep an eye out. Kate will be staying at Tom’s place, and we’ll have more patrols drive by her studio each day.”

“It’s obviously Crystal Cummings,” he pointed out, and everyone turned to him. “My father’s new wife. He’s put her up to it so he can hide in the shadows.”

Everyone was quiet. “It’s late,” Aiden said suddenly. “Suzie has dinner waiting. Why don’t you all head home.”

“Patty’s going to have someone come replace the glass tomorrow,” Nick told Kate. “She mentioned something about getting some more cameras installed as well.”

“Thanks,” Kate said, hugging her family. Then she took his hand and followed him down the stairs.

They rode back to his place in silence. Only after he parked in his garage did she finally speak.

“This isn’t on you,” she said, turning towards him.

“How can you say that?” he said, feeling his stomach roll.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned towards him, then took his face in her hands and placed her lips gently over his. “This is not on you,” she said more firmly. “This is on them. You did not cause this. Just like you had nothing to do with your mother’s and brother’s deaths. Your father is a very sick man, and he will be found. For now, I’m just happy to be back here.” She smiled and then kissed him again. “Now, I seem to remember you were making dinner? My chicken salad got glass in it.”

He nodded and wrapped his arms around her. “Yeah, I guess it was a good thing I hadn’t started cooking yet.”