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“Where would you like to go?”
She appreciated that he wasn’t pushing her to leave with him. “I don’t know. Normally, I’d go stay with Zane. But I won’t bring this evil into his home with his wife and a new baby on the way.”
“What about the police?” he had his cell phone out.
She shrugged. “I can call them in to have them check out the place. But what do I do in the meantime? I have no one to go to. I have nowhere to hide.”
He stepped forward. “You have me. I’ll keep you safe.”
Her glance clashed with his. “They’re going to keep coming for me, aren’t they? Whoever searched my house and attacked me in the parking lot, that’s not over.”
He gave her a half shrug. “I can’t answer that. We don’t know who attacked you or why.”
She’d lost the control she’d once had. The small window of time she’d bargained for in the diner vanished. “No. I think, whether I want to or not, I don’t know how, but every instinct in my gut tells me whatever that man was looking for in my house, it’s connected to your presence and the woman you say is my grandmother.”
“She would never hurt you,” he insisted.
“I know you believe that.” She shook her head. “I don’t believe anything anymore. Except that I no longer have a choice. If I want to survive, I need to go with you to Illinois to get some answers.”
Hopefully, she hadn’t signed her own death certificate with that decision.
CHAPTER 4
Brody stopped himself from sagging. She would go with him. Had she dug in her heels and remained here, despite everything that had happened and the possibility of danger, he didn’t know how he could protect her.
He only allowed himself a moment to acknowledge his relief. Then he pushed himself into his professional mode.
“I’m glad that you’ve decided that. Before we can leave, though, I still want to contact the police and have them do a sweep of your place. If we can catch this guy, you’ll be a lot safer.”
Although, if they did catch this villain, she’d probably change her mind.
That didn’t matter. Right now, all that mattered was keeping Jenna safe and alive.
Jenna groaned. “I know you’re right. I just don’t want to deal with the police again tonight. They’re going to think we’re up to something if we keep calling them.”
He shook his head. “You’re looking at this wrong. I think that once we report this, they’ll have to take your safety more seriously. It will be obvious that the attack earlier wasn’t a random mugging. It was a targeted attack.”
She shuddered. “Why would anyone target me? It doesn’t make any sense.”
His jaw tightened. He knew one reason why someone might target her. But it might take a while to explain.
“Let’s call the police so we can plan our next move.” He took out his cell phone. He held her eyes until she sighed and motioned for him to proceed. Within moments, he had called the police. After reporting a break-in, he hung up and faced her again. “The police will be here in under fifteen minutes.”
“They’ll never believe me.” She pointed to her journal, still sitting on the Bible. “You were skeptical, too.”
He couldn’t deny it. It had been such a small, seemingly insignificant detail. Would the cops take it seriously? If they were Christians, they’d understand why Jenna was so sure that she was correct.
But if they weren’t, if they only saw the Bible as another book, and placed no real importance on it, they might scoff at her.
It was a chance he had to take.
“While we’re waiting, why don’t you do a quick walk through and see if anything else has been disturbed or seems to be missing?”
She nodded and began to move through the house, room by room.
When the doorbell rang, Jenna moved to open it. She peered through the peephole first. Brody saw the tension in her spine dissipate. She drew in a deep breath and opened the door.
“Hello, Officer Green. Please come in.” Jenna stepped aside, leaving room for the officer to enter the room.
