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Derek couldn’t believe what he was hearing and just shook his head. “I expect a full report by 8 a.m. and no excuses. You’re both dismissed for now, we’ll deal with this tomorrow,” he told them as he stormed off. He couldn’t believe the incompetence he was surrounded by sometimes.
Chapter Ten
Derek stomped off, wanting to get back to Dottie. He had left her looking somewhat dazed and overwhelmed. She had said she was okay, but Derek had his doubts. If he hadn’t needed to find out what was going on he wouldn’t have left her.
Derek walked back into the condo and found Dottie sitting on the floor looking a picture that had been torn. She had tears in her eyes.
Sitting beside her, he pulled her into his lap and held her. The picture she held looked like it could have been her mother and it had been wadded up and torn, a deliberate move.
“This was the last picture I had of her. Then she was gone,” Dottie said quietly.
“Honey, we’ll get it restored and it will look just the way you remember it.” Derek didn’t know for sure how he was going to accomplish that, but he would.
“I can’t find all the pieces, all I have is this.” And the dam broke and she started sobbing in earnest. She hadn’t been that close to her parents in the years before they passed, but she still missed them, especially her mother.
Derek just held her close and let her cry. He would get a team to clean her condo and repair everything that could be, replace what they could and trash the rest. He would fix this for her.
Standing up with her in his arms, he said, “Come on, baby, let’s get you out of here. We’ll get this cleaned up and then you and I will go through and see what’s missing. I don’t know what I was thinking bringing you here tonight.”
Dottie reached up and touched his face, trying to smile through her tears. “Thank you for bringing me and being here. I needed to see.”
Derek had given Dillon the flash drives to copy before he dismissed him, and Dillon was standing at the door with the copies for him. Dillon and Tracy would be up all night writing reports and analyzing the drives for information.
Derek took the drives and slipped them in his pocket, not letting go of Dottie. Dillon could see the hurt in his eyes and his guilt compounded. He should have never been fighting with Tracy and if he had followed procedure and had split up with her instead of insisting she stay with him, this would have never happened. Why did he have to listen to his cock anyway? Walking to the car where Tracy was waiting, he knew they were both in for a long night, and with her mad at him on top of it, things were all fucked up.
During the forty-five-minute drive back to Derek’s home, Dottie was quiet, so quiet Derek was worried about her. He was starting to think maybe she had gone into shock when she finally sighed and said, “What did I do to deserve this? I didn’t have much, but I worked hard for what I have and to get where I am. Why would someone want to do something like this to me?”
Derek’s heart was breaking for her. Not sure he was saying the right thing, he said all he could think of. “Baby, it’s not your fault. I will find out who is responsible for this and we will make them pay. I have a team cleaning up your condo and we will salvage everything we can.” He wished he could fix it, but knew he couldn’t.
She just sat quietly the rest of the way to his house. When they arrived, instead of walking to the door, she went to the horses, Derek following her.
“Do you want to go for a ride, baby? Would that help you settle?”
“Yes, can we? I always used to ride when I was upset at home.” She had a hint of excitement in her voice and as she was talking, Patrice walked up to her to nuzzle her neck.
“Oh, look Derek, she knows I’m upset, can we take them out?”
“Yes, baby, let’s go. I want to get jackets, it’s cool. Can you get Patrice saddled while I’m gone?”
Nodding enthusiastically, she went into the barn, the horse following beside her.
Derek was glad she was responding better, he would take her to the park and they would take a long ride. There was a path there that the horses were used to and they could go pretty fast. The horses needed the run anyway.
Derek went in the house to get jackets and make a quick phone call. He wanted to make sure the team was continuing to watch the condo and have someone check on Dottie’s office. He had a bad feeling.
Placing the flash drives in a locked drawer, he made sure hi
s house was secure and turned the alarm on. Something was not right. He had felt like they had been followed, and wasn’t taking any chances.
Grabbing a couple jackets, he hurried back to the barn. It was quiet outside, almost too quiet. He should have heard the horses and Dottie talking to Patrice, some type of noise.
Going on instinct, Derek crept silently into the barn. Still nothing. The horses should have neighed in recognition when he entered the barn, they always did. Something was up. He kept quiet and slid silently against the wall, listening intently.
The barn was small, eight stalls and a tack room. He had never had more than two horses, but was planning for more when he retired. The extra stalls were used for storage or empty at this point. He came to Big Al’s stall, and the horse lay on his side. Sneaking in, he saw he was breathing, but not moving. More concerned about Dottie, he left the big animal and kept moving toward the end of the barn. The stall where Patrice should have been was empty, but he heard voices, one of them was male and the other was Dottie’s.
“I don’t know, I told you I don’t know. Please don’t hurt her. Please.” Dottie was sobbing.
Derek had pushed the panic button on his phone that would alert the team and police before he entered the barn, but it could take a while for backup to get this far out. Even though he was a big man, he could move quickly and silently, so he continued toward the voices, gun drawn.
