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Abe chuckled warmly. “I love you too. And that fixer-upper department in Chatham County is worth strong consideration. I think I’ll discuss it with Ham instead of dodging him.”
“Awww, my baby is all grown up.”
“You want the belt again, Lio?”
My asshole clenched, and a flash of heat engulfed my entire body. Sweat beaded on my forehead and upper lip as desire swept through me and threatened to carry me away. “Yes. Yes, I do.” I cleared my throat and added, “We need to change the subject because my pants are starting to get tight.”
Abe’s laughter reverberated through me. “Did you get the ballistics back from Gunderson?” His deputies had used a metal detector to recover a bullet they believed was used in the shooting. There’d been no shell casings collected, and the bullet was mangled to hell and back, so there wasn’t a lot they could do with it.
“And boner deflated,” I said dryly. “Yeah, the sheriff personally called me, then emailed the full report. Unfortunately, there were no prints on the bullet, which was a standard .223 caliber.”
“The most popular ammo on the market.”
“Yep,” I agreed. “Gunderson is sticking to his hunting theory.”
“Would a poacher pick up his spent cartridge off the ground?” Abe asked.
“They might if they realized they’d fucked up and expected the cops to show up at some point.”
“True,” Abe said. “Is that what your gut tells you?”
“No,” I said firmly, “it isn’t, but I have no evidence to prove it wasn’t an accidental shooting.”
“I don’t like this, Lio. In fact, I fucking hate it.”
“Me too, but all I can do is be diligent.”
“I can’t lose you.” Abe’s broken whisper shredded my heart.
“You won’t.” It was a promise I had no business making, but I was determined to keep it anyway. “I should probably get back to these reviews.”
“Of course you started yours already,” Abe groused.
“And you should call Ham and have as honest a conversation with him as you had with me.”
“He’s not as hot as you,” Abe said.
“Do it anyway.”
“Fine.”
Before returning to my reports, I treated myself to a candy bar and a fresh cup of coffee. I didn’t look up again until Greg poked his head in to announce he was leaving for the day. I checked the time and noted it was five thirty, so I shut everything down and went with him. As October crept closer to November, the days got shorter. In a few weeks, it would be fully dark by the time I left the precinct.
I usually loved the play of light when the sunset turned the low country to burnished gold, but those open fields allowed my enemy an opportunity to lie in wait and strike again. I felt exposed and vulnerable even when I reached the dense woods surrounding my property because the trees gave my attacker the perfect cover. Suddenly, my need for privacy felt like a horrible thing.
I forced myself to take even breaths as I navigated the final stretch of my road. I’d expected to feel relief when I turned onto my gravel driveway, but all I felt was more concern when I found the house completely dark. Alex should’ve been home. Then again, he was probably playing video games online with Eric in his bedroom, which was at the rear of the house.
“Calm down, Lio,” I scolded, but it didn’t work.
Something was off. I felt it in my bones as I walked to the front door. I slipped my key into the lock and let myself in. The foyer was dark, and I tripped over Alex’s backpack as I reached for the light switch. The kid had been notorious for dropping his stuff as soon as he stepped in, but I thought he’d outgrown it. The throwback to his younger days made me smile until the overhead bulb switched on, casting the scene before me in a different light.
Alex hadn’t casually dropped his backpack; it was completely upended, and his cell phone was crushed. His equipment bag was on the floor too, and one of his aluminum bats lay three feet ahead. There was a hole in the drywall as if someone had swung the bat and hit the wall. On the opposite side of the foyer, there was a dent in the sheeting. It looked like someone had been shoved hard against it.
“Fuck. Oh fuck.” My mind raced, and my heart lodged in my throat as I took in the scene in the living room. An end table was pushed two feet away from its original spot, and the floor lamp lay broken on the floor. “No. No. No. No.” Paralyzed by fear, the world around me went still and silent. I only heard myself chanting the single word repeatedly, though it sounded muffled and far away. My imagination took over, depicting a scene where Alex got ambushed as he walked through the door. He’d fought back, swinging a bat at his attacker before getting shoved into the opposite wall. The tussle moved into the living room, and then—
I snapped out of my daze. “Alex!” I yelled as I ran through the house, even though I knew in my suddenly sluggish heart that he wasn’t there. My feet were as heavy as lead as I ran from room to room, calling out his name and begging for him to answer me. Nothing. I noticed an open window in my workout room. I’d opened it to air the house out when I burned Alex’s birthday cake and must’ve forgotten to shut it. Someone had probably entered through the window and taken my boy.
I needed a minute to compose myself but didn’t have it to spare. I’d worked too many missing kids cases to know every second counted. I took a single calming breath as I dialed 911. The dispatcher was calm and professional as I identified myself and walked her through the scene I’d found and requested immediate help.
