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My parents bought the farm-style home as newlyweds and slowly fixed it up, adding features. It’s white with wood siding and a chimney on each side. Most of the houses in this neighborhood are similar, but in different colors.
Mom’s is unique because it has an imposing front porch with reclaimed wooden beams and a tin roof. She was so proud when that addition was finished.
We’ve just gotten close, when Edward jerks the leash with a loud bark. My heart jumps with surprise. He’s typically laid-back and docile, until he comes across a scent he’s tracking.
“Easy, big guy!” My voice is calming, but he’s pulling so hard, my arm feels like it’ll pop out of the socket. “What are you smelling?”
I’m practically jogging, doing my best to hold him as he leads me straight through the yard and around the side to where the sweet olive bushes grow. As we get closer, I look up and see a window shattered, and my heart plunges.
“Mom?” I drop Edward’s leash as I run for the door, my heart beating out of my chest. “Mom, are you okay?”
I charge up the back steps, bursting through the door, yelling her name as I go through room after room to the one where the window is located. Fear tightens my lungs as I take in the scene. In every room, books are on the floor, and a table is overturned in the hall.
Dashing into the broken-window room, it’s even more of a wreck. The sofa is on its back, and a desk in the corner has been broken apart. Papers are on the floor, drawers are open and ransacked. Someone was searching for something, and they left in a hurry.
“Mom!” I shuffle to a stop when I see her on the floor with a hand broom and a dustpan, sweeping up the shards of glass. “Mom, are you okay?”
I rush to her, wanting to hug her, but she stands, walking past me as if nothing is wrong. “Hello, darling, I didn’t know you were coming for a visit.”
My eyes widen, and I grab her arms, turning her to face me. “What happened?”
“It’s nothing.” She laughs, waving her hands to loosen my hold, but a tremor is in her voice. “Just a broken window.”
“It’s more than a broken window!” My mother never has a tremor in her voice, and I’m on edge. “Who did this? Was it our suspect?”
Edward is sniffing all around outside the window, lifting his head, andRooo-ing like he’s found buried treasure—which means he’s identified the scent we’ve been tracking, and we’ve only been tracking one scent.
Mom doesn’t answer, so I catch her arm again, forcing her to look me in the eye. “He was here. The man with the prosthetic leg was here at your house.”
“I don’t know who was here, Birgitte. I just got home a few minutes ago, and I found all of this like it is. Your guess is as good as mine.”
I don’t believe her, and I don’t have to guess. I have Edward.
“Were you going to report it?”
“To Aiden Stone?” She rolls her eyes like I’m the crazy one. “I have a gun and my protection spells. I don’t need the Stones here meddling in my business and lying about what they find.”
“Gran and I are also here. You have us.” She tries to walk away, but I stop her, making her listen to me. “I have to report this to Aiden now. It’s gone too far. The man broke into your house. What if you’d been home? He might have hurt you.”
Her eyes narrow with impatience. “He’s not going to hurt me.”
“Who is he, Mom? You can’t say he won’t hurt you if you don’t know who he is.”
“We agreed you would give me until Sunday. Then I’ll put him right in your hands.”
My throat knots, and I like this even less than before. “You’re jeopardizing my position.”Not to mention my relationship.
“It’s for your dad, Birgitte. You can wait two more days for him.” She lowers her eyes to mine, and I want to screamNo. No more days.
Instead, I do something I feel in my bones I’m going to regret. If I inherited anything from my loony-tunes family, it’s an impending sense of doom that always turns out to be true.
“On Sunday I’m telling Aiden everything.”
CHAPTER19
AIDEN
“He’s sniffing me!” Owen stands beside the table in the break room with his eyes closed, laughing as Edward sniffs and licks his cheeks. “He’s trying to learn my scent!”
