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“What’s wrong?”
“I never thought I’d be searching through Gran’s private things.” A strange reservation seemed to have come over him, almost like he’d become timid or embarrassed.
His grandmother had been a woman he’d deeply loved and respected. A woman he still grieved.
“Let me.” As Dania crossed the room, the door closed behind her. She opened the drawer, pulled out the envelope, and handed it to him.
He stood there staring at his handwritten name. Not wanting to make a fuss and trying to give him space, she also pulled out a change of clothes and added a couple of pairs of socks. She looked at him when she was done, arms loaded with clothes and nowhere to put them.
Jasper gave a low guttural growl, staring at the door.
Brett folded the envelope and stuffed it into his pocket. “We’re too late. Company has already arrived.”
Company?
And then she knew what he meant. Dania dropped the clothes. Fear surged through her.
Brett pressed his ear to the door. He nodded. “Someone’s in the house.” He hurried to the bedroom window, opened it, and knocked out the screen. “There’s a trellis here. How good are you at climbing down?”
“Excellent. But it’s been a while.”
He motioned for her to get going. Jasper gave a loud bark and kept growling. Whoever was in the house must be close to the bedroom.
She looked at the rickety trellis made out of very thin wood. It might support her but not Brett.
“What are you waiting for?” he asked.
“I don’t think it will hold you.”
“Don’t worry about me.” He drew his gun. “Go to Rex’s. Tell him you’re my friend and I asked you to meet me at his house.”
“Which house is his?” While she spoke, she swung her leg over the windowsill and stepped onto the first rung.
“The yellow house to the south with the rose bed between Gran’s and his place.” He raised his weapon toward the closed door.
Dania slid the rest of the way out and started down when she heard the bedroom door fly open.
She said a prayer in her heart.Please, dear God, keep Brett safe.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“What the—” Brett’s boss, Gabe,dropped the aim of his semiautomatic. He shoved his gun into his holster as he shook his head and stared at Brett.
Jasper welcomed Gabe, wagging his tail as he went to him. The dog’s sense of smell wasn’t like it used to be, and that was probably why he’d growled. Gabe stroked Jasper’s head. All was forgiven.
Relieved yet still rattled, Brett returned his weapon to his hip holster. His boss was the last person he’d expected to see. “How did you get in?”
“Good to see you too.” Gabe folded his arms. “When I didn’t find you at your apartment, I came to your grandmother’s. Your car wasn’t parked outside, but in case you’d parked in the garage, I knocked. No one answered. And wanting to be a good friend, I checked to see that the door was locked. It wasn’t, which concerned me. I wanted to make sure no one was vandalizing the place.”
He’d forgotten to lock it after Vanessa had left. Wanting to get Gabe on his way, Brett said, “What’s up?”
Gabe glanced around the room. “Why don’t you move here, and why, after all this time, haven’t you cleaned out your grandmother’s stuff?”
“I’m sure you didn’t hunt me down to discuss why Gran’s things are still here.” He picked up the clothes Dania had dropped and placed them on the bed. Not wanting to explain why they’d been on the floor and worried that at any moment Dania might make a noise that would draw Gabe’s attention to the window, Brett walked from the room and guided his boss downstairs.
Brett took a quick look out the living room window, wondering if Dania had made it to Rex’s, but he couldn’t see her. He motioned for Gabe to have a seat on the couch with his back to the window, while Brett took the side chair next to it, the same one he’d sat in only moments ago when he’d spoken with Vanessa. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“That’s what I want to know.” Gabe scrutinized Brett like he would a criminal.
