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He barked a short laugh. “Because you’re usingAdamas the measuringtool for other men and that’s not fair.Adamis the exception, not the rule. So, excuse me if being compared to him is insulting. I’m made of better stuff than that.” Her eyes widened and tears formed.Way to go, jerk.He meant what he said, but he could have said it better. And in a different tone. “I’m sorry, Lainie, I—”
“No, don’t apologize.” She blinked the tears back. “You’re right. I didn’t really see it that way. That I was comparing you to him.” She gave a tiny shrug and looked out the window. “You’renothinglike him.” After several seconds of silence, she turned back to him and caught his gaze. “Nothing.”
“Thank you for that, but I shouldn’t have jumped down your throat. As you can see, I’m not like him, but I’m not perfect either.”
She laughed. A low, throaty chuckle that twisted his gut into a knot. “Well, rest assured, I was under no illusions that you were perfect. I did grow up with you, remember?”
“Cute.”
But her shoulders relaxed a fraction, and he breathed a little easier, even while he berated himself for letting his anger get the best of him. Before he could stick his foot in his mouth again, they arrived at the storage facility.
Fifteen
Cole was already there, sitting in his 4Runner. James cut the engine and Lainie sat still, her gaze on the unit, dreading what was to come. But first things first. She threw James a sideways look. “I’m going to try calling Grant. He’s the contractor brother.”
“Gotcha. Go ahead.”
Did she want to do this in front of him? Why not? She hit speed dial and was totally not surprised that it went to voice mail on the fourth ring. “Hi, Grant, it’s Lainie. Can you please call me? Someone blew up part of my house and I need a contractor. Thanks.” She hung up, caught the look on James’ face, and shrugged. “I’m at the point I’m not above using the circumstances to pique his curiosity to the point that he has to call me back. Otherwise, he’ll just ignore me.”
“Well, that’s just...”
“Rude? Yes, yes it is.” She rubbed her temple. “But I understand too. Which means I feel guilty when I call.”
“That’s terrible, Lainie. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Told you I had baggage,” she muttered.
“Trust me. We all have baggage.”
His low voice soothed her frazzled nerves, and she closed her eyes, trying to focus on something else. Anything else. For a moment,she just wanted to run away from it all.God, give me strength.She hesitated.No, be my strength. Please.
She stepped out of the vehicle and unhooked the necklace—the first time she’d taken it off since she’d had the stuff stored. She inserted the key in the lock and twisted.
Only it didn’t turn. She frowned. “What?”
“What is it?” James asked from over her right shoulder.
She tried again and got the same result. She pulled the key out and looked closer. “Wait a minute. That’s not my lock. It’s similar, but it’s not the one I put on there.” Her hands shook and she took a step back. “Someone changed the lock.”
“All right,” Cole said from behind her, “I can take care of that. Be right back.” He jogged toward his car and popped the hatch. In seconds he was back with a bolt cutter and snapped the lock off.
He raised the door, and Lainie stepped inside and gaped. “Um ... this isn’t what it looked like when the movers left it here.” Boxes had been opened and their contents scattered, furniture overturned and shoved to the side, the two filing cabinets empty of drawers that had been dumped and tossed aside. “It looks like someone beat us here,” she whispered.
“And put a lock back on so no one would notice from the outside,” James said. He ran a hand over his head. “No telling when this happened.”
Lainie knelt and picked up a piece of paper. She blew on the top of it and dust billowed in the air. “I’d say it’s been a while.”
“Not sure a crime scene unit would help at this point, but I can call one.”
She shook her head. “That’ll take time, won’t it?”
“Yeah, but if he didn’t wear gloves, there could be some prints here.”
Lainie bit her lip and nodded. “If there’s a chance he left a print, I think we should try, but can we look through the stuff first? Maybe wear gloves and be careful not to compromise anything?”
James and Cole exchanged a glance. “I’ve got gloves in the car,” Cole said.
James nodded and Cole pulled his keys from his pocket once more.
