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Dani came into the room a moment later.
"Can I get you a drink?" Kade asked.
"No, thank you. You're drinking in the middle of the day, Brynn?" she asked me, a gleam of annoyance in her gaze.
"It felt like a beer moment. Kade also has water."
"I don't need anything to drink. Steve wants me to come home, and he wants me to bring you with me. Jeff is also anxious about you. Now that this has happened, I hope you've changed your mind about staying."
"I haven't. I'm sorry, Dani. I know that's not what you want to hear. But I need to watch over the investigation."
"What on earth can you do that the police can't?" she asked in frustration. "Except put yourself in danger?"
"I can make sure they keep looking for the truth by letting them know I'm watching, and I'm advocating for our mother."
"Who never did the same for you."
Dani's harsh words were delivered out of fear more than anything else, but they still stung.
"She took care of us for seven years," I said. "She was there when we were sick or hurt or scared."
"But where was she for the last twenty years? You're deluding yourself that she's going to wake up and want to be your mother again. It won't happen, Brynn. Even if she wakes up, she'll just be the woman who left us. Don't you get that?"
"I'm still staying." Dani wasn't the only stubborn one in the family. "It's my risk to take. I can take care of myself. I'll get a hotel room. I'll be fine."
The doorbell rang. "That must be Inspector Greenman," I said.
Kade and Dani followed me down the hall. I opened the door to let the detective inside.
"I've looked through your mother's house," he said. "It was trashed. Whoever broke in went through the place in a rage. There's a significant amount of damage. And it's clear that someone was searching for something. The question is what?"
"I have no idea," I said.
"Well, you'll need to have the locks changed as soon as possible. I'd also suggest that you stay elsewhere," the detective said.
"I'm going to get a hotel room," I replied. "But I'll look through the house before I go. Maybe I can figure out what they took. I stayed there last night."
"I can help," Kade said. "I've been in Laura's home several times."
"That would be great." I turned back to Inspector Greenman. "Can you check with the neighbors to see if any cameras caught anyone on the property?"
"I will do that, but watch your back—all of you," he said, his gaze sweeping across the three of us. "This is a dangerous, unpredictable situation. Call me if anything else happens."
"I don't think you should be here when anything else happens," Dani muttered as Inspector Greenman left. "You're being irrational, Brynn."
"I'm going to check out the house and find a locksmith to come out and change the locks," I said, ignoring her comment. "Then I'll go to a hotel."
"I suppose I can stay long enough to help you with that," Dani said.
I didn't like the paleness of her skin or the stress in her eyes. "I can do it on my own. Please, just go, Dani. I'll feel better if I don't have to worry about you."
"And I'd feel better if I don't have to worry about you," she retorted.
"I can help," Kade offered. "I can call a locksmith and stay with you, Brynn."
"I wouldn't say no to that," I told him, relieved by his generous offer.
Dani frowned. "We know nothing about you, Mr. Beckham."
