“In the hopes of?”
“Making us rush. Get scared. Get sloppy.”
He could almost hear her mind turning. “Is there any point in calling the police?” she asked.
“To report what? That nothing was stolen but that you think—but aren’t certain—that your safe is facing a different direction?”
She exhaled tightly.
“We have no evidence,” he said, “that a crime was committed here.”
“So how do you suggest we react?”
“I’m going to call your security company and pay whatever it takes to get someone out here today to install exterior and interior cameras, as well as window sensors.”
“All right. But you won’t pay for it. I will.”
“What’s the number for your security company?”
She pulled out her phone and read off the digits. He input them into his phone one by one.
“I’ll be in the bedroom,” she said. “I need a minute to regroup.”
Finley shut herself into her room, then sank onto the chair in the corner, hands covering her face.
At first, when she’d seen the position of the safe, shock had swept over her mind like a cloud. Confusion and dread followed closely, making the cloud even more dense. Now that cloud was thinning, which was almost worse because it had acted as a buffer.
Indignation crept in. Someone had had the nerve to break into her house. Her beloved, defenseless animals were here! This was her haven. Her safe place. She felt ... violated.
Guilt crept in. Why hadn’t she been more careful? She wasn’t suspicious or anxious by nature. But, obviously, in this case, she’d been too relaxed.
Doubt crept in. What ifshe’dbeen the one who’d turned thesafe that direction? She really didn’t think so, but she wasn’t absolutely sure.
Her insides were shuddering.
Dad was gone. Chase was gone. They weren’t here to comfort her and so she wished, with every cell, that Luke could give her another one of those all-encompassing hugs like they’d shared earlier. She hadn’t experienced a hug like that from a man in a long, long time. It had wrapped her in closeness and security—all the things she longed for now.
However, another hug was the last thing she could ask Luke for at the moment, seeing as how he currently wanted to strangle her.
Someone had, she was almost certain, been in her house.
“Lord God,” she whispered.
Who had been in her house?
CHAPTER NINETEEN
If you don’t do everything in your power,” CeCe stated in the type of ringing tone Abraham Lincoln might’ve used when delivering the Gettysburg Address, “to sweep Akira off her feet, then you’re a fool. And we both know I didn’t raise any fools.”
After church, Ben had gone home to change clothes. Then he’d stopped by his parents’ place. When his mom had learned that he, Sebastian, Natasha, and Genevieve planned to ambush Luke with lunch today, she’d volunteered to make a cake for them. He was only here to pick up dessert, but, of course, she was also serving up her opinions.
“Akira’s great,” he said calmly. The more fired up his mom got, the more patient he became. He’d learned that tactic early.
“And do you agree that you need to do everything you can to sweep her off her feet?”
“She’s been hurt in the past. Pretty badly. At this stage we’re just getting to know each other without an agenda.”
“But you like her?”
