“Ransacked?” she echoes, sounding confused. “Like robbed? I don’t understand.”
“Let’s let the kids get out of here and call the police. When the cops are done, I’ll help you get what you need, and then we’ll get the hell out of here. You with me?”
She nods but doesn’t move.
“Poppy,” I say gently.
She looks up at me, a shimmer of tears wetting her lashes. “Who?” she asks. “Who did this…”
I shake my head and stifle the urge to pull her to my chest. Not in front of the kids. I’ll have time to take care of her once we get the kids to safety.
I take both of her hands in mine and lace our fingers together. “Hey,” I say, my voice low. I meet her eyes. “I’m here, and I’m not leaving you. I’m going to take care of this and make damn sure nothing like this ever happens again. You got that?”
She searches my face, and all traces of the happy, buzzed Poppy disappear. Her lips go thin as she presses them together, like she’s trying to hold back tears. “Okay,” she finally says. “But I don’t want to tell Jax anything until I see for myself.”
I nod and release her hands.
She turns and opens the door, putting on a bright smile for Jax. “Honey, are you all right going home with Daisy and Holly? Do you want me to call Grandma or Auntie Clara? We have a little problem with the house, and I’m going to stay here and see how long it’s going to take before we can get it fixed.”
Jax looks from his mom to me. “Mom, you’re coming, right? What happened to the house?”
“I want to go inside and see what’s going on. I’m not going to be able to get anyone out tonight to fix it, so we’ll stay someplace tonight together. But I can call Grandma if you’d rather go there.”
“Come home with us,” Daisy says. “My dad’s place is so cool.”
Jax brightens. “Can we stay up and watch movies until you get there?” he asks.
“We get to stay up until eleven on weekends,” Daisy adds helpfully. “And it’s only nine now, so we have plenty of time to watch at least one movie and maybe even two if we can stay up late. Itisa special occasion.”
I roll my eyes. I’m going to have my hands full with this girl.
But Poppy nods, then as if she’s having second thoughts, she turns to me. “This is too much to ask of you. Why don’t I call my mother and…”
“If that’s what you want. But you might feel different when you see what’s going on in there.” I put a hand on her shoulder and lean close to her ear. “I getthat we hardly know each other. I wouldn’t send my kid off with a stranger either. Savage is ex-military. He’s my right hand. I trust the guys with my daughters’ lives. You can trust him. You can trust me. The call is yours. You want to go inside and see first, then decide?”
She only hesitates a second. “If the choice is you or my mom, I choose you.”
She turns back to the car to address the girls. “Text me as soon as you get there, okay? I’m going to send you my number now. You too.” She points at Savage, all traces of her relaxed buzz gone. “Send me the address of where you’re going, and let me know when the kids are inside safe.”
“Will do,” Savage says. “You need anything, you need me to come back here, you say the word. Otherwise, I won’t leave the kids until you’re there.”
We exchange a flurry of texts, and then finally, Savage takes off, leaving just Poppy and me. Then I take her hand. “Come on,” I say. “You’re going to need to see this.”
It takes justunder two hours for the police to respond and to complete their preliminary walk-through of the scene. They give her the usual bullshit. Since nothing obvious was stolen, it looks like someone was on the hunt for something. Turns out, Poppy had nothing of value. Even her television was old, and the cops suspected that whoever broke in was pissed they didn’t find anything and trashed the place instead.
“Since they didn’t seem to go upstairs to your son’s room, they might have been interrupted, or they just gave up.” The police finish their paperwork, and Officer Callahan extends a hand to me.
“We rarely catch the guys responsible for stuff like this. And since nothing was stolen, they probably won’t leave a trail trying to move stolen goods. But we’ll let you know if any leads turn up.”
I shake the cop’s hand and pretend we don’t know each other. Pretend that I haven’t passed money and other shit to him countless times over the years. Pretend that there is such a thing as a good guy and a criminal—him being the first and me being the shithead. I know how everything works in this town, and Callahan knows I’ll get this solved and sorted before he and the night crew pick up coffee and donuts on their next shift.
If I want justice, then I’m going to have to take it myself. He knows it, and I know it. Poppy, however, doesn’t understand any of this.
As the cops roll out, silent tears streak down Poppy’s face. Her shoulders are hunched, the bare one that peeks out from the cutout in her dress soft and hot under my touch.
“Hey.” I turn her to face me, and she looks into my face, her cheeks wet with tears.
“I’m such a fool,” she says, shaking her head. “All these years, I’ve lived alone with my son. I never go anywhere but work. Never do anything. The one night I go out, this happens. Someone was in my house. How can I ever feel safe here again? How can I keep my son safe if I’m terrified?”
