“No, I just want us to stay put for right now.”
“Okay,” she drawled. “Do you mind if I go through Ines’s room? I may not know if something’s missing, but I hate the idea of leaving it all ransacked. I’d ask you to help, but that feels wrong.”
“That’s cool. I’ll pick up the papers and straighten your bedroom unless that’s a problem.”
She grinned. “That would be a big help. Thanks.”
Fifteen minutes later, my phone dinged with a text from Cal asking for an update. I hated sending long texts, so I called him instead and quickly ran down what happened with Officer Hatcher.
“You really don’t think it’s random?” Cal asked.
“No. I mentioned that Alexandra’s ex-boyfriend showed up and scared the shit out of her just before we went to dinner. Hatcher is going to question Porter and Brantley… not that I expect that to go well. Those two connived behind Ines and Lex’s back before the concert. If either of them did this shit, I’m sure they got their shit together.”
“That Porter asshole scared her?” Cal asked.
I grimaced for a beat. “Yeah. I got here just in time, and really let him know to leave her the fuck alone.”
“I don’t like the sound of this shit,” Cal muttered.
“Yeah, but I’m not leaving her alone until tomorrow afternoon when I’m supposed to be—”
“No, you stay there until I tell you otherwise. I’ll let Volt and Blood know what’s going on. This isn’t Riot business, but with two assholes messing with her, I want to know someone’s watching out for her.”
“Understood. I’ll keep you posted.”
After I’d straightened her room, I settled on the couch and turned on the television. Two minutes later, Alexandra came out to the living room. “I don’t think Ines is missing anything from her room. Even her spare cash is there.”
I nodded once. “Was it out in the open?”
She shook her head. “No, but that’s beside the point. Both of our laptops are here… they’re very portable, you’d think they’d take one of those at least.”
I leaned forward. “That’s why I pegged Brantley for this. He was here earlier. We probably interrupted—” I stopped myself. “Hey, can you pull the footage of when Brantley got here earlier? It would be great to know how long he was alone in here.”
“That’s a good idea,” she said, grabbing her phone.
She found the spot where we arrived this morning. Then she went back another ten minutes, letting it play. After a minute of watching nothing happen, she shot me a questioning glance.
“Be patient, Lex.”
Finally, Brantley appeared on the screen. He turned his head left and right, rang the bell, waited, and then pulled a set of picks from the pocket of his cargo shorts.
“Sonuvabitch,” I whispered.
“What?” Alexandra asked.
“He doesn’t have a key. Those are picks.”
“How did I miss that? No wonder he wouldn’t give up the key - he didn’t have one!”
I tapped the screen to pause the footage. “Can you download that and send it to Officer Hatcher?”
She nodded.
My lips quirked in a half-grin. “Cool. Let it play some more.”
We watched for almost two minutes before we saw ourselves arrive at the door.
“You don’t have that set to play back at a faster speed, right?” I asked.
