“Yes, I’m okay.”It was so good to hear his voice.“I guess you heard what happened through the grapevine?”
“I was contacted by the Crimson Point Sheriff’s Office an hour ago.What the hell’s going on up there?”
She shoved out a breath.“I think it’s Rob.”
A beat of shocked silence passed.“Rob Quinn?”
“Yes.Did you know he was released early?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“I didn’t.”
“That...can’t be true.There’s a specific protocol—”
“I’m aware of the protocol.In this case, it wasn’t followed.I wasn’t notified.And now he’s here and burned my house down while I was in it.”
“Cassie,” he said kindly.“While I understand how upset you are—and rightly so—do you really believe he would risk doing this?He’s already been to prison.The last thing someone with his illness would want is to go back to prison.”
His illness.A narcissistic psychopath.“Maybe he wants revenge even more than he wants to avoid going back to prison.”
The commissioner was silent another moment.“Do you have any evidence that it’s him?”
No.Hopefully forensics would find some blood and nail him that way.“Who else could it be?”she asked.
The cops and CPS would be trying to get any security or doorbell camera footage from her neighborhood right now.With any luck, one of them would have caught him in action, and with enough clarity to—shit, the fucking balaclava.Dammit.
He sighed.“It’s a stretch, Cass.But yeah, from where I’m sitting, I have to admit I don’t know who else it could be either.”
“Thank you for that.”
“Of course.This is...highly disturbing, especially since you weren’t aware that he’d been released.Let me work my contacts here and see if anyone can find out if he’s been in your area lately.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“I’ll let you know immediately if I hear anything.In the meantime, is there anything else I can do to help?”
“Not that I can think of for now.But I appreciate the call and your help.”
“Always.You know I’ll always consider you one of mine.And I look out for mine.”
She smiled.That was why he had the top job.His entire career had been built with that same mentality.The people under him loved him for it.
Except the ones he’d helped put in prison.“I know.”
Tristan and his brothers were watching her silently when she turned around.“Who was that?”Tristan asked.
“The new Vegas Police Commissioner.He thought I was aware of Rob’s release.He also thinks it’s a long shot that Rob’s involved in this, but he’s going to try to help find him too.”
“You trust him?”Tristan didn’t look convinced.
“Yes.”
“We’re gonna head out, let you both get some rest,” Gavin said.“We’ll get some things for you and drop them off later, around noon, so you guys can get a decent few hours’ sleep at least.That work?”
“Perfect, thank you.”Her entire life felt like a smoldering heap of ash at the moment.Except for Tristan.
He locked the door behind his brothers, turned around, and came over to crouch in front of her, searching her eyes.“How you doing?”
