She opened the door. “Good night, both of you. Thank you for caring about me. I just hate all the fuss.”
“Lock the door,” he and Rose said in unison and gazed at each other in surprise.
They waited to hear the lock turn, and side by side, they descended the stairs. Once they reached the sidewalk, instead of saying good night, Rose matched his steps. Colson stopped.
“You don’t have to walk me home. I’m a big boy.” Rose lifted a brow, and Colson’s hands fisted. “Good night, Detective Rose.” Furious with himself for allowing Rose to rattle him, he strode across the street, resisting the urge to see if Rose was watching him or walking away.
He hurried up his steps and took out his key, but he stopped at the sight of his door ajar. Adrenaline surged through him, and he stood waiting, then glanced across the street where Rose had turned and begun to walk away.
“Detective,” he called out, alarm raising his voice several octaves higher and louder than usual. “Detective Rose,” he shouted.
Rose stopped and ran to him. “What is it?” he asked, and without waiting for an answer, peered at the door. “You obviously didn’t leave it open like this.”
Shaken, he wrapped his arms around his waist. “N-no. I always lock up when I leave the house.”
“Stay back,” Rose warned and pulled out his gun. Colson’s eyes widened, but he did as requested. Rose took out his phone and called for backup, then pushed the door with his foot. It swung open on silent hinges. He crept inside, and Colson strained to see but was blocked. It seemed like hours, but within three to four minutes Rose walked out, his face taut and grim.
“It’s all clear.” Rose stood in front of him, disarmingly close. “Can I assume you don’t normally leave your apartment in a mess?”
He shook his head, still in shock that this had happened to him. “No. My ex used to complain I was a neat freak.” A shudder ran through him.
“Come on. Let’s go sit and wait for CSU.”
He stared mutely at Rose, whose pale eyes glittered with a fiery anger.
A heavy hand settled on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe.”
Those words, coming from a man who only minutes earlier he couldn’t wait to escape, were strangely comforting, and he allowed Rose to steer him into his house. He gasped at the destruction.
“Bastards,” he hissed. Every drawer was open and rifled through, and papers were scattered on the floor. Books had been pulled off the shelves and the couch cushions tossed.
Unlike Millie’s grand brownstone, his was a smaller brick town house he’d renovated so the first floor would be one wide-open room. He liked the loftlike feeling of the space, but he’d kept the old-world charm, such as fireplaces, crown molding, and the original wooden floors. His pride was the early twentieth century stained-glass windows in the living room.
“First, do you see anything missing?” Rose asked as he stalked through the room, his intense gaze scanning the space.
“My computer.” He ran to his desk and frantically pushed aside the mess of books and papers, searching for his MacBook. “Fuck. They stole my computer. It has everything on it. All my writing.” His heart pounded, and he smacked his hand on the desk. “Thosebastards.”
“Calm down, Colson.” Rose’s calmness irritated the fuck out of him. “Doesn’t it have tracking on it? Pull up the signal, and we should be able to find it.”
“Yeah, of course, of course.” He pulled out his phone, and while he was getting to the app, a bunch of uniforms and people with NYPD jackets emblazoned with CSU trooped through his front door.
“You do that while I speak to the officers.”
Again, Rose squeezed his shoulder, then walked away. Colson ignored the instant regret of losing the warmth of Rose’s hand and concentrated on getting the tracking signal on the computer and looking for other missing items.
“Detective Rose?” he called out, and footsteps approached.
“What do you have?”
Colson pointed at the screen. “Here. It says it’s in the vicinity of the park.”
Cadman Plaza Park was less than five blocks away.
“You sit tight while we handle this.” He glanced around the room filled with police personnel. “You’re not going to be able to get any sleep here tonight.” For one crazy second, he thought Rose was going to ask him to come stay with him. “Do you have a friend you can call to stay with?”
“I-I can call Hogan. He doesn’t live far.”
“Do that. Give me your number, and I’ll let you know what happens. Meanwhile, try and take an inventory of anything else you find missing.”
