They stepped inside together, Andi’s gaze already sweeping the space, her pulse ticking a fraction faster as she took in whatwasn’tthere.
“Did you see anything?” she asked Duke.
“No one is here. But I’m not sure why the door wasn’t latched. We should still proceed with caution.”
Andi couldn’t agree more.
Empty rooms had a way of lying—and she trusted silence even less than noise.
CHAPTER
TWELVE
With Andiand Pam now nearby, Duke began to look at the details.
He wanted to start with the windows.
Gina’s bedroom window was locked, latch seated properly. No cracks. No fingerprints visible to the naked eye. Curtains undisturbed.
The living room window, however . . .
He stepped closer.
At first glance, it looked fine. Locked. Closed. But Duke had learned long ago that “fine” was often a lie people believed because they wanted it to be true.
He crouched and leaned in.
A scratch stretched across the lower corner of the frame.
His jaw tightened.
Duke ran a fingertip lightly along the groove. A faint splinter caught his skin. He straightened slowly, gaze sharpening.
The latch itself sat just slightly misaligned—not enough that it wouldn’t close, but enough that someone experienced could pop it without breaking the glass.
Duke stepped back and called for Andi.
“What is it?” Andi joined him in the living room, Pam at her side.
“Check out the window,” he told her.
She leaned in closer and squinted. “It’s a scratch. You think the intruder left it?”
“Maybe.”
Andi squeezed Pam’s shoulder as she sensed her distress over the mark on the window. “We’re going to look into this more. I promise.”
Pam sucked in a sharp breath and turned away, a hand flying to her mouth as a sound broke free despite her effort to contain it. Not a sob exactly—more like a cracked inhale that carried days of fear and exhaustion with it.
Duke shifted subtly, angling his body to give her privacy. Andi stayed where she was, grounding, steady, until Pam managed to pull herself together again.
“Thank you,” Pam said, her voice hoarse. “For believing me.”
“Of course.” Andi glanced at her watch.
8:46 a.m.
Her stomach tightened.
