“Who’s Tanner?” Kathleen asked.
“He’s a security specialist at Fletcher Security. He designed and installed the alarm system.” Natalie studied the rest of the yard. Even if one of her neighbors had walked by, they wouldn’t have known anything was wrong. Apart from Tanner’s truck, everything looked normal.
She opened her door and took a deep breath. For the entire drive home, she’d imagined the worst. Even if nothing was missing, the thought of someone being inside the cottage made her feel sick.
Tanner walked around the side of the house. Last time Natalie saw him he’d been wearing jeans. Today, his black trousers and gray pinstriped shirt only made her more nervous.
Instead of going straight into the cottage, Gabe walked around the truck and stood beside her. “Are you all right?”
She looked at the cottage, then at Tanner’s unsmiling face. “I’m worried about what we’ll find when we go inside.”
Her mom slid out of the truck and rubbed Natalie’s arm. “The most important thing is that neither of you were in the cottage.”
“It’s like being in Venice all over again.”
Gabe’s gray eyes softened. “Except this time, you’re not alone. Let’s hear what Tanner has to say before we go inside.”
Tanner reached out and shook their hands. “I’m sorry I’m not here for a better reason.”
“I’m glad we had the security system installed,” Natalie said. “I don’t want to think about what could have happened if you hadn’t helped us.” She turned to her mom. “Tanner, this is my mom, Kathleen Armstrong. She’s staying with me tonight.”
Tanner nodded. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve been in both sides of the cottage. It doesn’t look as though anything was taken, but you can confirm whether that’s the case.”
Natalie swallowed. “Have the police finished what they need to do?”
“They have. The security cameras caught the person who broke in. We should have more information by tomorrow afternoon. You should know that the only area of the house they went into was your studio.”
Natalie’s stress levels soared. “How did they get inside?”
“They broke one of the windows in your studio. The alarm was activated as soon as they walked across the room.” Tanner handed her a business card. “This is the name of the detective who came here. He wants you to call him as soon as possible.”
“Okay.” Natalie glanced at Gabe. Even though Tanner didn’t think the burglar had gone beyond her studio, he must be worried about what he’d find in his side of the cottage. She needed to pull herself together and put the burglary into perspective. No one was hurt, the cottage hadn’t burned down, and Tanner had assured them that none of the rooms were trashed. Sometimes, you had to be thankful for small mercies. And this was one of those times.
“We should go inside,” Gabe said. “Do you want me to come with you into your side of the cottage?”
Natalie nodded. Even though the burglar was long gone, she felt safer knowing Gabe and her mom were close.
“I’m heading into Polson to talk to Detective Jameson,” Tanner said. “If something’s missing, make a note of it and give the list to him. I’ll call you on Monday with an update of what’s happening. And a glazier should be here soon to fix the window in your studio.”
“Thanks. I appreciate you coming here on the weekend,” Natalie said.
“You’re welcome. Take care.”
After Tanner drove away, Natalie walked toward the cottage. Gabe was on one side of her and her mom was on the other.
She looked at the window that had been smashed. Black fingerprint dust coated the wooden surround. “It looks as though someone’s picked up the shards of glass.”
Her mom squeezed her hand. “We can have another look later. I’d hate Sherlock to cut his paws.”
Natalie braced herself as she walked inside the cottage. She pushed open the studio door and stepped inside the light-filled room. Her gaze shot straight to where she’d left one of her paintings. The air whooshed out of her lungs when she saw it was still on the easel, untouched by whoever had been inside the cottage. With a sickening sense of dread, she moved farther into the room.
Her studio in Venice had enough room for three or four canvases to be on easels at the same time. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the cottage. Leaning against the back wall was the most ambitious project she’d ever started.
Her breath caught. It wasn’t damaged.
When she turned around, Gabe was studying the canvas on the easel. Natalie looked at her mom, imploring her to keep him busy while she found something to cover the second painting.
“Come and look at these paintings, Gabe.” Kathleen took his arm and turned him toward the left-hand wall. “When we moved to Sapphire Bay, Natalie’s granddad framed some of her early paintings and hung them on the wall.”
