Chapter Fourteen
The next morning smelledof sawdust and trouble.Chloe hadn’t even made it three steps inside the gym before the foreman beelined toward her like a man bracing to deliver bad news.His expression said it before he opened his mouth.
“Oh no,” she murmured.“What now?”
“Ms.Giordano,” Hal said, scratching the back of his neck, “I wish I had better news.Someone broke in overnight.”
The words landed like a dropped barbell on her chest.Kayne stiffened beside her.She felt his presence at her back, warm and steady as bedrock, an anchor her nervous system latched onto without asking permission.
“What did they take?”she asked, surprised her voice didn’t shake.
“Tools.A lot of them.”Hal blew out a breath.“Thousands of dollars’ worth.Power saws, drills, nail guns, sanders, compressors.Pretty much everything.They knew exactly what to grab.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t one of the crew?”Kayne asked.
“I’d like to believe it wasn’t,” Hal responded.
“Were there signs of forced entry?”
“Oh, there was forced entry.”Hal gestured toward the side door.“The lock was pried clean off.”
Wonderful.Another violation.Another reminder that whoever was stalking her wasn’t slowing down but growing bolder.
Chloe folded her arms to contain the tremor racing up them.“I’m so sorry.This is my fault.They’re targeting me, and now the gym.”
Kayne’s hand brushed her elbow in a soft touch, but it was enough to halt her self-blame speech before it gained momentum.“Chloe, this isn’t on you.It’s on whoever thinks they’re gonna get away with terrorizing you.”
The certainty in his voice steadied something fragile inside her.
“Where exactly were the tools stored?”Anja asked.
“Some were in here.The rest were in the back lot trailer.”
“Show me.”
Chloe followed as the three of them stepped outside.The trailer door hung crooked, its hinges twisted as if wrenched apart rather than cut.Kayne crouched, running a fingertip over the damaged metal.His expression darkened.
