Because Luke Bennett might be a coward when it came to his own heart.
But when it came to protecting Grace Hart?
He'd burn the whole town down if he had to.
The squad roomhummed with its usual morning rhythm—keyboards clicking, radio chatter, the burnt-coffee smell that never quite left. Sullivan was already at his desk. Mercer leaned against the file cabinet, arms crossed, talking to Davis from traffic.
Luke logged into his computer and pulled up the incident report from last night.
"Well, well," Mercer said. "Look who decided to show up."
Luke didn't look up. "I'm on time."
"Barely," Sullivan muttered.
"Had to make a stop first," Luke said evenly.
"Yeah?" Mercer's tone was pointed. "How's the Hart girl doing this morning?"
Luke's fingers stilled on the keyboard.
The room didn't go quiet—not exactly. But the quality of sound changed. Sullivan's typing slowed. Davis shifted his weight.
Waiting.
Luke closed the report and turned his chair to face them.
"Her name is Grace," he said.
Mercer's eyebrows lifted. "Sure. Grace. How's she doing?"
"She's fine," Luke said. "Considering someone tried to break into her house last night."
"Right." Mercer exchanged a glance with Sullivan. "The mysterious intruder."
"There were tool marks on the back door," Luke said flatly. "Fresh ones. I photographed them this morning."
Davis let out a low whistle. "Man, you're really taking this community outreach thing seriously."
A few snickers rippled through the room.
Luke stood.
The movement was deliberate enough that the snickering stopped.
“Grace Hart deserves your respect,” Luke said, pitching his voice to carry. "And I'm not going to stand here and listen to anyone talk about her like she's a joke or a problem or anything other than what she is—a person who called 911 because she was scared."
Sullivan cleared his throat. "We weren't?—"
"You were," Luke said. "Yesterday. Last night. Just now."
He looked at each of them in turn.
"She's a first-grade teacher who has never done a damn thing wrong. Her mother got caught shoplifting and her brother hot-wired a few cars years ago. This town needs to get over it.”
Mercer's expression had gone carefully neutral. "Okay."
“Someone isthreateningher. Someone waited outside her house. Tried to get in. Scared her badly enough that she was shaking when I got there."
