She swallowed hard.
“I’ve called the police,” Gus said. “But …” He shrugged.
“I know.” Lainey blew out a breath. “Kids, right?”
“Yup.”
It didn’t take her long to take photos of the damage and add to the notes she made the last time.
Her pulse raced through her body.
She wanted to believe it was just bored kids. But after what her ex-partner Richard put her through, she wasn’t that naive.
Not anymore.
A patrol car pulled up. Siren off, thank God. Two officers stepped out.
“Morning, Ms. Harper,” the taller officer said, flipping open his notebook as he surveyed the damage. “Anything stolen this time?”
“No,” Lainey huffed. Exasperated. “Just a broken window and a not-so-subtle threat.”
This wasn’t the first conversation she’d had with the police.
“We get that this is frustrating. But unless it escalates …” he trailed off with a shrug. “Sometimes people don’t like change.”
She blinked at him. Once. Twice.
“This isn’t about people not liking change,” she snapped. “This is obviously a threat, and it’s obviously escalating.”
He didn’t argue. But he didn’t agree either. He just gave her a pitying look like they always did.
She knew that look.
They’d file the report, nod sympathetically and do absolutely nothing.
There’d be no fingerprints. No camera footage. No witnesses. No note written with instructions to oneself saying break window, leave a threatening message.
There’d be no suspect. Nothing to find.
Just the usual. “Without a suspect, nothing to follow up on.”
Restoring the historic district was her dream job. She knew she was younger than most, but this job wasn’t handed to her. She earned it. Long nights studying, an honors degree in urban planning, getting her master’s, caring for a baby in between. There was no way one man’s betrayal was going to be the end of her career.
And yet, someone wanted to destroy it.
Her phone buzzed in her hand.
Unknown number.
Her breath hitched.
Dare she answer it?
The last few times, no one spoke. Just silence. But something told her this time was different.
One ring. Two. Three.
She couldn’t bear the wait. “Lainey Harper.”
