At the sound of his voice, she jerked up her head, her hands flying to her chest. Recognition washed over her face.
“Rafe!” She launched herself into his arms.
He staggered back a little, as much from surprise as from her forward motion. It definitely wasn’t her usual way of greeting him.
“Hey.” Rafe had to wrap his arms around her to keep them both from tumbling to the floor. “Are you all right?”
Ahri trembled and shook her head against his chest. He held her, rubbing her back, and making soothing sounds like he did when his younger brother or sister were upset, though holding her definitely didn’t make him feel brotherly toward her.
“What happened?” he finally asked.
She took a deep breath and looked up at him. “They took pictures from our wedding album. Why would they do that?”
Rafe glanced at where she’d been standing. An elegant white binder lay open. He’d attended the wedding and recognized some of the people.
“Show me.” He took her hand without thinking about it and led her to the pile. That was when he noticed the slashed and jagged tears on the clothing. His mouth went dry. No one had mentioned that. He’d need to let Bill know. And Kayn.
Ahri picked up the album, flipped some of the pages, andhanded it to him. She pointed to the spots where three photos used to be.
“And you just now noticed these pictures were gone?” Rafe asked. “Could Zed have removed them some other time?”
She shot him a flat look.
“I’m just trying to figure this out.” He shrugged.
“I’d been looking at it the night before he left as a reminder.”
“A reminder of what?”
“Of what it used to be like.” Ahri looked off in the distance, blinking her eyes. “To help remind me why I should stay.”
When she self-consciously wiped at her eyes, he wanted to take her in his arms again. He resisted, though he did take a slow breath to calm himself. How long had she been unhappy in her marriage? The more he was hearing about the situation, the angrier he was getting with Zed. What had the man been thinking to hurt her like this? He’d had this smart, talented, beautiful woman?—
Rafe shut down the thought. It wasn’t getting them anywhere. He pointed to the empty spaces on the two pages.
“So, you’d just been looking through the album, and you know the pictures were there?”
“Isn’t that what I just said? Do you think I’m making all this up too?” She glowered at him.
That was more like the Ahri he was used to seeing spar with her brother. It made Rafe feel a little better.
“Don’t fly off the handle. I wasn’t insulting you. I wanted to make sure I understood you right.” He tilted his head and arched a brow. “It’s a form of active listening.”
“All right.” She huffed out a breath. “Sorry I snapped at you.”
“And there’s no way Zed would have taken these.”
“Why would he take our wedding pictures? He walked out on me.” Her tone went flat, monotone. “He didn’t even take his bathroom stuff.”
“So, why would someone else take the pictures?” he asked softly.
“I have no idea.” Ahri dropped her arms, weariness radiating from her. He wished he could do more for her.
“It looks like you’re planning to toss this.” Rafe held up the album.
“Why would I hang onto it?”
“I think you should keep it as a precaution—because whoever did this to your apartment wanted them.” His instincts told him the missing photos meant something. If it’d been a random act, why steal the pictures? “Do you remember who the people were in the shots?”
