The door was unlocked, which was a bright red flag to Jake that someonehadbeen here and opened it. They looked closer at the door and the lock. It was clear someone had jimmied the lock with a screwdriver or a metal something. There were scratches all over it.
Axel pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’m calling the police. We need to report this.”
Jake nodded. He wondered who had been here and what they had wanted.
Axel finished his call, hung up and said, “They’re sending someone over to look around and take an official report.”
“Who do you think it was?”
“Probably foolish kids doing stupid things that kids do.” Axel didn’t seem worried; Jake was rather shaken. He was doing his best not to show it, but he was grateful that Axel had accompanied him inside.
What if Jake had gone in alone? Would the intruder have run out of the garage or stayed and tried to engage him? He didn’t know where he’d come up with such a ridiculous notion. Well, it was his mistrustful gut acting up again.
“Do you smell that?” Axel asked.
Jake took a deep breath and with it came the scent of basically musty garage. There was the slight fragrance of oil from a leaky can he’d spilled last week and clearly hadn’t cleaned up well enough. But there was also the scent of something else. He took another deep breath, closer to the door to the yard. He smelled something slightly spicy.
“What is that?” he asked, more to himself than Axel as he tried to figure it out.
“I think it smells like cinnamon,” Axel said.
Jake snapped his fingers. “Yes. Right. I smell it, too.”
“Any reason you’d have cinnamon out here in the garage?”
Jake shook his head. “Nope. I only spill leaky cans of oil. At least, that’s all I remember with my awesome two weeks’ worth of memories.”
Axel grinned. “Oh, right. I keep forgetting.”
“Funny,” Jake said. “Did we ever hang out before?” He didn’t know why the question hadn’t come up before. He’d only seen Axel a couple of times since he’d returned from the hospital.
Axel shrugged. “Not really. Don’t get me wrong—you were always friendly whenever we saw each other. You waved when you drove by, but that was about it.”
Jake nodded. This wasn’t the first time someone had said almost the same thing. Friendly, but he didn’t seem to hang out with anyone. “Well, thank you for coming into my house with me and for bringing your handy flashlight.”
“Sure thing. We can certainly start hanging out if you want to. Do you read books? I have an informal book club with a few family members. You’d be welcome, if you’re interested.”
Before Jake could answer, they heard a vehicle pull into the driveway outside. Jake walked over and pushed the button to raise the garage door. An officer was getting out of a patrol car.
Axel said, “Hey, Wyatt. Didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
Wyatt said, “The end of this cul-de-sac in in my jurisdiction. I know it’s odd, but the lines drawn in Alienn, Skeeter Bite and the rest of the tri-city area sometimes don’t make sense.”
“So if I called in a suspicious intruder for my house—” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder toward his home.
“You would not have to deal with me.” Wyatt smiled.
“Interesting. I mean, I wouldn’tminddealing with you.”
“Good to hear.”
“Sheriff Wyatt Campbell here is my very favorite brother-in-law,” Axel told Jake, who must have appeared confused.
Wyatt stared up at the sky as if exasperated. “That’s because I’m your only brother-in-law, Axel.”
“That doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
“Thanks. So, Jake, what’s up tonight?” He looked at Jake, eyebrows raised slightly.
