Creed wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his shares of the small company. He knew how hard Richard worked to build his dreams, and simply selling it off didn’t feel like the right thing to do. Creed pulled his car into the driveway of the address he’d gotten from Winter. He had no idea why he’d thought Winter’s house was Richard’s. For a split second, he’d forgotten how proud and boastful his brother could be. Winter’s modest three-bedroom house would have never matched Richard’s style.
When they were kids, Richard would always talk about making enough money to live like a king. Looking at the mini-mansion he could see that his brother was on the path to making it happen. Getting out of his car he walked up to the house and was about to put the key in the door when he noticed that it was cracked. Confused Creed slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside before stepping through the front door and looking around the foyer, and nothing seemed to be disturbed. Granted, it was the first time he’d been in Richard’s home, but Creed knew his brother was a clean freak. He looked at the door and noticed that the sides looked as if someone had jimmied the lock.
Creed’s head snapped up when he heard the sound of something being slammed to the floor. He didn’t waste any time running up the stairs, and followed the sounds to the room at the end of the hall. He stopped at the threshold when he saw papers thrown all over the floor. The person had their back turned to him and was looking through a file cabinet.
“Who the hell are you?” Creed asked surprising the person and getting their attention.
The person turned when he heard Creed’s voice. Then in a quick second, he ran towards Creed, pushing him hard into the wall and causing him to hit his heard hard. The guy dashed out of the door before Creed could get his balance. Shaking his head, hoping to dispel the dizziness, Creed stood and ran after the man, committing his facial appearance to memory in case he got away.
When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he jumped on the other guy’s back stopping him from reaching the front door. He held the guy down by the back of his neck with his arm along with a knee in his back.
“Who the fuck are you?” Creed demanded. “What the hell are you doing in my brother’s house?”
The guy grunted and struggled underneath his hold but didn’t speak. He was about to ask the questions again but didn’t get the chance.
“Police, put your hands in the air.”
Creed looked up from the guy and saw two cops standing at the door with their guns pointed at him.
“My name is Lieutenant Creed Makami, and I just returned to the United States from the Middle East after learning of my brother’s death. I came to check on his home when I found this man going through his office. If you don’t believe me, one of you can get my wallet out of my back pocket and get in touch with Winter Di Matteo. He will verify I am who I say I am.”
“Martin, get his wallet. I’ll keep an eye on them.”
Creed understood that the cops had a job to do but wondered who had called them. He stayed still but kept a tight hold on the guy who’d stopped struggling when the police had burst through the door. Creed listened as the one called Martin spoke to the police station and then to Winter on the phone.
“He checks out,” Martin said going to stand by his partner, handing him Creed’s wallet.
“Now that you know who I say I am, how about one of you come and take care of this guy,” he said looking at the guy he had pinned down.
“Sorry,” the other cop said as he holstered his gun, and stepping over to him. Creed didn’t move or loosen his grip until both of the cops had a hold on him. “I’m Officer Rojas, and this is my partner Martin. We are responding to an anonymous call of a suspicious character in the neighborhood. You said he’s an intruder?”
Creed nodded.
“Do you want to press charges for breaking and entering?” He asked handing Creed back his wallet.
Martin pulled the guy over to the side and was reading him Miranda rights.
“I do, but first I want to know what the hell he was looking for?” Creed asked the guy, who wasn’t looking at him but at the ground. “What were you doing here?”
“I want to call my lawyer,” he said looking at Martin.
Creed balled his fingers in a fist to keep himself from knocking the guy out. Rojas might have noticed and stepped in front of Creed, blocking his sight from the guy.
“Martin, take him out to the car,” Officer Rojas instructed his partner over his shoulder.
“You got it.”
“I need to find out why he was here,” Creed said.
“I’m not sure what the hell is going on, but since he asked for his lawyer, there’s nothing I can do about it but take your statement,” Rojas said to him.
“I’m just as clueless as you are,” Creed told him.
“Take some time to look around then come to the station to make your statement.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card with his name on it. “Here’s my business card, and tell the desk sergeant you’re looking for me.”
Creed took the card and put it in his back pocket. “Yeah, thanks.” Rojas nodded then walked out the door, not having anything else to say to him. Creed looked around wondering what the fuck was going on. Pulling out his cellphone, he dialed Winter’s number and waited for the man to answer.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said sighing. “Thanks for telling the cop you know who I am.”
“I simply told them the truth. But can you tell me what happened?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Listen, I need to call a locksmith to come out and fix the door. I won’t be home for a couple of hours.”
Winter was silent on the other end of the phone. “Okay, I’ll see you in a bit then.”
“Yeah.”
Their call disconnected and as he was searching for the local locksmith, he realized what he’d said.Home. He’d called Winter’s house his home, and it wasn’t just a slip of the tongue, it was something he truly felt.
