“You’re not going in there without me.” She hooked her fingers around one of the belt loops on the back of my jeans. “No way am I staying out here by myself.”
I didn’t like the idea of taking Mel into danger but leaving her in the hallway without any protection didn’t feel right either. “Key.”
She dug her keys out of her purse and handed them to me. After I unlocked the door, I whispered, “Stick close and try to be quiet.”
I inched my way inside, not letting her past the doorway until I scanned the room and confirmed the intruder wasn’t in sight. When I spotted her flat-screen television mounted on the wall of her living room and the water jug half full of change under the end table, I started to wonder if her cheap-ass lock had actually done its job. But that hope was dispelled when I entered the bedroom and saw the damage inside.
I stopped so abruptly that Mel bumped into my back. Not wanting her to see what had been done in there, I swiveled on my heel and steered her down the hall toward the bathroom. After checking to make sure the shower was empty, I gripped her shoulders. “Stay in here and lock the door while I clear your room.”
She bit her bottom lip while she stared up at me. “What did you see in there?”
“I’m not going to lie to you, sweetheart.” I glided my hands up and down her arms. “It wasn’t good.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed and gave me a jerky nod. “Okay, but please hurry back.”
I brushed a kiss against her forehead and promised, “I’ll be quick.”
Pulling the door shut behind me, I waited for the snick of the lock before heading back to her room. The contents of her drawers and closet were tossed around the room, her pillows were slashed, and if I wasn’t mistaken, the bastard had jacked off on her comforter. The guy who’d broken in here hadn’t been looking for shit to steal. His sights were set on Mel, and he was pissed the fuck off.
Yanking my phone out of my pocket, I called Whit, not bothering to wait for his greeting when he picked up. “Come tothe address I sent you. Have the cops meet you here. Someone who knows what the fuck they’re doing and isn’t worried about sharing intel.”
“On my way.” Judging by the squeal of tires in the background, he’d already been in his car but headed in the wrong direction. “What happened?”
I gave him a quick rundown of what I’d found before explaining, “I’m going to take Mel to my place. When you’re done with the cops, meet us there.”
“The chick you bought online?”
A muscle jumped in my jaw as I grunted, “I didn’t buy Mel, and don’t call her a chick.”
“Damn.” He let out a low whistle. “Another one bites the dust. I’m the last man standing from the OG crew. And you didn’t even go down with a fight like Sera predicted.”
“Just hurry the fuck up. You can yank my chain later,” I offered as I switched to speaker mode so I could snap some photos.
“I’d need a fucking helicopter to go faster than I already am,” he grumbled. “Hearing that possessive tone coming out of your mouth is damn good motivation for me to get there before you leave.”
“Sorry, but the introductions are gonna have to wait ’cause I’m getting my girl out of here now.” I disconnected the call before Whit could complain and headed back to the bathroom. Rapping my knuckles against the door, I called, “The coast is clear. You can come out now, sweetheart.”
She flung the door open. “Was it as bad as you thought?”
“Yup.” I threaded my fingers through hers to lead her out of the apartment. “Which is why we’re going to get out of here. I want to debrief my boss on what happened and then get you somewhere safe.”
“Should I stay to talk to the cops?” Mel asked as we walked into the hallway, following me even though she had to have plenty of questions.
“One of my co-workers is already on the way. He’ll take care of everything tonight. If the cops have questions for you, they can ask them tomorrow,” I explained, grabbing the handle of her suitcase. I made a mental note to ask Hadley if she could order Mel some clothes since everything else she owned had been destroyed by the intruder.
She was quiet during the drive to my office, keeping a tight grip on my right hand during the drive. I was confident that we hadn’t been followed, but her safety was my top priority, so I parked in the underground garage. Her eyes went wide when the elevator zoomed to the top floor and opened to the reception area. Brecken hadn’t spared any expense when it came to the building, paying the same attention to detail on the décor as he had the security features.
“Impressive,” she whispered.
“Some of our clients pick their security firm based on how expensive the office looks.” I shook my head as I pressed my palm against her lower back to guide her through the reception area, ignoring all the curious stares. “Dumbasses.”
“There’s an awful lot of people here for a Sunday night,” she whispered as we neared Brecken’s office.
“The kind of security we provide is a twenty-four-seven business,” I explained, knocking on Brecken’s door before I pushed it open.
My boss looked up from the paperwork he was reading, his gaze sliding toward Mel before returning to me. “You picked up a new client during your weekend off?”
I gave him a rundown of what I’d found at Mel’s apartment, careful with my word choices so he’d understand the kind of perv we were up against without freaking Mel out. I didn’tdoubt that Brecken would be on board with protecting Mel, but I heaved a deep sigh of relief when he offered, “Use whatever resources you need to take care of the problem.”
