The same way he’d been watching Bree.
Ronnie took him to the squad car, and Tanner walked the rest of the way inside the apartment, weapon drawn.He looked around her living room.Nothing seemed out of place or broken, except Bree’s phone in pieces on the floor.
Once Tanner checked any place someone might be hiding and confirmed the apartment was empty, he put away his weapon.The broken phone caught his attention again.Had the burglars done that?Bree wouldn’t have.She still carried that thing around with her faithfully every day.
A tap on the door had him looking up and his hand moving toward his weapon again.But it was only Scott, looking flushed and out of breath.He’d definitely been running.
“You okay?”Tanner asked.
Scott nodded.“I heard about the break-in over the walkie.Since I was awake, I thought I would come on over from the hotel, and saw a couple of guys running off one of the side streets.I followed but I wasn’t able to catch them.”
“Were you able to catch any sort of identifying features?”
The younger man grimaced.“No, nothing.I’m sorry.”
Tanner nodded, but that wasn’t the most important thing.“Next time you see something like that, be sure to call it in.You’re not here to work active cases, Watson.I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Will do.And maybe this is the motivation I need to get myself in better shape.”Scott gave a half smile and hiked up his jeans.
It wasn’t that he was really so heavy—it was more that he was cumbersome and bulky.Definitely not light or quick on his feet.
“I see you’re carrying,” Tanner said when he saw the holster at Scott’s waist.“That’s good.”
The younger man touched his weapon softly.“Yeah.Always.”
Tanner nodded.Maybe there was hope for this kid to be more than just a paper pusher, if he really wanted to improve his skill sets.
“Can I help since I’m here?”
“Sure.”Tanner gestured for him to come in.
Scott entered the rest of the way.“This is Bree’s apartment, right?Is it a burglary?”
“If they were looking for anything valuable, she certainly doesn’t have much outside of baby equipment.”
Scott glanced around.“Where is she now?Is she all right?”
“Shaken up, but she’s all right.She’s with some friends.”
And as soon as Tanner was finished here, he was going to make sure Bree and the kids went someplace safe.
Scott looked around more.“I see that kitchen window open.Did she have to climb out that?And why is her phone in pieces on the floor?”
Tanner went over to check out the open window.“Bree said there were three guys.Maybe they’d had both the front and back door covered and this was her only way out.”
Fury pooled in his gut at the thought of her trying to make it out this window with both babies.She would’ve had to land hard and was probably more hurt than he thought.Might need medical attention.“Damn it.”
Scott studied the window.“She had to have been pretty scared to go out that way with both kids in tow.Do you think the burglars made it all the way into the house?”
Tanner shook his head.“I don’t think this was a burglary at all.I think it was an attempted abduction, and Bree foiled their plans by escaping.”
Scott whistled through his teeth.“Abduction?To what end?Human trafficking?Selling her and the kids on the black market or something?”
Tanner wasn’t going to drag Scott into the situation with Bree.Not until he had all the details.“Maybe.I plan to dig deeper into it.”
“Look, man, I’ve got nothing but respect for you and your department here.But it’s obvious you care about this woman, despite what you said earlier.”
“Yeah, so?”
