Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“What happened?” I ask as she walks my way.
“Someone was in the house.”
“What?” I whisper, my own fear making my voice and chest tight.
“I woke up, and there was someone in the house. I didn’t see them, but I heard them. I… I locked myself in my bathroom and used your phone to call the police.”
“Oh my God.” I wrap my arms around her. “Are you okay?”
“No.” Her body shakes. “I can’t believe someone was just… inside.”
“I can’t either.” I look at Bax when he walks up to join us.
“Let's get you two over to my place.”
“Don’t we need to wait to see what they say?” Kourtney asks, and he shakes his head.
“The cops are searching the house, and it’s too cold for you two to be out here. They’ll come next door when they’re ready to talk to you.” He takes my hand, and I take Kourtney’s.
When we get into the house, I lead her to the couch in the living room and take a seat with her, wrapping her in my arms as Bax goes to the kitchen. Having caught a glimpse of the time earlier, I know it’s way too early for coffee, but I still hear him making a pot. I can also hear him on the phone a couple of minutes later. I don’t know who he’s talking to, but he sounds angry.
When he comes out of the kitchen, I follow him with my eyes as he turns on the fireplace and the TV before he focuses on me.
“Cobi is on his way. I’m going to meet him outside.”
“Okay,” I say quietly, and he walks around to the back of the couch and leans over it, cupping his hand around my lower jaw before touching his lips to mine.
“Stay inside. I put coffee on, and it should be done soon.”
“Sure,” I whisper as he lets me go. A second later, I watch him walk out the door after he once more tells Gemma to stay. Feeling Kourtney’s hand tighten around mine, I squeeze her fingers. “It will be okay.”
She doesn’t agree, and I don’t blame her. Having someone throw a brick through the window while I was asleep was enough to scare me for days, so I can only imagine how she feels, knowing someone was in the house with her while she was so vulnerable.
The two of us focus on the TV, playing some mystery show from the ’70s. The quality is grainy, but it’s a good distraction from what is happening outside.
“Do you want some coffee?” I ask Kourtney when I feel her shiver despite wearing more clothes than I have on.
“Sure,” she says quietly, so I get up off the couch and go to the kitchen.
I normally wouldn’t drink coffee this early in the morning, but I don’t imagine I’ll be going back to sleep anytime soon, so I make myself a cup as well, carrying both back to the living room. I pass her one of the mugs and start to sit back down as the front door opens, and Bax walks in with Cobi and a uniformed police officer.
Ignoring the other men, I focus on mine and scan his face. I can’t read anything in his expression except anger, which worries me.
“Olivia.” Cobi dips his chin and then motions to the man next to him. “This is Officer Heart.”
“Hi,” I greet the other officer as I take a seat sideways on the couch close to Kourtney, and the men come to stand on one side of the living room.
“You must be Kourtney,” Cobi says gently, holding out his hand to her. “We spoke a couple of days ago over the phone. I’m Detective Mayson.”
“Nice to meet you.” She takes his hand and then gives the other officer a small smile.
“So we just finished a walk-through of the house and found that the two rooms in the back, one a bedroom and the other an office, were the only rooms that seemed to have been gone through.” My heart pounds as my eyes fly over to meet Bax’s. “We’re not sure if anything was taken. There were two computers, a TV, and some jewelry on top of the dresser in the bedroom out in the open.”
“So they didn’t take anything?” I ask, and Cobi shakes his head.
“I’m not saying they didn’t. The rooms are destroyed, and stuff is everywhere, so things could be missing. But the obvious items you’d take in a robbery are still there.”
Oh my God. I press my hand against my stomach.
“Bax said neither room was like that the last time he saw them.”
“They weren’t,” I confirm. “So what were they looking for?”
“We don’t know. We also don’t know how they got in since there were no obvious signs of forced entry into the house.” Cobi looks between Kourtney and me. “Did one of you leave a door unlocked?”