Page 74 of Rekindling Desire

Damien walked toward the door. After checking the sidelight, he opened the door. The policeman was in full uniform.

“We had a report of a break-in,” he said.

“Yes,” Damien replied. “Please come in.”

“I’m looking for a Gabriella Crystal.”

“That’s me,” I said from down the hallway. “It was my back door that was open.”

“Do you recall leaving it open?”

“No, sir. It was open when we got home.”

“Any signs of forced entry?”

There wasn’t.

Damien and I answered Officer Johnson’s questions. He even walked around the entire house with us, checking closets and looking under beds.

“You said your security cameras were turned off?” the policeman asked.

“Yes, they stopped working sometime this morning.”

“Did you lose feed from your nanny cam?” he questioned as he pointed to a nightlight. “My wife bought some just like these. You can’t even tell they’re damn cameras. They’re great with teenagers.”

“Nanny cam?” I looked at Damien and shook my head. “Did the security company install these? I didn’t, and I didn’t notice them earlier.”

“There were a few downstairs, too,” the officer said.

“Bitch,” Damien mumbled under his breath. “The company didn’t install them. They never were able to access the inside of your house.”

Together we went room to room. Officer Johnson collected all the cameras—seven in total.

I checked the recorded video from my doorbell. There wasn’t footage of Amber coming to the house before the cameras stopped working, but there was a nice one of her earlier this morning.

Officer Johnson looked at my phone. “And you believe this is who broke in and planted the cameras?”

“I do,” I answered. “And took my cat.” I hoped she took her and that Duchess wasn’t alone and scared.

“There was a security company that came by to check her security system,” Damien offered, “and they told me that Ella answered the door. She didn’t. She wasn’t home. The description matches this woman.” He pointed toward my phone. “Her name is Amber Wilmott.”

By the time Officer Johnson left, my head was throbbing, and my stomach was unsettled. “She wanted to spy on us. That’s sick.”

“There must be something she wants to learn.” He sighed. “Do you want to walk around the neighborhood?”

“I do.”

The spring temperatures were in a consistent warming pattern. As we walked up and down the neighborhood sidewalks, we met people walking their dogs and parents with children in yards. Each person we saw, we stopped and asked if they’d seen a black cat with a sparkling pink collar.

The answer was always the same.

No one had seen her.

When we returned to my place, I was overwhelmed with the emptiness that went along with Duchess’s absence. “I don’t want to go to your place. I want to be here in case she comes home.”

Damien nodded.

“Will you stay here?”

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