Page 75 of Secrets and Sin

Finn disappeared inside but he wasn’t long in the house, coming back out within minutes.

“There’s no one in there. You’ll need to look around and make a list of anything that’s missing. I’ll make sure you get a copy of the police report for your insurance.”

“That’s it?” Lucy asked in amazement. “People steal from me, and I just report it to insurance? Aren’t you going to try and find the person that did this?”

“Of course, I am,” Finn replied in a soothing tone. “But in the meantime, we need to figure out what exactly happened here. Do you have any security cameras?”

“No, I never thought I’d need them.”

“I’ll ask some of your neighbors. They might have some doorbell camera footage.”

“What about traffic cameras?” Zack queried. “We could see who turned at the stoplight.”

“We don’t have anything like that,” Finn said with a shake of his head. “We’ve never needed it.”

Lucy’s temper and frustration were rising, but she needed to stay under control. This wasn’t Finn’s fault. He was a good sheriff, and this town was normally a pretty gosh darn safe place to live.

Until now.

Not once - even after Sarah and then Lily Winslow had disappeared - had Lucy felt unsafe. Now that someone’s grubby hands had rifled through her drawers and cabinets, she felt violated.

Angry and violated. Someone had been inside her home. Her haven. A place she went to feel safe and peaceful. It didn’t feel either of those things now. There wasn’t enough disinfectant to scrub away the image of a person breaking into her home and pawing through her belongings looking for something valuable to steal.

They’d probably been disappointed as hell. Other than a television and some costume jewelry, she didn’t have anything worth stealing. She kept her laptop at the bookstore most of the time, and her phone had been with her.

She didn’t have diamonds, stacks of cash, or artwork. There was no wall safe in her bedroom like in the movies. She’d purchased her furniture at a reasonable price, and her clothes and shoes weren’t designer. She dressed mostly for comfort the majority of the time. She didn’t have any hobbies where she collected items that might go up in value like coins or stamps or movie actions figures. She did have an expensive bicycle for when the weather was good, but from what she could see they hadn’t touched her garage.

“I’m not sure I can be much help looking for anything they might have taken,” Zack said. “I wouldn’t know what’s missing. But I can pack a bag for you while you’re taking inventory if you like.”

“A bag?” she echoed, unsure what he was talking about.

“You aren’t planning to spend the night here, are you? I was thinking you could go to Cooper’s with me. He won’t mind.”

This was how shaken up she was. She hadn’t even thought more than five minutes into the future. There was no way she’d want to spend the night here tonight. Or tomorrow night, probably. Right now, she was contemplating calling a realtor and putting the place up for sale.

A huge overreaction to be sure, but she was still feeling raw. In a few days, she was sure she’d be far more rational.

One excruciating hour later, she’d determined that nothing was missing although her expensive skin care products in the bathroom were total write-offs along with many of her pantry items in the kitchen.

It looked to her that the burglar had been angry there hadn’t been anything to steal so he’d broken a bunch of stuff in retaliation, including a couple of wine bottles on the kitchen floor. She’d be finding glass for weeks. Luckily, Zack had helped her clean up the most egregious messes and the rest she’d leave for tomorrow when she was in a better frame of mind.

Finn seemed surprised that nothing was taken but he gave her a copy of the police report in case she wanted to turn in any damage.

“I would suggest getting a doorbell camera and a better lock. That one on your back door is flimsy. It looks like they were able to kick it in easily.”

There had been a footprint on the back door. Finn had taken a photo in case they found a suspect, along with some footage from her neighbors’ doorbell cameras. With any luck, they might find the person.

“We’ll go to the hardware store in the morning,” Zack said. “Or we can call Peter to change all the locks if you like.”

“My dad has already offered to do it,” Lucy said, holding up her phone. “I sent them a text so they wouldn’t hear through gossip, and they wanted to come over right away, but I told them I wasn’t staying here either.”

“We can stop there on the way to Cooper’s. They’ll want to see you and reassure themselves that you’re okay.” Zack turned his attention to Finn. “Does this happen often? Does this neighborhood have a lot of break-ins?”

“Every neighborhood gets one from time to time. Mostly kids looking for weed or something they can pawn to buy drugs or alcohol. We don’t have a burglary ring here in town if that’s what you’re asking. By the way, I wanted to let you know that I’m putting Blake on your mother’s disappearance and whether Sarah’s death might be linked. He agreed to some overtime to look into things. I wanted to let you know in case the investigator you hire wants to contact him.”

“I appreciate your cooperation, Finn,” Zack replied. “Not everyone would be this accommodating.”

“Technically, I can’t stop you, but I know that your family has questions. I’m not sure hiring anyone will do any good, though. Cold cases are notoriously hard to solve. I don’t want you to get your hopes up too high. It won’t be easy.”

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