Page 50 of No Love Lost

Marcus and Graham moved to the small utility room at the back of the house. She’d always been annoyed when she’d had to trudge outside in the winter for maintenance, but she’d never worried about anyone tampering with her property.

Wearing gloves, Marcus squatted down and shone a flashlight into the lock and then around the edges of the door and the hinges. “There are a few scratches on the lock, but nothing definitive. Do you have the key with you?”

Addy pulled it out of her pocket and passed it to Marcus. He nodded his thanks and then turned it in the lock. He and Graham moved inside. It was a tiny room, so she stayed on the outside where she could see. Heath moved behind her to block the wind and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back into him and tried to imagine who might want to scare or inconvenience her.

Not a single person came to mind. She’d spent a lot of her lifetime in the shadows. She’d mostly kept her head down and done the next thing. The only ones she knew of who actively disliked her were Heath’s parents, and they wouldn’t do anything like this. If the men were right, these incidents had started before she and Heath had met in the parking lot. That ruled them out completely.

When the men came out, Graham spoke. “There’s nothing wrong with your breaker panel. Your heat pumps shouldn’t be flipping the breakers, but I’m going to have a look at that, too.”

When they got to the door, she remembered. “The door started sticking a few weeks ago. I think it’s just a loose hinge plate, but I don’t think of it until I open it, so I haven’t actually checked it out.”

Marcus nodded and studied this door as well, shrugging to show it was difficult to tell. He opened it and did the same on the inside.

He pointed at a hinge plate. “Marks on here, but no way to tell how old they are. Let’s check inside.”

Once inside, Addy moved to the stove to put on the kettle. The chill probably wasn’t from the cold, but tea would help.

Heath stayed where he could see her and the others as well. She knew he was worried, and that helped warm her as well. Her breathing wanted to escalate, but she concentrated on keeping it level. They would figure this out. No one was getting anywhere near Nina.

When the water boiled, Addy made four cups of tea, not sure anyone other than her would drink it. But it gave her something useful to do. She brought them to the table, then sat and held her mug between her hands.

When Marcus used his cellphone to look at the walls, she frowned. “What are you looking for?”

“It’s precautionary, but if someone is stalking you, I want to make sure there are no hidden cameras installed.”

She shot to her feet. “You think someone would do that?”

He shrugged. “I hope not, but it’s been known to happen.”

How was she supposed to feel safe here ever again? Heath appeared beside her. “How about I see if Troy has locks in stock? We can get new ones installed today if he has any.”

She nodded numbly, and Heath made the call. It shouldn’t have surprised her when Troy and Piper showed up minutes later with new locks and their dog Oreo in hand.

Piper immediately walked to Addison and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m so sorry this is happening to you.” Piper had been through her own version of hell not that long ago, and knowing she understood the feeling of violation helped enormously.

Soon, she and Piper were in her bedroom, cleaning up the mess from the tree while Oreo supervised from the bed. It wasn’t as weird with her female friend helping her as it had been when the men had been in there earlier. They used the broom and the mop and cleared all the surfaces.

Piper picked up the bag of garbage they’d collected. “I can’t believe how tidy your room was before the window blew in. I’m never quite that good with my stuff.”

Addy laughed. “When it’s a small space, you learn not to collect too much. Makes it easier to keep it organized.”

“Is Nina the same?”

“Pretty much. Although she’s usually got a few interests competing for her attention at the same time, so there’s always stuff scattered around.”

When they left her room, Marcus smiled at her. “Do you mind if I do the scans in there as well? We haven’t found anything in any of the other rooms, so I doubt we’ll find anything. I’ll feel better if I check.”

She hadn’t thought of the possibility of cameras while they’d been cleaning. It was unnerving to think of someone watching her, so she let Marcus check the room.

Her phone timer buzzed, and Addy shut it off. It was the first timer for her to get ready to pick up Nina. If she left soon, she could drive to the school and pick her up from there. Except they hadn’t picked up her car from Midnight Lake.

Heath appeared and tilted up her chin with his knuckle. “Do we need to leave now for Nina? Or was that warning timer number one?”

She managed a laugh. He already knew her so well. “That was the first timer. We’ve got a few minutes if we pick her up in Phail.”

“Would you feel better if we drove to the school?”

She nodded, forcing down the emotion clogging her throat.

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