Page 17 of Tactical Revival

“It’s not your fault.” I head over to the small mini fridge and withdraw a bottle of water. She shakes her head when I offer her one.

“Are you okay? What did he want?”

I haven’t told her anything about my past until last night, and I’ve no plans to start opening myself up further. Not when the wounds are far too raw from being ripped right open this morning. “We had a falling out, and now he’s dying and trying to get back in my good graces.”

She covers her mouth with a hand and her eyes go wide. “Oh, Jaxson, I am so sorry!” Before I can stop her—not that I would—she wraps both arms around me and holds on. Slowly, I return the affection, mainly because holding her feels as familiar as breathing, even if this is the first time.

I never want it to end.

She pulls away and looks up at me. “Are you okay? Do you need to talk?”

“I’m—” My phone rings, the shrill tone cutting through the moment. I start to ignore it, but then see Lance’s name on the readout. “Payne,” I answer gruffly.

“We’ve got a break-in at the Pillar residence. Can you meet me at her place?”

“Sure thing.” I end the call. “I’m sorry, work calls. I have to go.”

Margot smiles softly at me. “I’m here if you need me, Jaxson. I hear venting is what friends do for each other.”

Her repeating words I spoke to her just yesterday warms my heart. “I know. Thanks.”

She offers me a smile, then leaves my room, shutting the door behind her. I continue staring after it, recalling the way her arms felt around me. The way holding her made it feel—just for a moment—like everything was right with the world.

“I didn’t notice anything,” Emigh Pillar says as she bounces a baby on her hip. Her blonde hair is twisted up in a messy bun, and she’s still wearing her scrubs from her shift at the hospital.

She’s a single mother, her daughter just turning one. She lives alone, so no one set off the alarm by accident, and as far as she knows, no one was trying to get in. “It just started going off, so I grabbed Ollie and ran into the closet to get my gun.”

“Elijah is running security camera footage now,” Lance tells her as he closes his notepad.

“We didn’t see anything when we pulled up,” Deputy Wallace says. He was Lance’s first call since they’re closer than we were. “No one was fleeing the house, and we were here within minutes once we got your call.”

“I’m going to take another walk outside,” I tell them, then head out the front. According to Elijah, it was a window tamper alarm that went off first, so I head around the back of the house through a side gate.

The yard is small, though green. There is no mud, so no footprints to track, and the gate that backs up to a creek is locked from the inside. So either it’s a faulty sensor, or someone managed to get in and out of the back or side gate undetected.

I start at the window closest to the side entry gate, noting that there are no signs of tampering.

Then I creep along the side of the house, checking the windows, looking into the living room and the half bathroom.

It’s not until I reach Ollie’s window that I sense something off. The curtains are partially open, so I can clearly see the crib and a basket of toys on the rug in the center of the room.

Slipping a glove onto my hand, I lean in closer, noting tiny scratch marks on the corners of the windows, right near the sensors. To set them off, the perpetrator doesn’t even have to fully open the window. Any type of unnatural vibration will set them off.

If someone tries to pry the window open? The alarm goes off before they manage to make progress.

Which is exactly what looks like happened here. I turn in a slow circle, trying to track the easiest route out of here. Maybe they got caught on a branch as they were fleeing the scene. Definitely hoping for some DNA or torn fabric. Anything that could lead us closer to whoever was trying to get into baby Ollie’s window.

My stomach churns with unease.

How sick do you have to be to target an innocent child?

Or was it the mother they were after, and they figured the baby’s room was the easiest way in?

Using the half wall to hoist myself up over the fence, I drop down onto the other side near the creek bed. Here, the trees and brush are thick, but there are a few paths that teens are likely using to sneak in and out of houses.

I turn toward the gate—and freeze in place.

Taped to the outside of the gate is a two of hearts.

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