Page 5 of Byte

He answered on the first ring. “I don’t usually see your name flashing on my screen on a Friday night. What’s going on?”

“Gabby’s house was broken into tonight. She called me while she was hiding. I got here and chased the intruder outside. Shots were exchanged, but he got away. She doesn’t want Keegan and Shaker to know until they get back. She can’t come back to Croftridge while they’re gone because of school and work. Police have not been notified. What would you like our next move to be?”

He inhaled deeply. “You said shots were exchanged. Was anybody hit?”

“He missed me. I might’ve gotten him in the shoulder. Not sure, Prez.”

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to send Edge your way. He’ll call when he’s about ten minutes out. That’s when you call the police. Report everything as it happened, with the exception of who fired the shots. Wipe your gun down and give it to Edge when he gets there so it’ll have his prints on it. Once the cops are finished doing their thing, bring Gabby back to Croftridge with you for the night. You two stay at your place and come see me after lunch tomorrow,” he ordered. And that’s why he was the president—problem solved in a matter of minutes.

“Thanks, Prez,” I said before he ended the call.

“What’d he say?” Gabby asked anxiously.

I explained the plan to her and waited for the inevitable question.

“Why do we need to say it was Edge who shot at the guy?”

“Uh,” I shifted uncomfortably. “That’s something I can’t tell you.” When she narrowed her eyes, I felt compelled to give her a little more of an explanation. “Let’s just say it won’t be problematic for Edge, but it could be for me.”

“If this is one of those times that it’s better for me to know as little as possible, I’m okay with that.”

“It absolutely is,” I admitted. Truthfully, I’d managed to avoid any major run-ins with the police for the entirety of my life. I didn’t know what would happen if I did, and I didn’t want to find out. All it would take was one fingerprint to turn my world upside down. Thankfully, I’d been wearing gloves when I arrived and was careful not to touch anything once I’d taken them off.

“Should I go ahead and pack a bag for the night?”

“No, wait until after the police come and go. This is technically a crime scene, and we don’t want to disturb any evidence.”

A few minutes later, Edge called to let me know he was almost at Gabby’s house. I waited another minute or two and placed the call to the police.

Edge knocked on the door twice before letting himself in. “Hey, brother,” he said and held his hand out for my gun. Then he turned to Gabby. “You doing okay, sweetheart?”

“Yeah, I think so. I’m a little rattled, but I’m not hurt.”

“Good. When the cops get here, you called Byte, like your sister told you to, and I arrived with him. He found you in the safe room while I chased the guy out of the house.”

Gabby nodded her head vigorously. “Got it.”

“What bar were we at?” he asked me.

“The Watering Hole. We stopped there after having dinner with Irene,” I explained.

“I doubt they’ll check, but she’ll say I was with you?”

“She’ll say whatever I ask her to,” I told him. Irene had been looking out for me since the day I arrived in Cedar Valley all those years ago. And I knew she always would, even if that meant lying to the police on my behalf.

“Who’s Irene?” Gabby asked as three sharp knocks sounded on the front door.

“Show time,” Edge said quietly.

I opened the front door to greet the two officers and invited them inside.

“So, tell us what happened,” they started.

They spent the next hour asking us questions and looking through Gabby’s house. Somewhere in the midst of that, another crew showed up to dust for fingerprints. It felt like it took forever before they were finished. As they were heading out the door, one of the officers pointed to the alarm panel on the wall beside Gabby’s front door. “It’d be a good idea to keep your alarm on whenever you’re home, not just before bed.”

“Uh, yeah, I will,” Gabby stammered. “Thanks.”

I waited until I heard their cars pulling out of the driveway before I asked, “What was that about with the alarm?”

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