Page 27 of Relentless

Liam went from room to room, searching for a lingering intruder. He didn’t think he’d find one of Barone’s flunkies. Nine hours was a long time to wait for Piper to return home.

His frown deepened as he continued the search. Every room was trashed. Organizing her house again would take long hours.

When he’d cleared the house, Liam returned to the living room to find Piper in the same place, her gaze locked on the broken picture frames and glass, books scattered everywhere, DVDs tossed on the ground, their covers flung to various parts of the room. The desk drawers were upended, the contents dumped into a pile. Pictures had been ripped from the walls.

“Piper.”

She blinked and looked at him. “No unwanted visitors?”

He shook his head. “We have to call the police. Maybe they’ll find some prints.” He eyed her. “You don’t have an alarm system.”

Piper shrugged. “Couldn’t afford one. Delilah pays me what she can, but it’s not enough to install a state-of-the-art alarm system and keep up with the monthly monitoring fee.”

“I’ll call Fortress and see what they can work out. You need better protection, especially now that we’re together.”

“We’ll see.”

Yeah, they would. He didn’t want her life at risk because of money. If nothing else, he’d have Fortress take money from his pay and charge Piper a cut rate. He wanted her safe. Although he was careful, and Fortress scanned for mention of his name or work aliases, his identity could leak and provide a target for enemies. Piper would now be a prime target for anyone wanting revenge.

He grabbed his cell phone. “Pack your bag. Once the police arrive, you won’t be allowed to remain in the house. Touch as little as possible. We don’t want to contaminate evidence more than we already have. Cops will be here in a few minutes.”

“I’ll be quick.” Piper hurried down the hall to her bedroom as Liam tapped in the number for the police department.

When the dispatcher answered, he requested police assistance for a break in. Liam gave her what information he could. By the time the sirens sounded close, Piper returned with her bag packed.

He walked her to the SUV and placed her bag in the cargo area. At least now she’d have her own clothes and toiletries without worrying about when the police would release her house.

A prowl car arrived with lights and sirens, followed closely by a department SUV. Stella hopped out and headed for them. “What happened?”

“Someone trashed my house.”

“Let’s take a look.” Stella followed them into the bungalow and whistled low when she stepped inside the living room. “Does the whole house look like this?”

“Afraid so.” Piper scowled. “This will take forever to clean up. I’d love to get my hands on the person who did this and make them help me straighten the place.”

Stella trailed Liam and Piper throughout the house. When they returned to the living room, she asked, “Is anything missing, Piper?”

“My electronics are still here as well as my jewelry. I didn’t check for anything else.”

“The burglars were looking for something.” The detective waved a hand at the chaos in the living room. “No destruction of property. Everything is still intact, just dumped on the ground and rifled through. Do you know what they were looking for?”

Piper’s fists clenched. “Maybe the same thing the kidnappers wanted.”

“Did Gavin give you any indication in the previous texts what kind of information he had on Barone?”

“I wish. I don’t know what Gavin might have learned. He creates video games.”

“His father assumed he’d be loyal because of the blood tie.” Stella looked at Liam. “Have you talked to Zane yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Soon, okay?”

Liam blew out a breath. That didn’t sound good. “I’ll contact Z while we’re driving.” He was careful not to say too much. He hadn’t had time to search Piper’s house for bugs. No need to announce they were driving to Copper Ridge in case the burglars had left a bug behind. “Do you need us to stay?”

Stella shook her head. “I’ll contact you when the crime scene team finishes with Piper’s house. Take the day and enjoy yourselves. Let me worry about this.”

“Yes, ma’am.” In other words, get his woman out of here.

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