Page 90 of Until Bax

“Please,” she says softly, glancing over at me before she lifts the smaller of the two pots off the stove and carries it to the sink. “I talked to my mom this afternoon about Thanksgiving.”

“What did she say?” I pour her a glass of wine, then carry it over to the stove as she dumps the noodles she just drained into a pan with pasta sauce.

“She wants us to have dinner sometime before then.” She meets my gaze over her shoulder as I step up behind her and slide my hand up the front of her shirt, resting it on her stomach. “She’s worried about what happened and wants to clear the air before then. I told her I’d talk to you about it because I know it’s not easy for you to get away from work early during the week.”

“Just let me know when, and I’ll make it work.”

“Are you sure? I know…”

“I’ll make it work.” I cut her off.

“Okay.” She melts back into me as she swirls the pasta around in the sauce. “Thank you.”

“You know I love your mom.”

“I know.”

“And there are no hard feelings. I get why she did what she did. I don’t like it, but if we have daughters someday, I might pull the same stunt,” I say, and she goes completely still. “Oli?”

“Yeah.” She places the tongs she was using down on a small plate next to the stove.

“You, okay?”

“Better than I’ve ever been,” she says quietly, adding softly, “But just so you know, I won’t let you pull a stunt like my mom did.”

“You wouldn’t be able to stop me, baby.”

“Sure,” she mumbles.

Smiling, I lean in to touch my lips to the side of her throat as Gemma begins to bark. Dragging my mouth from her throat, I turn to watch Gemma run off toward the living room right before the bell rings.

“I’ll be right back.” I give her waist a squeeze and head to the front door. When I open it, I’m surprised to see Cobi and Detective Hammer standing outside on the porch. “Everything okay?”

“Sorry,” Cobi says as I stand back so that he and Detective Hammer can come inside. “I was going to call to make sure you were home, but we were in the area, so I figured we’d stop by. Is Olivia here with you?”

“Is everything okay?” Olivia asks from the doorway to the kitchen before I can answer.

“We just want to talk to you for a few minutes and fill you in on a few things recently brought to our attention.”

“Sure,” she says, then motions over her shoulder toward the kitchen. “I just need to get something out of the oven.”

“We can talk in there,” Cobi says, and I follow both men into the kitchen behind Olivia.

“You want something to drink—water, tea, soda?” I ask as Olivia removes the garlic bread from the oven.

“I’ll take a water,” Cobi says, and Detective Hammer requests the same. After handing them each a bottle from the fridge, I lean my hip against the counter next to Olivia.

“Did you find out who broke in next door or vandalized my car?” she asks, picking up her wineglass.

“Unfortunately, no,” Cobi says, pulling out one of the stools at the counter, and Detective Hammer does the same. “But we did come across three open cases around Middle Tennessee similar to yours.”

“How so?” I ask, and the moment Cobi’s gaze comes to me, I brace from the look in his eyes.

“Over the past six months, there have been four break-ins with the same MO, not including yours. In each situation, the house or apartment was lived in by a woman with a female roommate. The suspect gets into the house and makes it look like a robbery took place before he leaves, not taking anything of value with him and leaving no sign of forced entry.”

“Okay,” Olivia whispers.

“After some time has passed, who we are assuming is that same perp comes back when one of the roommates is gone.” His jaw gets tight. “And in each situation, the woman is then raped, tied up, and left for the roommate to find.”

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