Page 89 of Everlasting Promises

Evan pulls away. “Geez, man, give a guy some breathing room.”

“I’m glad neither of you were home.” Ignoring my promise to keep things platonic between us in front of Evan, I kiss the top of her head because I need to taste her to reassure every one of my senses she’s okay. Evan watches me with interest, and I’m sure he’ll have a million questions when things are quiet later.

“Yeah, but it probably wouldn’t have happened if we were home.”

I shake my head. “Not necessarily. Burglars don’t always care if people are home. I’ll call it in, then I’m going to go in with Rex to check things out.”

She steps away and nods as she wraps her arm around Evan, tugging him to her side. “Okay. We’ll wait here.” She reaches out to squeeze my arm. “Be careful.” It’s impossible to miss the worry in her tone.

I nod. “This is what I do. I don’t take unnecessary risks. Promise.” Before I take her back into my arms and kiss her like I really want to, I tap the side of my leg and head inside with Rex. I detour to my truck, grab my phone, and call it in, then we make our way through each room, finding parts of the house in disarray but thankfully empty. When I study the side door carefully, I note the gouges in the wood where the perp obviously broke the lock.

I step outside to update Hope and Evan. “The house is empty, and I can see where they jimmied the lock to get in. They’ve left a mess behind where they’ve gone through your things in some of the rooms. Do you have any security? Cameras … sensors … anything?”

Her face grows pale as she shakes her head, bringing her trembling hand up to cover her mouth. “No, just regular locks.”

“All right. I’ve already called it in, but I’m also gonna call Nix and get him out here to fix that back lock. Then we’ll see what hecan do about a security system for you.” He gave me his number at the birthday party, in case I ever decide to leave the force.

Hope’s brows scrunch together. “Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary. I don’t want to bother Nix and I can’t afford a security system.”

While I’m on the phone to Nix, a cruiser pulls up and two officers climb out of the car. Hope explains what she found when she came home, and then I introduce myself and fill the officers in on what I found when Rex and I checked inside. They head inside to gather evidence while we wait out front. After a while, they return to us on the front grass.

“Do you know if anything was stolen?”

Hope shakes her head. “I haven’t been inside yet.”

“Okay, well, we’ll check the neighbors to see if anyone has CCTV footage we can use.” The officer shrugs. “No guarantees on that, though. When you go through your things, make notes on anything that’s missing.”

“Will do. Thank you, officers.”

They nod. “We’ll be in touch if we discover any new information.” He hands her his card. “Here’s my card.”

As they step away, Nix and Shane pull up in front of the house at the same time. They climb out of their cars and Shane’s expression is like thunder as he storms toward us with a slight limp. “Why didn’t you call?” he snaps at Hope.

Nix grabs a toolbox from his van and wanders over at a slower pace. “Hey, Hope. Ev.”

“Hey, Nix. Thanks for coming,” Hope says, then turns to Shane, raising her brows at him. “Hey, Shane. Nice to see you, too.”

“Don’tHey, Shaneme. You’re supposed to call me when stuff like this happens.” He pushes his huge hand roughly across the top of his cropped hair. The guy is intimidating without eventrying. Seeing him like this makesmewant to put distance between us.

Hope waves toward me. “I called Ben, and he came.”

Shane looks at me as if it’s the first time he’s noticed I’m here and raises his chin. The tension in his jaw and across his shoulders disappears, and he blows out a long breath. “Thanks, Ben.”

“No problem. The house needs to be secured, and I’d like Nix to install security cameras and an alarm system.”

Shane nods in agreement. “We should’ve done it years ago.”

Hope sighs loudly, but reaches out, placing her hand on my forearm. “I don’t think any of that’s necessary. It’s expensive, and we’ve been okay without it until now.”

“How about we get the house secure, and we can take a look at some simple measures Hope will be comfortable with?” Nix looks at Hope with raised brows. “No cost.”

She shakes her head, sending her curls swaying from side to side. “No. I won’t accept a handout. If I can’t pay you, then you’re not installing anything,” she tells him with a firm tone. I’ve never seen her so adamant before—with her jaw set tight and her arms crossed stubbornly across her chest—but I recognize a woman who’s not prepared to budge.

They negotiate an arrangement Hope is happy with, and Nix sets about securing the house, while the rest of us tidy the mess, collecting any items that need repairs.

An hour later, Hope and Evan’s home is secure and Nix and Shane have left, promising to return tomorrow to install a couple of motion sensor cameras and an alarm system on the downstairs windows and doors.

Evan slides his zipper up and down his hoodie repeatedly as he chews on his bottom lip. “Mom, do you think whoever broke in will come back tonight?”

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