Page 11 of Easton’s Claim

“Not yet, the forensics teams are still working inside. And Greg was definitely attacked and kidnapped. One of your neighbors saw him being dragged out of the house by two men.”

“Oh, Jesus,” she whispered, feeling sick at the thought.

His gaze shifted between her and Easton. “Come sit in my patrol car and tell me what happened,” he said to her.

She glanced at Easton, who nodded, then followed Frank to his car. After rehashing everything that happened with Greg, he told her what they’d found so far, then radioed the forensics team and got the okay to bring her inside.

Before letting her out, he paused, his eyes full of sympathy. “I’m so sorry about all this,” he said. “I hate seeing him wind up like this.”

Yeah, her too. “Any leads yet?” Whoever had come after Greg must have shown up within minutes of her leaving, because the cops had arrived under ten minutes after her call.

Her neighbor had seen two men put Greg, who had appeared unconscious, into a black car and drive off. Whoever had taken Greg might have seen her, waited for her to drive off before attacking. It made her skin crawl to think that someone that violent had been watching her and her house.

“No. We’ll need to get the samples analyzed before we know if it’s his blood or not. It’s not a large amount, so whoever was injured, we don’t think it’s severe. And if the attackers wanted to kill him, they would have just done it and left him here. So there must be some reason he was taken alive.” He straightened and reached for his door handle. “You ready?”

“Yes.” Bracing herself, she climbed out onto the foot of her driveway. Easton pushed away from his truck and started toward her.

“Want me to come inside with you?” he asked.

“Yes please,” she murmured, thankful he was here.

He stayed close beside her as they followed Frank up to the front porch, but didn’t touch her. Officers and techs moved out of their way as they approached, and Piper hated the pity in their eyes.

It was happening all over again. By morning the entire town would be abuzz with rumors and gossip, and her good name would once again be tied to Greg and this incident as people speculated about what had happened. Yet another reason she wanted to get the hell away from here, but this latest incident meant her departure was going to be delayed even longer.

Even though she’d prepared herself for what she was about to see, she still sucked in a breath at the first sight of her living room. Everything she’d staged so carefully to sell her home had been destroyed.

Tables, lamps and her desk had been overturned. The flat-screen TV was lying facedown on the floor, apparently ripped off the wall, bits of its plastic frame lying around it.

Books and other items she’d placed on the shelves of the built-ins on either side of the TV littered the area rug. Chunks of drywall were missing from the walls where something heavy had crashed into them. The framed prints she’d hung around the room were all lying smashed on the floor. Broken glass glittered in the sunlight streaming through the front windows.

Holy shit. Greg had put up one hell of a fight. It turned her stomach to think of him in here, fighting off two men. Maybe fighting for his life.

Easton set a hand on the small of her back, his touch comforting and warm, helping to melt some of the ice inside her. Her heart sank when she glanced toward the kitchen and saw her grandmother’s antique pie chest toppled on the floor with a wide crack down the middle of its back and both doors broken off.

Sadness crashed over her. Of everything she’d lost today, seeing that treasured piece lying broken hurt the most.

“You said he asked you about your grandmother’s furniture,” Frank said beside her. “He or whoever attacked him had to be looking for something inside it. We searched all the older-looking pieces of furniture in here but couldn’t find anything. Do you know if Greg hid anything in that one?” He gestured to the broken pie chest.

She shook her head. “I pulled this out of storage last week so I could stage the house. I didn’t notice anything when I cleaned it.” And now it was ruined. “Like I told you, the rest of the pieces are stored in the storage locker I rented, and I put some things in a shed at Easton’s dad’s place as well.”

“I’ve made a note of all that for the file. If you think of anything else, let me know.” He continued through the family room, heading toward the kitchen.

Piper stayed rooted to the spot, staring at the pie chest. It was much more than a piece of furniture to her. “It’s from the 1870s,” she said to Easton. Probably not worth much, but in terms of sentimental value, it was irreplaceable. “Whenever I stayed at my grandmother’s house during the summers when I was young, she and I would bake pies and store them in there. She’s the one who made me fall in love with baking.”

Her throat tightened and tears rushed to her eyes. She blinked them back, bit her lip until she forced the wave of emotion back. Crying wasn’t going to fix anything, and she was tired of everyone seeing her as weak. She didn’t want Easton to think of her that way.

He rubbed her lower back gently, and she fought the urge to turn into him and wrap her arms around his waist. “I bet Austen could fix it. Wyatt and my dad say she’s a carpentry wizard. As soon as we get your place back, I’ll load it up in my truck and take it over to them.”

She didn’t think it was salvageable and was too overwhelmed by everything to respond, so she nodded her thanks and followed Frank toward the kitchen.

When she reached the threshold separating the two rooms her feet stuck to the floor at the sight of the bloodstains smeared all over the polished hardwood. A bloody chef’s knife from the butcher block next to the sink lay on the floor, blood pooled around it in a glistening puddle. Crimson spatters were splashed onto the counter and up her cream-painted cabinets.

Her stomach pitched and she put a hand to her mouth. Was it Greg’s blood?

Without a word Easton wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. She stared at the knife she’d used to prep her meals, envisioned it being used against Greg. She swallowed.

“Want to step outside for a bit?” Easton murmured.

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