Page 58 of Deceiving Grier

“If you see anything else suspicious, especially if you opt to install security cameras, don’t hesitate to contact us.”

For all the good it would do. Still, despite his less-than-ideal response, I thanked him and hung up.

“How long have you been up?” Jett mumbled, shuffling past me towards the kitchen.

“A little while,” I admitted, leaning against the opening between the kitchen and dining room. “I didn’t sleep great.”

“Me either.” He popped a K-cup into the machine and hit the button for it to brew. “I kept thinking about how many times someone was in our house, in my room, and we had no idea.”

“I know. It creeps me out.” I didn’t bring up the times I thought I heard someone moving around the house while we were all home and in bed. I’d assumed it was him or Grier or maybe just the house settling. Now I wasn’t so sure.

The doorbell chimed suddenly, and we both jumped. In all the months I’d lived here, I couldn’t think of a single time someone rang the doorbell unless they were delivering food, and definitely not this early in the morning.

“Who in the hell? It’s not even nine o’clock,” Jett said, echoing my thoughts.

I hurried from the kitchen to the front door, Jett trailing me. When I opened the door, Alistair stood on the other side, looking harried. His shaggy black hair was a tangled mess as if he’d just rolled out of bed, and the tag was visible on his shirt because he was wearing it both inside out and the wrong way around. Finn stood behind him, looking far more put together.

“What the hell happened?” Alistair asked. “Finn was dropping Will at school and Mrs. Henry from next door said she saw an ambulance and police at your place last night.”

“You didn’t see for yourself?” Jett asked.

They lived on the opposite side of the street, just a few houses down. With all the commotion last night, it would have been strange for them to miss it.

“After picking Will up from his grandparents, we went over to Grey’s place for dinner,” Alistair said. “When we got home, it was late, and your place was dark.”

It was awfully early to have to rehash all this. Hell, I hadn’t even finished my coffee yet, but I was going to have to talk to Finn anyway about changing the locks, and I still had a few hours before I brought Grier home from the hospital. I guess now was as good a time as any. “You might as well come in.”

I stepped aside so they could enter. Alistair’s gaze bounced between me and Jett, his frown deepening. “Where’s Grier?”

“Hospital,” Jett said.

Alistair paled and his eyes widened.

“He’s going to be okay,” I blurted, trying my best to reassure him. “His arm’s fractured, and he has a concussion. They kept him overnight for observation.”

I closed the door once they were inside.

“What happened?” Alistair asked again.

“Grier fell down the stairs,” I explained.

“Someone was in the house, and Grier saw them,” Jett added. “And whoever it was has been in and out of our house for months.”

“Who?” Finn asked.

“We don’t know.” I turned, heading back to the kitchen where I left my coffee. “It’s a long story. You might as well come in and sit down. Do you guys want anything? Coffee?”

Once we were all sitting around the dining room table, I told them everything that had happened the night before from Grier’s fall to finding the window propped open in the basement.

“Why would someone break in to hurt Grier?” Alistair asked.

“I don’t think they did,” I said, then turned to Jett. “I thinkyouwere the target.”

Jett’s eyes widened. “Me?”

“Think about it. All this time, you thought we had a ghost because it wasyourthings that would disappear or get ruined. Even at your old place, when it was broken into, you said it was your room that was damaged worse than everyone else’s. You’re the only one to have something stolen. I think whoever is doing this, they’re trying to get to you.”

Jett looked visibly pale now. “You think what happened to Grier is my fault?”

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