Page 61 of Deceiving Grier

“You don’t have to take care of me,” I told him.

He snorted as if he didn’t believe me, his deep blue eyes dark and intent. “I don’t mind taking care of you, believe me.”

Finn cleared his throat, drawing all our attention. “A couple of things quickly, and then we’ll go.”

“You don’t have to,” I said, weakly. Even though I was already struggling to keep my eyes open. The visit to the pharmacy and drive home from the hospital had depleted what little energy I had.

“We have to pick up Will from school, anyway,” Alistair said.

“While all three of you are here, I wanted to go over a few things,” Finn said, his gaze shifting from me to Sawyer standing behind the sofa to Jett leaning against the opening between the dining and living room. His arms were crossed, shoulders hunched forward, and his expression more serious than I’d ever seen it before.

“I installed new locks on the front and back doors. I had keys made for all three of you. They’re on the kitchen counter. I also spoke to the guy who handles security for most of our properties. He said he’ll be here Wednesday or Thursday to give us a quote on an alarm system.” Sawyer started to say something, but Finn held up his hand. “Grey’s paying. It’s his property.”

That was good since I doubted any of us could have come up with the money on the spot, especially me, since I didn’t know how I would manage to work with one arm. How in the hell will I serve coffee with my arm fractured? Myrightarm—I was right-handed. I pushed the thought to the back of my brain, forcing myself to pay attention to what Finn was saying about installing security measures to protect us from whoever the hell had been in the house and sent me tumbling down the stairs.

An intruder coming and going whenever they wanted was probably playing a part in the low-level anxiety buzzing beneath my skin—and if I paid any attention to it at all, it would probably grow like a child’s fairy-tale monster and swallow me whole. Of course, faceless intruders weren’t the only things I was worried about. Hell, I’m not sure it would even make the top of the list. Given that I was lying on the couch with a concussion and a broken arm, maybe I was being foolish for not worrying about that more, but at the moment, I had more pressing matters to deal with.

“I’ll be here when he comes,” Finn continued. “But at least one of you should be here as well.”

“I think that’s a given at this point,” I mumbled.

Jett nodded, but didn’t say anything. He looked miserable, curled in on himself.

“I tightened all the latches on the windows in the basement,” Finn added. “They’re old, and I’m not convinced how well they’ll hold, so I also installed motion sensors on each of the windows. If they open, it will set off an alarm.”

“Will we hear them on the second floor?” I asked.

“You should,” Finn said. “We tested them before you got home, and we could hear them.”

“My room is on the first floor. I should be able to hear them if you and Jett can’t,” Sawyer added.

“Obviously, these motion sensors aren’t part of the security system that we’re having installed, more of a temporary fix, but they should be enough of a deterrent for someone trying to get in, at least until the security guy comes later this week.”

“Whoever’s been breaking in knows we know about them,” Sawyer said. “Grier’s been seriously hurt, and we’ve had the cops here. I doubt this guy will risk coming back, at least for a while.”

Intellectually, I knew Sawyer was right and for all the reasons he’d said, but part of me worried we weren’t dealing with someone rational. This person had broken into our house repeatedly and was likely the same person who had not only vandalized our last place but burned it down too. I wasn’t convinced that being seen by me or having been in touch with the police would be enough to keep this person away, and who knew what they would do next?

I glanced at Jett, who still looked stricken. Sawyer’s theory that Jett was actually the intruder’s target made sense. He seemed to have caught the brunt of the attention. Alistair getting injured in the fire had been a fluke. No one could have guessed he’d go inside for his cat, and the possibility that I surprised the intruder and they’d been trying to run past me to get away when I fell also made sense.

However, this person, whoever they were, was getting bolder, and what would they do to get to Jett now that we were tightening up security around the house?

“You’re probably right, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious,” Finn said. He turned his attention to Alistair. “We should get going.”

Alistair nodded and stood. “If you need anything, no matter what time it is, we’re just across the street.”

For some reason I couldn’t have articulated if my life depended on it, my eyes started to burn, and my throat squeezed tight. Maybe it was the fading meds from my system, or maybe it was just exhaustion making me emotional.

“Thanks,” I choked out past the lump in my throat.

After Alistair and Finn left, Sawyer asked, “Do want your meds now?”

“Yeah,” I said, remembering not to nod. The pulsing ache in my head squeezed tighter, as if my skull was trapped in a vise and every inch of my body felt bruised and sore.

Sawyer disappeared into the kitchen. I heard the faucet turn on while he got me a glass of water so I could take my pills.

Jett finally moved from where he’d been huddled between the living and dining room, crouching on the floor next to the sofa.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted, his voice scraped like he hadn’t used it in hours.

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