Page 49 of Rebel

“What?” My heart almost stopped at that. In the shock of finding the house trashed, it hadn’t even crossed my mind that my parents might have been home. Even as I reached for my phone, I realized that was unlikely because their car was missing.

I held my breath as the phone rang three times before my mom picked up. Hearing her voice made me release that last lingering doubt that foul play had robbed me of their company forever.

“Hello, Lacey, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you.”

“Hi, Mom. How is Dad doing?”

“He’s responding well to the treatment. How is everything going with you?”

I wasn’t looking forward to this bit. “I’ve got bad news. Someone broke into your house. The police are here.”

“What?” My mom’s voice was strained. “First the office and now our home. I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Neither can I, Mom. They didn’t want me in the house until they dusted for prints, so I can’t tell you what’s missing yet.”

“I’m just glad you weren’t hurt,” she said in a shaky voice.

“To be honest, I wasn’t home last night. I stayed at Rebel’s.”

“Thank God,” she responded, sounding all kinds of relieved.

Watching the officer turn to look at me and motion me over, I told her, “Look, I’ve gotta go. The officer wants to speak with me. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Call me later, Lacey.”

“I’ll keep you posted. If anything bad happens with Dad, please let me know immediately.”

“Will do,” she promised.

I approached the officer, and he asked for my statement. I told him that I didn’t suspect anything until I arrived and saw the blinds were shut and the chair was askew. I explained that we came so I could pack some clothing to stay with Rebel and had found that the house had been broken into. I added that we hadn’t touched anything inside the house, just sat together on the sofa until he arrived. He asked a few more questions, and I realized that he’d already taken Rebel’s statement. We werewarned not to leave town. The process was eerily similar to what we went through when the office was broken into.

***

After the police had finished with us and the house was secured, we decided to go to the clubhouse to talk and unwind. My anger had ebbed away again, replaced by feelings of being overwhelmed. When Rebel held me close at the bar, I didn’t even feel embarrassed. I needed the comfort he provided. The conversation whirled around me, as Rebel talked to his club brothers about this latest break-in. It wasn’t even noon yet, and I was mentally and physically exhausted. I’d never felt more useless in my entire life and didn’t know where I would be if Rebel wasn’t in my life, supporting and comforting me.

Eventually, Zoe and Alison showed up. I wondered if it was to sit with me while the men went out to track down my former employees. I knew that’s what they were going to do because they talked about it as we sat at the table. Something about that didn’t sit right with me.

Rebel gave me a kiss before he left and told me to try not to worry. I nodded and tried to rein in my emotions. Hearing the throaty roar of their bikes fading in the distance and the concerned twin expressions worn by my childhood friends brought tears to my eyes.

Zoe spoke first, reaching out to take my hand. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this situation or tell you not to worry, but I will say that whatever’s going on here is not your fault, and Storm, Grit, and Rebel are not going to rest until they find out who’s doing this and they’re behind bars.”

Alison chimed in, “Zoe’s right. This is a shitty situation. One you didn’t ask for and don’t deserve to be in. We’re both here for you though.”

When I didn’t respond, Alison motioned for Rosie to bring a round of drinks. “Just a little something to take the edge off,” she murmured.

Zoe looked into my eyes and encouraged me, “You need to open up and talk about what you’re feeling. Get it off your chest, ya know?”

I nodded, and she let go of my hand. “There’s something about having my family home broken into that felt more of a violation than the office break-in. I don’t know how to explain it exactly.”

Alison spoke up, “I had my car broken into once when I was in college. It was weird that I got into the car and then saw that my glove box had been pried open and what wasn’t taken was scattered all over the place. It hit me right in the pit of my stomach that some lowlife dirtbag had been inside my vehicle, pilfering through my personal stuff. You do feel violated.”

“Yeah, that’s what it was like,” I told her. “That’s exactly how I felt when the office was broken into. Multiply that feeling by a thousand, and you’ll understand how I felt having our home broken into. I’m just grateful that Rebel had invited me to his house for the night because this could have been so much worse if I had actually been home. The intruder might have raped or killed me to shut me up.”

I brought up one hand and rubbed my right temple. It did nothing to ease the headache building there.

Zoe smiled at Rosie when she brought our drinks to the table. She gave my shoulder a squeeze and whispered, “I gave your margarita a double shot. Thunder told me what happened. I hope that they catch this bastard so you can sleep easy at night.”

Something about the vehemence in her voice hit me in the feels. I gave her a wan smile. “I hope they catch this bastard too. It would be great not to have to look over my shoulder all the time, wondering if and when whoever it is will strike again.”

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