Page 83 of Love Me Fierce

“Shit, when?”

I unlock my rig and open the back hatch. “Within the last fewhours.” After the streets emptied and the houses buttoned up for the night.

In the background, the acceleration of Zach’s engine fills the silence. “On my way.”

I set my phone down inside my trunk then sling my hip harness into place. After checking my weapon, I holster it and shut my SUV’s hatch. I feel safer now that I’m armed, but it’s not helping the anger itching under my skin.

I’m not just pissed off that this happened—in my fucking driveway, of all places—I’m pissed off that Vivian had to see it.

I tap my index finger against the paint. It’s dry, which helps narrow the window a little. Spray paint dries in thirty minutes or less.

It’s so vulgar, so full of hatred. I watch the quiet street again, but nothing has changed. My neighbor two doors down sometimes walks her dog at this hour. I’ll need to ask her if she saw anyone. The other neighbors too. But first I need to make sure whoever stopped by isn’t still here. I sweep the far side of my house, then do a careful inspection of the backyard, then swing around to the front yard, but I don’t find anything. Not even footprints in the grass.

After holstering my weapon, I search for the discarded spray paint cans, but come up empty.

Zach cruises down my street.

He parks on the curb and steps out. My anxiety drops another notch with him here. It means I can go back inside and talk with Vivian. Tell her how we’re going to handle this.

Zach walks over. “Is this Vivian’s car?”

“Yeah.”

When his gaze lands on the paint, he winces. “Jesus.” He grips his waist and takes a slow scan of the nearby houses. “No sign of them?”

“No.”

“You have a Ring doorbell, right?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t cover the driveway.” I wish our rigs had motion-activated cameras to monitor activity like the big-city departments do. “I’ll have a look later.”

He cocks his head. “Who would do this?”

“I don’t know.” Kids have been known to spray paint the bridge, and occasionally vehicles parked overnight with FOR SALE signs in the windows. But I don’t think this is kids playing some prank. If so, my garage and truck and SUV would have gotten hit too. And if this was some kind of targeted attack at me because I’m a cop, why would they scrawl this ugly word on Vivian’s car?

“You think this is related to the break in at her trailer?”

“The thought crossed my mind, yeah.” It turns my stomach.

“It would put all that destruction in a new light.”

“True.” There are plenty of other possibilities, too, but before I start down that road, I need to make sure Vivian is okay.

“What’s the plan?” he crosses his arms.

“Obviously I want to be involved,” I say. “But it’s complicated.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Like,that kindof complicated?”

I wipe down my chin and sigh.

He gives me a slow nod. “Okay.”

“I need to go back in, make sure everyone’s okay. And see if Vivian can shed any light on this.”

“Let’s do it.” He falls in next to me. “You have room in that garage?”

“I’ll make room.” He’s read my mind because I’ll be putting the Kia out of service until further notice. In the meantime, I’ll loan her my truck.

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