Page 31 of Rock

“I agree,” Rock said from next to her. “He ran out through the kitchen when I got here, but I caught a look at him. I didn’t see his face, but the clothing is what I witnessed.”

Susan nodded.

Her partner, a man in his thirties, nodded toward the kitchen. “Mind if I take a look around?”

Lyla shook her head. “No problem. Go ahead. There isn’t much left in the house.”

“Sounds like the guy thinks you have something of his,” Susan said as her partner disappeared.

“It makes no sense to me,” Lyla informed her. “I’ve never seen him, and I’m not from town.”

“How long has the house been vacant?”

“About a month.”

“Could he have been squatting here?” Susan asked.

Lyla shrugged. “I suppose, but I haven’t found evidence of that. There was no furniture or even a paper towel in this house when I arrived yesterday. Not even toilet paper. I bought supplies this morning.”

“How long will you be in town?”

“I’m not sure. A few weeks. Just long enough to get the house on the market. It needs a bit of work.” Lyla had been thinking about moving her timeline up a bit, mostly to avoid Rock. She still might do so, especially if some asshole was going to attack her again.

Susan shut her phone and pocketed it. “You should go to the emergency room.”

Lyla shook her head. “I’ll be fine. There’s no broken skin.” She winced as she rubbed several spots on the back of her head.

“You might have a concussion,” Susan pointed out.

“I’ll see that she gets medical attention,” Rock stated.

The second officer returned to the front room. “I checked all the windows and doors. Nothing appears to be tampered with.”

Lyla crossed her arms, shivering. “The sliding glass door off the kitchen wasn’t locked when I arrived. I locked it and put the pole in place.” She couldn’t imagine how that mattered, but maybe it did.

Susan pulled her phone back out, presumably to note that. “Could be the guy was squatting here and you sealed his entrance. But you said there was no evidence, so that’s unlikely. Maybe he mistook you for someone else.”

Lyla hugged herself tighter. She had no answers. No one did.

The officers left her a card and said they would patrol the area to see if anyone fitting the description was lurking around. She gave them both her phone number and motel information. They would get in touch with her if they found anything out.

Suddenly, she was alone with Rock.

The first thing he said was, “You still have the same last name.”

She faced him. “I changed it back after my divorce.”

His brow furrowed. “So you’re not married. Boyfriend?”

“No,” she murmured, wondering about his wife. After all, he had kids. “You?”

“My wife passed away from cancer a long time ago. I never remarried.”

She nodded slowly. So many questions ran through her head, but she couldn’t decide where to start, and she needed some aspirin. Her head was killing her. She rubbed her temples again.

“Let’s get you to the hospital.”

“No. I’m fine. I don’t want to spend the night in the emergency room. I just want to go to bed.”

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