Page 61 of Protection for Rowan

“We’ll make sure he’s okay.”

“Thanks.”

They finished with the second movie and Shine had stopped drinking so he felt good enough to drive home. Apple had started downing tequila shots, so he was crashing on Sharp’s couch. Jay was staying because Danika was sleeping at his house, but the rest of the guys were heading home.

Shine wondered what it would be like to really have Rowan in his life. When she got home from this retreat, they would need to have a serious conversation about moving forward with their relationship. He hoped she still wanted a relationship.

It would suck if she wanted to end it. He hoped she came home ready to commit to moving forward with whatever they were doing. Losing her would be awful.

After dropping off Thario and Frog, Shine decided to swing by Rowan's old place and see if anything looked suspicious. He pulled up out front of her place and glanced around, not seeing anyone acting weird. After a moment, he got out of his car and headed up to her door. The doorbell camera he'd installed the night before was working and caught him on the walkway. He moved around to the left side of the house, then the back, and finally to the other side. That was when he noticed a window screen had been removed.

His phone rang, and he saw it was Thario calling. “Yo, everything okay over there?”

“I thought it was at first. But I just found a screen thatwas removed. I don’t know if they got in. Let me try the window.”

“Okay.”

Shine pushed up on the window, trying to raise it, but the lock was still engaged, so he couldn't push it up.

“I don’t think they were able to get in.”

“I haven’t gotten any alerts,” Thario said.

“Maybe one camera isn’t enough.”

“Before we add more, you might want to check where she wants to live.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know that she would ever feel comfortable there.”

“Hey,” someone yelled from the front yard. “What are you doing?”

Shine turned to see someone standing in the front yard. They didn’t look like the police. “Hold on, Thario.” Shine moved toward the front of the house. “I’m checking my friend's place. She was having some trouble.”

“Oh, she hasn’t been around. Do you know where she is? I saw someone the other day at that window.”

“I just noticed it. Did they get in?”

The guy was young, probably twenty at the oldest. “Nope. I came out with my dad and ran them off. Is she okay?”

Shine held up one finger. "Hold on." He said goodbye to Thario, promising to text him in a minute before he turned his attention back to the kid. "Yes. She's in a good place now. I was just checking on the house to make sure no one got in."

“Well, that guy was trying, but he couldn’t pop the lock. I chased him off. My window is right here.”

Shine realized the seriousness of this situation. This guy was young, like a kid young. He wasn’t military based on his long hair and scraggly beard. Only special forces gotto ignore that rule some of the times, and this guy wasn’t old enough to be special forces.

"Listen, this guy is dangerous. He isn't someone to be messed with. If you hear something out here again, do me a favor and call the police. He's wanted for kidnapping and some other stuff. He's bad news, and he probably wouldn't hesitate to shoot you."

The guy’s eyes grew wider. “Wow.”

“He’s a bad person and needs to be locked up.”

“Okay, I’ll call if he comes back.”

“Thank you. And stay safe. This guy is really bad.”

Shine could tell that the kid was sizing him up. He had the muscles, and the look of a badass which gave him some credibility. It was easy to see in the guy’s eyes that he respected Shine because how he looked. He would use that for his benefit.

“Listen. If that guy comes around again, could you call me on my number?”

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