Page 88 of Nothing Left To Lose But You

“Why?” Rainey pops a hand on her hip as I slam the door between the garage and house shut.

“Get inside the car,” I repeat firmly, not wanting to scare them, but needing to convey that I’m serious. I hit the unlock button on my key fob and watch them dart back into the backseat before I re-lock the car.

I push the door to the house ajar for confirmation—someone’s been inside. I’m not sure if they’re still here, but the place looks trashed from my limited view in the doorway. I call Paul’s cell as I pull the car out of the garage and circle the block, knowing I can’t stay at the house if someone may be inside.

“Logan. How’s it going?” He chirps into the phone.

“Paul! Are you on duty?” I speak slowly to keep my voice calm.

“I’m at the station. Everything okay?”

“No.” No, everything is not okay. “I just got back to Noah’s with the girls. Can you come over? I think someone may have paid us a visit while we were at work.”

“I’ll be there in five minutes. Did you go inside?”

“No, I put Mags and Rainey in the car and we left as soon as I opened the door and saw the mess. We’re driving around the neighborhood.”

“Wait on me at the house, but don’t go in.”

“No problem. I need to call Noah. You were my first call, and she doesn’t know what she’s coming home to yet. Can you call Rufus and ask him to pick up the kids?”

“Absolutely. I’m on my way.”

Noah has no words when I tell her she needs to come home immediately. I wonder if her mind went to the same place mine did. Paul lets the girls climb around the backseat of his cruiser, telling them criminally bad dad jokes.

Noah and Rufus arrive one after the other. Noah stumbles out of the car, nearly forgetting to shut the engine off, and starts firing questions at Paul.

“Let’s get the kids out of here, and then we can see what’s going on,” Paul suggests.

With Noah’s permission, Rufus loads the girls up. As his truck pulls away from the house, Paul’s backup arrives. He can’t be sure there’s not someone still in the property, but he didn’t want to scare Maggie or Rainey with an onslaught of lights and sirens. I’m grateful for his discretion—Maggie would have been terrified.

Paul forces us to stay outside, away from the house, while he and his partners check out the property. About fifteen minutes after entering the house, the two are back in front of us on the street.

“It’s clear, but I need to warn you—the house is a disaster.”

Noah cringes, but I’m not surprised based on the few feet I could see inside from the door.

“We took plenty of photos and fingerprints already. You can come in.” Paul motions for us to follow him.

The broken vase from last night is a joke compared to the chaos we walk into. I’d noticed food strewn across the tile floor and paperwork everywhere from my peek through the door. When Noah and I step inside, it’s clear that’s the least of it. Her home’s ransacked. Almost every door and drawer in the kitchen opened, with the contents of most on the floor, and dishes smashed. The large flatscreen in the living room was busted, and the coffee table was shattered, leaving glass scattered everywhere.

The dining room remains ‌untouched, but all four bedrooms were plundered. The TV I moved into Rainey’s room last night disappeared, and many of hers and Maggie’s toys have been stepped on and crushed. I rush into my bedroom, finding it in a similar state. They ripped every dresser drawer from the piece of furniture, their contents strewn on the floor.

My breath leaves me entirely when I remember Hannah’s wedding ring was tucked away inside the top drawer, along with mine and Maggie’s important documents. I push past Paul in the hallway, barely making it to the toilet before emptying the contents of my stomach. If someone would go to all this trouble to steal an inexpensive TV, they’d sure as hell take a diamond ring.

The splash of my vomit landing in the toilet from across the hall sends Noah sprinting after me. She grabs a washcloth and wets it before wiping my face. I can’t bring myself to check, so I ask Paul to look. When he comes back to the bathroom and shakes his head, I retch again.

I should be out there looking for whoever did this. I should be settling in for an evening at home with my daughter and not taking an inventory of stolen belongings. I should be angry, but I’m just fucking sad and tired.

Paul and his partner collect the items to be kept as evidence and promise to call once they hear about the fingerprints they collected. I stand in the foyer as they leave, completely numb and transported back to the darkest time in my life when I couldn’t feel a thing for months.

Chapter 32

Noah

Almostovernightmylifegoes from being deliriously happy to preferring the idea of sitting alone in a storm sewer filled with shit water and rats. The short months filled with the life I created with Rainey, Maggie, and Logan are among the most joyous of my life. I can’t help feeling they’re in jeopardy with my current reality sinking the ship.

Paul calls just two hours after leaving my house. Two different matches have come back from the fingerprints retrieved from my home. One set is my brother’s, and the other belongs to the person his parole officer has him registered to be living with.

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