Blaze: A Small Town, Nerdy Girl, Opposites Attract, Protector Romance (Ghost Ops Book 1)

Chapter 24

There wasa police cruiser with lights on in front of her parents’ house. Emma jumped out of Blaze’s truck and ran toward the side door where she could see them standing with two officers. Another police cruiser sat in the driveway, but the lights weren’t on.

“Emma Grace,” her mother cried out. “What are you doing here?”

Emma skidded to a stop in front of her mother, who’d been standing beside her father as he talked with the police. “What happened? Rory said it was on the police scanner. Did you really expect I wouldn’t race over here?”

“It’s nothing, honey. Oh, my.”

She didn’t miss her mother’s face when she spotted Blaze strolling toward them in the darkness. Ellen Sutton was clearly pleased as punch at the sight of the tall, gorgeous man who’d obviously been the mystery man Emma had spent the evening with.

Or not much of a mystery considering what she’d heard from her anonymous source.

She should have asked him to wait in his truck.

Then again, why? Blaze was her rock lately. And he’d said he could handle her mother’s expectations. She guessed they were going to find out.

“Mama. Focus.”

Her mother dragged her gaze back to Emma. “Your father and I went to see a play in Huntsville when the Garbers gave us last minute tickets. When we returned, we noticed the back door was open. Someone broke a pane and unlocked the door.”

Emma’s heart throbbed. She could feel the tension rolling from Blaze as he stopped beside her.

“What about Coco?” Emma blurted.

“Coco is fine, honey. She’s still at Antonio’s. He was running behind before we left and said he’d bring her by when we got back tonight. I called to tell him what happened, and he’s keeping her until we can stop and get her. Hello, Mr. Connolly.”

“Hi, ma’am.”

Emma shivered. “That’s good. Dog groomer,” she explained to Blaze. “Barkingdales.”

He nodded. “Is there anything missing, Mrs. Sutton? Anything that looks out of place?”

“I don’t know. We called the police as soon as we saw the glass. I haven’t been inside yet.”

“You need to go to a hotel tonight,” Emma said. “Don’t stay here.”

Panic was starting to close in. She forced herself to breathe through it.

“Nonsense, sweetie. It’s probably just neighborhood kids playing pranks.”

“I’m guessing you don’t have a home security system?” Blaze asked.

“No. We’ve lived here for thirty-five years when John’s parents moved to a smaller home nearby and gifted the family home to us. It’s never had a security system.”

Emma’s belly was churning with fear and fury. “Might be time to get one, Mama. Sutton’s Creek isn’t as isolated as it once was.”

Her dad finished his conversation with the police and turned around. He looked a little surprised to see Emma and Blaze, but he recovered quickly, offering his hand to Blaze to shake and looping an arm around Emma to hug her.

“What happened, Daddy?”

“I assume your mother told you the door was open and a pane of glass was broken. The police have checked the house and found nobody inside. We can go in now and see if anything’s missing. They’re going to dust for prints on the door, and Vernon says they’ll patrol the neighborhood hourly tonight and for the next few days.”

“Emma Grace says it’s time we get a security system, John.”

Her dad shook his head. “We don’t need that. Don’t need folks cutting into the walls and mounting cameras everywhere.”

“Daddy, you’re planning to travel. You’ll be gone for two or three weeks or more at a time. I think a few cameras are the least you should do. Unless you plan to hire a house sitter every time?”

“It’s possible to put a system in with minimal impact, sir,” Blaze said. “Everything’s high tech these days. Cameras can be mounted without being obvious, and you can have door and window sensors that’ll set off an alert to the police if breached. Everything would be controlled on a panel in your bedroom and an app on your phone when you aren’t home.”

John Sutton was frowning. “And if we’re the ones who set it off by forgetting to turn something off or on? We don’t need the police showing up every time that happens.”

“You’ll know if you’ve done something to trigger the alarm. The monitoring company will call to make sure the alert is real before they send first responders. It’s very intuitive, sir.”

“I’ll consider it. Who would do this work for us?”

“I can give you recommendations for a couple of trusted firms in the area. They’ll come out and estimate what you’ll need and how much it’ll cost. I can look over their suggestions if you want my opinion.”

Her dad nodded. “Okay then, I’ll do that. Give Emma Grace the names, please, and I’ll set something up.”

“Yes, sir.”

Her mother slipped her hand into her dad’s. “Emma Grace, would you like to bring Mr. Connolly in for a beverage?”

“We can’t stay that long, Mama. But I’d like to check out my room, see if anything is missing.”

Her mother blinked. “Of course, if you’d like to look. I’m a bit more concerned about the silver, myself.”

Her parents went inside, and Emma and Blaze followed. They sheared off and went up the wide central staircase that led to her room on the second floor. Her heart beat with anger and dread. If Simon had broken into her parents’ house, what did that mean? Was he letting her know he could get to them? Or was it a message that she couldn’t hide from him?

Emma pushed open her bedroom door. The room still looked the same as it had when she’d left for college. Her mother had a way with home decor, and Emma’s room had been the perfect combination of stylish and homey for a teenage girl. Her bed was a four-poster with white and pink linens, and her walls were cream.

There were framed photos of her and her family on the dresser, her and Rory dressed for homecoming, her and Granny when she’d still been alive. Her, Gramps, and Granny from years before that. There were pictures from the beach, pictures from horseback riding lessons and dance recitals.

Blaze stood just inside the door, gazing at her room with a blank look on his face. Embarrassment flooded her. She knew what he saw. The big house. The antiques and oil paintings. The large, fluffy bed and big room that had been hers alone. She even had a small sitting room.

“It’s a lot for one kid, I know.”

He seemed to shake himself, his gaze meeting hers. “It’s nice.”

She ducked her head shyly. “Thank you.”

“Is anything missing?”

“I don’t think so.”

She wandered around the room, looking at everything, trailing her hand over the picture frames and then over the outlines of furniture. It wasn’t until she got closer to the bed that she saw it.

“What is it?” Blaze growled, stalking to her side. She loved that he could tell, without a word, when something was wrong. “Goddammit,” he growled as he saw it too.

In the center of her bed, hidden by the fluffy comforter folded at the end and only visible when she’d walked over, was a Barbie doll lying in a large red pool of what looked like paint. It had brown hair, wore a white lab coat, and there was a noose around its neck. It lay on its side, its hands bound behind its back. There was a piece of what looked like duct tape over the doll’s mouth.

Blaze was still growling. “We need to get the police up here.”

She trembled, tears stinging her eyes. “I don’t want to scare my parents.”

Even as she said it, she knew it was wrong.

Blaze wrapped strong arms around her and tugged her against him. His chin was on top of her head, his solid body comforting against hers. She melted into him as his heat seeped into the ice surrounding her.

“Babe, I understand. But you don’t have a choice. If the police start looking for Simon, that’s a good thing. Give them a rundown of what happened in Chicago, tell them you suspect this person is harassing you. Give them a description. It’s safer for you and your parents. They’re staying here, not going to a hotel. They should know what’s going on. The danger isn’t only to you anymore.”

Her heart pounded. “You’re right. Of course you’re right.”

He pushed her back just enough for their eyes to meet. His were serious. “You’re strong, Sunshine. He hit you, held a gun to your head, and you left. You didn’t go back. There was a line in the sand, and you held to it. Not everyone can do that. You did. Now tell the police about the man harassing you. Tell them he’s obsessed with you, because he is, and let them do their job. I won’t stop protecting you, and my guys won’t stop either. But having more people looking for him puts pressure on him, and that’s a good thing. It also lets others in your life keep themselves safe.”

Emma inhaled the comforting scent of him. Spent gunpowder, pine, and leather. It was outdoorsy and so much nicer than the antiseptic and vague citrusy scents she associated with hospitals.

She felt like the lid to an old musty trunk had been flung open inside her heart. She’d been ashamed for not being smarter, for letting Simon into her life, but she couldn’t keep it a secret any longer. It wasn’t right or safe to do so.

And it was a relief not to have to anymore.

“I’ll tell them everything I know about him.”

Blaze hugged her to him. “Good girl,” he whispered against her hair.

The shiver that cascaded through her then had nothing to do with Simon.