17. Sammy
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
sammy
I stepped into the apartment. Tears sprang to my eyes as I took in the damage. Both of my guitars were smashed over the hardwood. I rubbed the ache in my chest as I stared at the one I’d had since I was a teen.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“I’m so sorry, Sammy,” Colt said. “We’ll find who did this.”
I nodded numbly. Footsteps echoed outside, and Colt and I looked up.
“Sarah,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
Sarah. He stepped aside as she poked her head through the door, her eyes widening.
She shook her head and she surveyed the damage, as shocked as the two of us were. “What happened? I was just coming by to drop off some baked goods, but oh my god.”
I drew in a shaky breath and wiped my eyes. “Someone broke in. I don’t know why. Fuck, they smashed my guitars.”
“Don’t touch anything,” Colt said quickly. “Police are on the way.”
I stepped over some of the broken pieces to the doorway and slumped against it. Sarah put down a bag she was holding and surprised me by pulling me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around her, meeting Colt’s gaze.
It certainly wasn’t jealousy shining there now.
Sarah turned to look at Colt as he hung up the phone, shoving it into his pocket.
“Not the time to ask,” she said. “But I am a little curious what the two of you are doing together.”
My cheeks warmed. Did she know about what we had done? Did she know we kissed? There was no way she would know unless Cam told Haley and Haley told her and… I could see the same questions in Colt’s gaze, but he nodded.
“We'll talk later,” he said. “Sammy, who could've done this?”
“That woman from the movie theater?” Sarah asked.
Colt raised a brow. “ What woman?”
“There was someone taking pictures of Sammy after he asked her to stop. Like an online stalker?”
“I don't know,” I sighed. “Maybe? I just know that it looks like everything I own is ruined.”
The three of us waited for the police to show up. My life was being pulled into the middle of a hurricane, and there was no way out. Sarah slipped her arm around my waist, her brows pinched.
“You have glitter on your eyelids,” I murmured.
She blushed and looked at Colt. He smiled at her. “She looks gorgeous,” he said.
She sighed. “You always say that.”
“He’s right, though,” I said.
“Okay, both of you, straight to jail.”
I grinned. I was thankful they were here with me. In the face of all the destruction, I didn’t feel alone. “What did you bake, angel?” I asked .
“I made pumpkin bread,” she said.
God, was it too soon to propose?
“I also baked a couple other things and brought you recipe cards.” She looked up at Colt. “I might be convinced to give you some too, if you’re interested.”
He leaned against the doorframe. “I’m always interested. We were going to have dinner together. You can join if you want.”
“Oh,” she said.
“We were gonna talk about you,” I said.
Her cheeks turned pink. Before she could respond, an officer hit the top step, a little winded.
“Oh good, you made it,” Colt said flatly to him.
“Yes. Whose apartment?”
“Mine,” I sighed.
This certainly wasn't the way I expected to spend my evening. Far less fun than getting to know Colt more.
I spent the next hour talking with the officers as they went through my apartment, trying to figure out exactly what happened. It sounded like the door had been kicked in. So much for the locks.
The good news was that ever since Thomas Connor, security around the town had increased. They’d installed security cameras around the apartments.
The bad news was they’d been turned off when this happened. Without any footage, they started questioning neighbors, which meant everyone in Citrus Cove now knew that my apartment had been broken into.
I wasn't shocked to see my entire family waiting for me in the parking lot.
“We’ll let you know if we find anything else, but right now we don’t have much to go on,” the officer said. “You mentioned you have an online platform. Could people have found you from there?”
I nodded, feeling numb. “Maybe.”
I thought about the comment I saw earlier, about there being blood on my hands. Could that have been related to this? I got all sorts of comments though, and it was hard to keep up with ones that might have any merit. For the most part, I had keywords flagged so certain things wouldn’t appear, but… maybe was time to look at those closer.
“It’s a small town,” he said. “We’ll take a look at the motels and see if anyone fits the description of the woman you mentioned from last Saturday. If they’ve been here that long, they’ll have been noticed.”
He had a point. “Thanks,” I said.
“Do you have insurance?”
“Yeah,” I said, rubbing my temples. This was a nightmare. “I’ll start sorting things out tomorrow.”
I needed a beer, hot shower, food, and…
My gaze flickered to Sarah and Colt.
After finishing my conversation with one of the officers, I headed down stairs to where everyone waited. All eyes fell on me.
“I’m okay,” I announced.
Mom gave me a hug first, squeezing me tight. “You scared me.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Really. I wasn’t home when this happened. Everything is okay.”
“It’s good you weren’t,” she said. “God, your brother scared the shit out of me with his call.”
Hunter gave me a hug next and then glanced upstairs. “I’m going to go be nosy. We’ll figure out who did this. You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I would tell you if I wasn’t.”
He seemed doubtful.
Pops clasped my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. He used to squeeze the life out of me, but as he got older, his hugs had become more gentle. I towered over him now.
Cam and Haley were standing with Sarah and Colt, speaking quietly. I wanted to join them, but I needed my parents to go home. I couldn’t worry about them. Now that they knew I was safe, I doubted it would take much pushing.
“Y’all don’t need to be here,” I told my parents. “It’ll take a while and I’m not hurt. I’ll come over tomorrow morning.”
“Surely you’re not sleeping here,” Mom protested. “You can’t. It’s not safe.”
I felt the weight of everyone worrying about me and while I knew they meant well, I wanted to hide away and mourn the loss of my guitars, my equipment, and the safety of my home. “I’ll stay with someone,” I said. “I’d feel better if you were both at home.”
Pops nodded and slid his arm around Mom. “We’ll go. Keep us updated, okay?”
“I will,” I promised. “I love you both.”
Mom nodded and blinked back tears as the two of them headed for their car.
Hunter came back down the stairs with a grim expression and kept his voice out of earshot of everyone else.
“When were you going to tell me you were being stalked?” he asked.
Fucking hell. There was no such thing as a secret.
“I wasn’t sure I was,” I said.
Although the signs had certainly been there.
I’d told the officers about the incident outside the theater on Saturday. The neighbors hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, though one person claimed they heard a loud bang earlier, but assumed it was nothing.
Hunter scowled. “You didn’t mention anything at all. Also, what the hell were you doing at the movies with Sarah and her kids? Since when do you babysit?”
“None of your business,” I snapped.
He crossed his arms, taking on that older brother stance I knew all too well. “I’m trying to help. You’re being a dick.”
“You’re being nosy. I already told the police everything,” I said. “I was coming home to have dinner. Everyone keeps interrupting . It could have been a stranger, you know? It may not even be connected.”
Before he could argue further, Haley intervened. I was grateful for my sister-in-law as she gave me a hug. With her gravitating to the two of us, Colt, Sarah, and Cam followed. The six of us made a small circle.
“I’m sorry this happened,” Haley said. “Does everyone want to come over for dinner? We can grab whatever you need if you want to stay at our house.”
“You can stay at mine instead if you would rather,” Colt said casually.
Only Cam gave him a look . Then, he looked at me. Haley noticed it too and narrowed her gaze on her husband, and his ears turned red.
Sarah frowned at her sister.
“Yeah,” I said quickly, trying to smooth over the moment. “You have a spare bedroom?”
“I do,” he said.
“I’d offer you my house, but you’d be on the couch,” Sarah said, glancing at Colt.
He smiled. “It’s a pretty comfy couch, though.”
She smiled back. Fuck, I loved when she smiled. Even if it wasn’t at me.
Silence settled over us and Hunter threw his hands up. “Alright, then. Everyone is being fucking weird today. ”
“Maybe it’s just you,” I teased.
He rolled his eyes. “Right. I’m going to get more info. Where do we want to meet?”
“I just want some dinner and a movie tonight,” I said. “I don’t want this to be a big deal.”
“It is a big deal. I want to make sure my baby brother isn’t in danger from some psycho,” he countered.
“We’re not doing this right now,” I said. “I need some time to breathe.”
“I’m trying to?—”
“I said no, Hunter,” I snapped.
He walked off before I could say anything else and I cursed. Now I felt bad.
“Can I have a minute with Sammy?” Cam asked.
Haley frowned. “Yeah. We’ll be over there.”
He stole a kiss from her before she could walk off. Colt and Sarah followed, the three chatting about the cold.
“Are you okay?” Cam asked.
“Hunter is driving me insane,” I sighed. “I know he’s trying to help, but he’s smothering me. I just had all of my shit broken and I’m mad and worried, but I don’t need him to tell me what to do. I’ll be fine.”
“We’re all worked up given what happened last year and the fact that David is out. I think he’s probably concerned that it could be connected. I’m not going to lie, I’m frightened too, Sammy. We all love you.”
I sighed, letting it sink in. Logically, I knew that, though I was still frustrated. “I know you love me. I love all of you too. I just need some space to sort through all of this.”
He nodded. “You know you’re always welcome in our house. Always.”
“I know.” I finally felt my shoulders relax a fraction. “All of this worries me. Because if it was that woman from the other day, she might have pictures of the kids, Sarah, and her car’s license plate. Especially considering someone fucked up her car and that’s why it wasn’t working.”
Cam’s eyes bugged out. “ What ?”
Ah, fuck.
He turned around before I could stop him. “Sarah, someone fucked with your car?”
Haley and Colt both looked at her and she glared at me.
Sorry , I mouthed.
“That doesn’t matter right now,” Sarah said quickly. “Everything is fine.”
Colt shook his head. “Alright. One problem at a time. Sammy, what can we grab from your apartment?”
“Let me see if my laptop still works,” I sighed. “And if my clothes aren’t shredded.”
“Can I have dinner with you and Colt?” Sarah asked. “Haley, do you mind? I can text Emma?—”
“We got them,” Haley said. “Don’t worry about them for the night.”
“The night ?”
“Yeah, you heard me. Whatever is going on here, I want to hear about it later.”
Colt and I turned scarlet. Sarah’s mouth fell open.
Haley pointed at Cam. “Yep. You and me, cowboy, let’s go.”
“Alright, sunshine,” he said. “Sammy, we love you, I’m sorry this happened. If anything else happens, call us. We’ll get out of your hair.”
I watched the two of them head for his truck and shook my head.
“Back to my house we go,” Colt said.
I nodded. It was the only place I wanted to be right now.