Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
Grayden
My truck’s engine roared as I raced toward Piper’s house. “Grayden?” she asked through my phone speaker.
“I’m almost there.”
“Good,” she replied breathlessly. “The dispatcher said they’re sending a car to check it out too. I turned the house alarm to silent so it’s not blaring in my ears.”
“You’re still inside? Doors locked?”
“Yeah. Obviously. I do have some sense. I’ve got Ollie’s baseball bat too.”
Piper had switched over to call the police, but I’d stayed on the line until she returned. While I didn’t have much faith in Silver Ridge PD, I would call on my worst enemy if it meant protecting Piper.
When I reached her street, there was no sign yet of any lights or sirens. Pulling up to the curb, I switched off the engine. “I’m outside. I’m going to check out the garage.”
“Be careful,” she said.
“Now who’s stating the obvious?”
Pocketing my phone, I walked at a quick pace toward her garage. I’d brought my own makeshift weapon, a tire iron from my truck.
Aside from that, I was unarmed, and I had no clue what I was walking into. But the vast majority of burglars ran at the first sign of confrontation.
Also, I had a good idea of who was inside that garage right now. Danny. Probably here in search of that jewelry box he was so intent on finding.
I’d warned the asshole about what would happen if he messed with Piper again.
My steps slowed as I neared the garage. Light bled from the windows of her house, but everything near the back was dark.
My boot crunched over something on the concrete. Glass. Someone had smashed out the light by her garage door. It was probably on a motion sensor.
A thump came from inside the small structure. I lifted the tire iron. Took a step closer to the door. In the faint light, the broken lock was obvious. Kicked in, which had probably been the loud noise Piper heard.
Suddenly a dark figure burst through the doorway. I leaped back.
“Hey!” I shouted, grasping for the guy’s hoodie. My fingers closed on the fabric briefly. He stumbled, kicking his leg out. His boot caught me in the shin.
I lost my hold on him, and he took off, running fast down Piper’s driveway.
Dammit. I hadn’t seen his face because his hood was up.
I gave chase, but the guy had disappeared. A motion-sensor light flashed on in a neighbor’s yard, and a dog barked.
Of course, the moment the guy was gone, a police cruiser turned onto the street with its lights flashing. The siren chirped.
The car stopped in the middle of the road, and a cop leaped from the driver’s side. “Drop your weapon! Get down on the ground!”
Oh, fuck. He was talking to me.
I was quick to comply, dropping the tire iron and keeping my hands up as I kneeled on the cold concrete.
Wasn’t this just the most predictable thing ever? I might’ve laughed if it wasn’t so disheartening.
A knee landed on my lower back and knocked the wind out of me. My hands were wrenched behind me. Metal cuffs landed on my wrists.
“Got you this time,” the officer said. “I knew you were a worthless piece of shit, O’Neal.”
Just wonderful. It was Officer Bronski, the cop who’d shown up to my house yesterday with Chief Nichols, responding to the anonymous tip.
“Piper was on the phone with me when she heard the break-in,” I said. “I came here to help. You’re letting the real intruder get away. He literally ran off one minute ago.”
“Shut your mouth. You can spout your lies to the judge.”
Footsteps thudded on Piper’s front porch and ran toward us. “What are you doing? Let him go!”
I turned my head to see her charging up to Bronski, her blond hair flying.
“Ms. Carmichael, go back inside. I’ll take your statement in a moment. I caught the culprit, and—”
“What kind of idiot are you? I called Grayden and asked him to come here. Un-cuff him right now!”
It took a few more minutes to sort the mess out. Piper threatened to call Chief Nichols, and finally Bronski agreed to release me. I got up, brushing off my clothes. A few of her neighbors had stepped out of their homes, watching curiously.
Of course, there were no apologies from Bronski. He radioed to call off his backup.
“The intruder smashed the light on Piper’s garage,” I said. “Kicked in the side door and was messing around inside. I saw him. Shorter than me, dark clothing. Gloves too.”
Bronski’s eyes narrowed. “But you didn’t stop him?”
“I tried. He got free and took off. I can show you where he ran. It’s possible your people could still catch him.”
Yet Bronski didn’t ask for more details or call anyone else to join a search. Instead, he took Piper’s statement about what happened with his face pinched up, sending me hate-filled glances every few seconds.
My fists tightened, so I shoved them in my pockets. I wanted to put my arms around Piper, to comfort her and make sure she was alright. But I didn’t dare in front of Bronski. The guy didn’t need any more ammo about the two of us.
Maybe I should’ve also told Piper about my friendly little chat with Danny at the bar last night, but that seemed pointless right now.
“Let’s see the garage,” Bronski said.
“Oh, you want to investigate?” Piper snarked. “By all means.”
I decided to keep my mouth shut.
Piper’s garage had clearly been rifled through. When we walked in and switched on the lights, there were some plastic storage boxes on the ground with their lids off, contents half spilled. Mostly Christmas decorations and random household stuff. Some camping equipment.
“I don’t keep much out here,” she said. “But obviously Danny was looking for something. No surprise there.”
“Danny?” Bronski asked. “You know who did it? I thought O’Neal didn’t see the guy in your garage.”
“Grayden didn’t need to see the person for me to know it was my ex. Danny Carmichael. He’s in town. Go find him and ask what he was doing tonight.”
The officer snorted. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”