Chapter 22 A Gift Offered
A GIFT OFFERED
ELYXANDRE
When she arrived home, there were two squad cars along the curb. She pulled into the driveway, then took a fortifying breath before exiting her SUV. The lead officer approached and apologized for dragging her away from the dance.
“Can’t be helped. Where did they enter?”
“Kitchen sliding door. Threw a patio chair through the glass. I did a walk-through to make sure no one was injured inside. No one was here. However, there is a hell of a mess inside. Tore through the front half of the house, then stopped. It’s pretty trashed, but I don’t see any gaping holes where major electronics are missing.
Do you have a computer? I didn’t see one. ”
“I do, but it’s been locked up this week in my safe because I haven’t had time to do any work at home.”
“Do you have any weapons in the house other than your service pistol?”
“I have my personal handgun, which is also in my safe. Then I have a rifle, but it’s in a safe in my vehicle.”
“Okay. I did see the safe in the closet, and it doesn’t appear to have been tampered with.
Too big for a single person to move without assistance, so that’s good.
I need you to walk through and see if anything’s missing, but keep in mind, you might not be able to tell right away.
I’d appreciate it if you would check your safe to confirm it hasn’t been broken into, and then confirm that your rifle is still locked in your vehicle’s safe to make sure that’s good. ”
She nodded.
“I’ll follow you. Normally, I’d clear a path, but…”
“I get it. Wake of destruction, so no path to be cleared.”
“Exactly. Be careful where you step. There’s quite a bit of broken glass.”
Wake of destruction was a good phrase for it.
Items were pulled from drawers, cabinets, and shelves.
Furniture was overturned and cushions slashed.
She could tell, though, exactly where the intruder had been when they decided it was time to flee.
It was somehow more disconcerting to see the damage suddenly stop partway through her guest room, whether it was because they had a time limit that ran out, or because they heard the sirens approaching.
After checking the second bedroom, which she used as an office, the guest bathroom, the primary bedroom, and the primary bathroom, she went into the walk-in closet and opened her safe. Her gun and computer were exactly where they’d been when she’d strapped on her equipment earlier this evening.
“It looks like everything is here,” she told the officer.
“All right. I’ll write up the report. If you can come in to sign it tomorrow, we’ll keep it on file. We’ll dust for prints, but I’m guessing they’ll have worn gloves. Is there anyone you want to call? Someone to stay with you tonight?”
“No. My boss is going to stop by and make sure I don’t need anything, but I’ll be fine.”
As she said that, she shuddered slightly. Could she stay here tonight? She’d have to figure out how to board up the patio door before she could even consider that.
While her room was untouched, there was no guarantee the intruder hadn’t been in her more personal spaces. However, she was almost certain they hadn’t gone where things were left alone. It felt like the destruction, although it had created chaos, was planned and executed.
As she stood in the center of her living room, she heard a knock at the front door. “Come in,” she called.
The door swung open to reveal the second police officer, and behind him was Lucas. “Were you expecting someone, ma’am?”
“Yes, he’s my boss. Thank you.”
With a nod, the officer allowed Lucas to enter the room, then closed the door behind him.
She went back to surveying the room. A hand touched her shoulder. With a start, she focused her eyes to see Lucas standing at her side, concern in his gaze.
“Elyxandre? What can I do?”
“I don’t know. I guess I need to call somewhere to get the door boarded up.”
“Let me take care of that for you.” He looked around the room. “Is the whole house like this?”
“No. They got interrupted while in the first bedroom they came to. The back half of the house is untouched.”
Once more, he studied her. “Even so, I don’t think you should stay here. We’ve got two extra bedrooms at the house. You could stay with us.”
She shook her head. “I can’t do that. It wouldn’t look right.”
“You need to sleep, Elyxandre. You won’t sleep here.”
“I won’t sleep, no matter where I am, because I’ll be thinking about the cleanup all night.”
His face let her know that he didn’t like that answer.
Yes, he was probably disappointed that her solution meant their date to talk wouldn’t be happening, but he would be far more concerned about her choice to stay here alone after what happened.
Likely, he wanted her to rely on him for help.
Only once had she relied on others to help her, and that situation was far worse than her house being broken into.
“If you’re sure. I’ll call the glass company and then start by sweeping up the glass in the kitchen.”
“Brooms are in the garage.”
He set a dining room chair upright, shed his jacket, put it over the ladder-back, pulled his tie loose, tucked it into his jacket pocket, and rolled up his sleeves as he headed toward the garage.
She should have been dialing Tripoli, but she found herself stuck in some sort of captured scenario, unable to move.
Even as she heard Lucas return to the kitchen, murmuring over the phone to the on-call repairman, then the gentle clinking of glass as the bristles of the broom moved the shards into a central pile, her body refused to move.
Her friends would come if she called. She knew that.
Even if Tripoli was all the way at his home outside of Castroville, he would drive back into San Antonio and to her in a heartbeat, especially if he heard that her father showed up at the game last night.
And that was why she couldn’t call him. Because if he discovered the events of the last twenty-four hours, he’d be making a stop on his way to her, and that would put him at risk.
No way was she going to be responsible for him killing someone because that’s what he’d do.
Tripoli had threatened him once, a long time ago, and he did not make idle threats.
If she called her other friends—Cosmos, Triumph, or Panama—who still lived in San Antonio, they would come as well, but they’d only do so after calling Tripoli, and then she was back to her original problem.
Tripoli would kill her father, and while she wouldn’t mourn the loss of the man, she refused to be responsible for Trip taking that action.
She listened to the continuous swish of the bristles and the clinking of the glass, the harmony of the two sounds somehow soothing. It meant that Lucas was here. He was willing to help, and it made her feel safer. It soothed the jagged edge of worry and tension over the violation of her home.
Decision made, she stepped into the doorway of the kitchen. He stopped what he was doing and looked at her. “Did you call one of your friends to come stay with you?”
“No. I didn’t call them.”
“Elyxandre, I know you’re—”
“I didn’t call them because you’re already here. You want to help me, so I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a long, long time. I’m going to let someone help me.”
He simply stood there, staring at her.
She felt a giggle well up at the look of confusion on his face. It wouldn’t stay inside her. Hand to her mouth, the sound escaping from behind her fingers, she felt her eyes crinkle, her lips turn up at the corners, and her cheeks hurt from laughing.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “You just look so perplexed.”
“Because I am,” he admitted. “I know you’ve had several shocks in a short space of time, so please forgive me for asking the question, but, are you okay?”
“No.”
Her giggles turned into full-on laughter, the kind where tears leaked and her sides hurt from the duration.
It lasted so long, he leaned the broom against the counter, then strode over to her side and gathered her into his arms. He tucked her tightly to him, her head to his chest and under his chin.
His arms banded around her, and he rocked her back and forth as she laughed and cried out the feelings of panic.
Several minutes passed before she was able to regain control of her emotions.
Even then, though, she didn’t want to move.
It felt so good. She didn’t feel weak or helpless.
She felt comforted. It was a strange feeling—one she wasn’t used to—but a part of her felt like maybe she could allow this more often.
They stood like that for a long time. The doorbell ringing was what pulled them apart.
“I’ve got it,” he said softly. “Go get changed. Take a bath. Relax. I’m not going anywhere until at least your door is boarded up, and probably after we fight about what you will and won’t let me help with.”
She smiled against his chest, clutching him extra tightly for a moment. “No fight. I said I was going to let you help, so I’m going to let you help.”
His lips pressed against the top of her head, then he pulled back to go answer the door.