Chapter 15
Audra eyed the neighborhood cruising by outside the car window as Dean drove to Theo’s house. They’d left the glitz and glam that characterized Las Vegas well behind and were now in a decent residential neighborhood full of two-story homes.
With about a block to go, Dean pulled over. Audra and Sam got out. Because there were four of them, and a large group of adults walking through the neighborhood would look strange to anyone who happened to glance outside, they were splitting up. Max had donned running gear and would jog to the house by himself after Dean dropped him off. Dean would park and arrive separately as a man out for a stroll.
“Does this look like a neighborhood where an SIS handler would live?” Sam asked as he took her hand.
She curled her fingers around his, welcoming the contact. “Maybe. He’d be less recognizable in an apartment setting, but it’s easier to see if someone’s following you here.” She glanced around. There were few cars parked at the curb. Most of the homes had long driveways and two-car garages. It was more than enough space for families to keep their vehicles off the street.
They turned the corner and Theo’s house came into view. Hand-in-hand, they marched up the walkway like they were meant to be there, and she knocked on the front door. It was only a ruse to make the neighbors think they were legit. While she watched the street, Sam picked the lock. In seconds, the knob turned.
“That was quick.” Audra glanced at him.
He grinned. “I had a good teacher.” He twisted the knob and opened the door.
Audra surveyed the entryway, then cautiously stepped inside. “Who?”
“Dean. He’s the licensed private investigator of our group. He took learning the P.I. skills to heart.” He followed her in and shut the door.
“Sounds like—Oh, boy.”
Sam cursed as he came up behind her where she’d stopped and caught a glimpse of the living room. Someone had been here.
Stuffing littered the floor, and the ripped cushions were off the couch. Drawers were pulled out of the entertainment center and the television lay on the floor, the back torn off.
“Watch yourself.” Sam grazed a hand over her shoulder as they waded deeper into the mess.
Audra nodded and picked her way over the carnage to the kitchen. In here, the damage was even worse. Every cabinet door hung open. Cans and open boxes covered the counters and the floor, some of them spilling their contents and leaving a fine powder coating the surface. The refrigerator and freezer doors were also open. She could hear the appliance humming as it worked fruitlessly to keep the items inside cold.
A knock on the back door drew their attention. She glanced up to see Dean’s face in the window.
Sam was closer and opened it. “Someone beat us here.”
Dean and Max stepped in, and Max let out a low whistle. “Damn.”
“What are the chances we find anything now?” Dean asked.
“We still need to look.” Audra walked around them and headed for the hallway. “I’m going to see if I can find his office.”
Two doors down, she found what she was looking for. Grimacing, she stepped inside. This room was even worse than the kitchen. Theo had two monitors and both were lying smashed on the floor. Like the TV, their backs were ripped off. The computer case had been pried open. Wires hung from the bent metal. Audra peered closer and realized whoever had done this had taken the hard drive.
Walking around the desk, she noted the open drawers and the papers strewn over the carpet, interspersed with pens and paperclips. To her left, a filing cabinet had met a similar fate to the computer. Someone had taken a crowbar to the drawers, forcing the locks open. Manila file folders stuck out at odd angles. Some of them still contained papers.
Curious what the intruders could have left behind, Audra walked over. She pulled some nitrile gloves from her pocket and slipped them on, then leafed through the documents. It was the lease for the house and some utility bills.
After checking the other drawers, she dropped to her knees with a wince as the movement pulled at her hip, then started leafing through the papers on the floor. These, too, were just bills.
She brushed aside a water bill, then paused as she read the header. It was a bank statement. Picking up the page, she scanned it. It was a recent one. Several large deposits over the last month had inflated his balance to almost half a million dollars.
“Oh, Theo. What did you do?”
Audra set the statement on the desk and leafed through the rest of the papers. She found several more and gathered them up before going in search of Sam and his friends.
“Hey.”
Sam glanced up from where he sat in the master bedroom closet, going through pockets. “Find something?”
“Yes.” She waved the statements. “Theo received some large deposits over the last couple of months.”
“How large?”
“Almost half a million dollars. I didn’t do the exact math, but it’s a lot.”
A frown creased his forehead, and he got up, holding out a hand. She passed him the statements.
“Yeah, that’s a lot,” he said, leafing through the documents.
“Did you find anything?” she asked.
“No. I have a few more pairs of pants to check, then I think I’m done in here.” He handed her back the statements.
“What else still needs checked?”
“I’m not sure. We split up. Dean took the spare bedroom. Max stayed in the living room. Outside? But I don’t want you going out there alone.”
She nodded. “Did anyone look in the garage?”
“Not sure.”
“Okay. I’ll go check.”
“I’ll find you when I’m done in here.”
Audra nodded again and left him to finish the bedroom. In the living room, she found Max on his knees, checking the bottom of the entertainment center.
“Has anyone been in the garage?”
He glanced her way. “No.”
Audra wandered into the kitchen and opened the door that led to the two-car garage. She stepped onto the concrete floor and glanced around. It was rather empty. A bicycle leaned against the wall to the left of the door, a helmet hanging off the handlebars. In the far corner across from the door, a broom and a rake sat propped against the wall near a door that led to the back garden. A small toolbox sat on the utility bench on the wall to her right.
She walked over and opened it. Poking through, she only saw basic tools. With a huff, she shut the lid. Bending down, she looked under the bench and ran her hand along the underside of the facing. It was clean. She gave the room another once over, but there was nowhere else to hide anything. She went back inside.
Sam emerged from the hallway, Dean following him, as she stepped inside. “Are you already done searching out there?”
She nodded. “It’s pretty empty.”
“There’s nothing here,” Max said. “Not anymore, at least.”
“Audra found some bank statements.” Sam gestured to her. “I think that’s about all we’re going to get.”
“Okay,” Dean said. “Let’s get out of here, then. Same way we came in.”
“Give me those papers, Aud.” Sam held out a hand.
She passed them over, and he tucked them into his jeans pocket.
With a nod, he headed for the door. “Let’s go.”