Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
Lachlan opened the paper, revealing a circular piece of fabric tucked into the fold.
“A unit patch?” Lachlan said. Black with a stylized, cloaked grim reaper holding a scythe and “Intelligence Unit” beneath it.
“Yeah.”
It meant nothing to Lachlan, but clearly meant something to Blaine, who pulled Rafe aside and said something too low for Lachlan to hear. Rafe’s expression shifted as he listened to whatever Blaine was saying. Lachlan’s irritation at being left out grew by the second.
Rafe’s phone rang again. He sighed when he checked it. “I gotta go, but I’ll make a report on all of this,” he said to them both. “Lock up here, and I’ll take a look for prints by the end of the porch on my way out.”
The ground out front was soaked and mossy. That, combined with the shoe covers, meant the chance of pulling any decent tread marks was essentially zero.
“What do you think?” Lachlan asked Rafe outside after he’d taken a look.
“Only a couple shallow partial prints that’ll disappear within the next few hours. Send me the footage, and I’ll keep it as evidence. But without any theft or property damage, there’s nothing much I can do aside from filing a report. Make sure Maddy’s secure.”
“Of course.” It sucked, but Lachlan understood why Rafe wouldn’t pursue this when he had so many other more critical cases to investigate.
He and Blaine walked back to Mae’s house alone through the cold drizzle. “What was that all about?” he asked when Blaine didn’t say anything. “The patch.”
“Maddy needs to see it first.”
Maddy pulled the door open as they reached the front walkway, all three dogs yipping in her arms as she looked between him and Blaine. “Did you find anything?”
“Yeah,” Blaine said as they stepped inside.
“Where’s Rafe?”
“He got called back into town. Said you can talk to him later if you want, and he’ll be filing an official report so that all of this is on record.” Lachlan ushered her to the sofa and sat beside her. Blaine stood across from them while he explained what had happened.
“So that’s it,” she said in a flat voice when he finished. “Someone broke in but didn’t steal anything, and there’s no way to identify them.”
“Not quite. Whoever broke in left this on your desk.” Blaine took the mission patch out of his pocket.
Maddy paled. Her fingers trembled slightly as she took it.
“What does it mean?” Lachlan asked, beyond frustrated that he was still being kept in the dark.
“It means someone’s deliberately fucking with her,” Blaine said in a hard tone as he took the patch back.
Maddy seemed to shrink into herself. Lachlan wrapped an arm around her, more concerned than ever. Whatever this was, it was serious. And there was way more going on here than he realized.
“Is there anything else we should know about?” he asked her, willing to leave the rest alone for now. “Anything else you’ve noticed?”
She frowned. “Like what?”
“You said you thought someone might have followed you here last night,” Lachlan said.
Blaine’s expression hardened. “What?”
“I said I wasn’t sure. It could’ve been me imagining things,” she rushed out. “I don’t know.”
“And there was also the note,” Blaine said.
“What note?” he asked, looking at Maddy.
She hesitated a moment before answering.
“Someone left a note with Arabic script on Xanthe’s windshield when we came out of the yoga class.
Other cars had notes on their windshields, but I didn’t check any of them to see if they were the same.
I thought it was nothing. But if someone did follow me last night and then broke into Willow’s place to leave this tonight when my car was out front, then… ”
Then they were either watching the place and knew Maddy wasn’t there, or they’d broken in hoping she would be. Either answer put him on edge. “You think all of this has something to do with your work in Syria?”
Maddy didn’t answer, staring at Blaine. He didn’t say another word, but the look on his face was grim as hell.
Fuck. “You’re not staying here,” Lachlan said, pulling Maddy to her feet.
“But—”
“Nope. He’s right,” Blaine said. “Get your stuff, we’re leaving.”
“I can’t leave the dogs.”
“Bring the dogs.” Lachlan didn’t know what the hell was going on here and neither of them seemed inclined to fill him in anytime soon, but he wasn’t taking any chances with her safety.
The intruder knew whatever had happened in Syria. This could escalate into something much more dangerous than psychological warfare.
“Let’s go,” he said.
He and Blaine helped her gather stuff for the dogs. Bowls. Dishes. Different foods. Meds. Supplements. Beds. Leashes and collars and harnesses, and— “Jesus, how much stuff does a five-pound dog need?”
“They’re really picky. Mae left very specific instructions for each one. I have to take it all with me,” she said, hurriedly gathering things into a large shopping bag she’d found while the dogs hung nervously around her feet. The distress in her tone and body language tugged at him.
“Hey.” He took her by the arms. Eased her to him and held her, his chin resting on the top of her head. “It’s gonna be okay. This is just a precaution until we figure out what’s happening.” But he wanted answers so he understood exactly what was going on.
She nodded, exhaled an unsteady breath.
“Ready?” Blaine asked from the kitchen doorway.
“Yes.” She turned away from him and picked up the bag. He took it from her and walked behind her to the front door.
She locked up and carried the dogs down the walkway with him and Blaine flanking her like bodyguards. Blaine’s Audi was parked closest to the gate.
He unlocked it and immediately started for the passenger side. Assuming she would go home with him.
“Oh, I…” Maddy said, stopping next to the closed wooden gate. “Thank you, but I want to go with Lachlan.”