Chapter 8
DEVON
When we reached Mel’s door, I was grateful as fuck that I’d insisted on walking her inside.
She never would’ve noticed the scratch marks on her doorknob, but I’d been trained to notice every minute detail pertaining to my surroundings.
I spotted the proof that someone had picked the lock as we neared her apartment and threw my arm out to stop her from moving any closer.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, glancing up and down the hallway, looking for a clue as to what had spooked me.
I jerked my chin toward her door. “It looks like someone broke into your place.”
“What? Really?” She took a step back, pressing her hand to her chest. “Why would a robber even bother with my place? None of my stuff is worth much of anything.”
People committed crimes for less, but she did have a point.
I scanned the other apartments near hers, but none had any visible signs of a break-in.
Mel had been the perp’s only target, which made the situation even more fucked up.
Yanking my cell out of my pocket, I fired a quick text off to Whit, asking him to put things in motion to install cameras across from her door and inside her apartment.
Then I rolled her luggage over to the side of her door before kneeling to snap a few photos of the knob.
Mel looked scared out of her mind when I stood and turned to her. Pulling her close, I wrapped my arms around her and whispered, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“I never thought I’d say this,” she mumbled against my chest, “but I’m so happy my sister put up that darn auction. If she hadn’t, I would have had to face this whole thing by myself. I mean, what if I’d been home when they broke in?”
“You don’t need to worry about that, sweetheart. I’ll figure out what happened.” Guarding people was a big part of my job, but this time, it was personal.
She took a few shuddering breaths before stepping back and looking up at me with damp eyes. “What do we need to do? Call the cops?”
I wanted to strangle the person who’d made her so afraid, but first, I had to figure out who they were. “I need to go inside and make sure your apartment is clear.”
“Oh my gosh, they could still be in there?” she hissed.
“Hopefully not since I left my gun in the glove box of my SUV.” When she gasped and her eyes went wide, I quickly added, “Not that I’m going to need a weapon.
The obvious scratch marks on the doorknob lead me to believe I’m dealing with an amateur.
I’ll be able to handle whatever I find in there, no matter what. ”
“You’re not going in there without me.” She hooked her fingers around one of the belt loops on the back of my jeans. “No way am I staying out here by myself.”
I didn’t like the idea of taking Mel into danger but leaving her in the hallway without any protection didn’t feel right either. “Key.”
She dug her keys out of her purse and handed them to me. After I unlocked the door, I whispered, “Stick close and try to be quiet.”
I inched my way inside, not letting her past the doorway until I scanned the room and confirmed the intruder wasn’t in sight.
When I spotted her flat-screen television mounted on the wall of her living room and the water jug half full of change under the end table, I started to wonder if her cheap-ass lock had actually done its job.
But that hope was dispelled when I entered the bedroom and saw the damage inside.
I stopped so abruptly that Mel bumped into my back.
Not wanting her to see what had been done in there, I swiveled on my heel and steered her down the hall toward the bathroom.
After checking to make sure the shower was empty, I gripped her shoulders.
“Stay in here and lock the door while I clear your room.”
She bit her bottom lip while she stared up at me. “What did you see in there?”
“I’m not going to lie to you, sweetheart.” I glided my hands up and down her arms. “It wasn’t good.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed and gave me a jerky nod. “Okay, but please hurry back.”
I brushed a kiss against her forehead and promised, “I’ll be quick.”
Pulling the door shut behind me, I waited for the snick of the lock before heading back to her room.
The contents of her drawers and closet were tossed around the room, her pillows were slashed, and if I wasn’t mistaken, the bastard had jacked off on her comforter.
The guy who’d broken in here hadn’t been looking for shit to steal.
His sights were set on Mel, and he was pissed the fuck off.
Yanking my phone out of my pocket, I called Whit, not bothering to wait for his greeting when he picked up. “Come to the address I sent you. Have the cops meet you here. Someone who knows what the fuck they’re doing and isn’t worried about sharing intel.”
“On my way.” Judging by the squeal of tires in the background, he’d already been in his car but headed in the wrong direction. “What happened?”
I gave him a quick rundown of what I’d found before explaining, “I’m going to take Mel to my place. When you’re done with the cops, meet us there.”
“The chick you bought online?”
A muscle jumped in my jaw as I grunted, “I didn’t buy Mel, and don’t call her a chick.”
“Damn.” He let out a low whistle. “Another one bites the dust. I’m the last man standing from the OG crew. And you didn’t even go down with a fight like Sera predicted.”
“Just hurry the fuck up. You can yank my chain later,” I offered as I switched to speaker mode so I could snap some photos.
“I’d need a fucking helicopter to go faster than I already am,” he grumbled. “Hearing that possessive tone coming out of your mouth is damn good motivation for me to get there before you leave.”
“Sorry, but the introductions are gonna have to wait ’cause I’m getting my girl out of here now.” I disconnected the call before Whit could complain and headed back to the bathroom. Rapping my knuckles against the door, I called, “The coast is clear. You can come out now, sweetheart.”
She flung the door open. “Was it as bad as you thought?”
“Yup.” I threaded my fingers through hers to lead her out of the apartment. “Which is why we’re going to get out of here. I want to debrief my boss on what happened and then get you somewhere safe.”
“Should I stay to talk to the cops?” Mel asked as we walked into the hallway, following me even though she had to have plenty of questions.
“One of my co-workers is already on the way. He’ll take care of everything tonight.
If the cops have questions for you, they can ask them tomorrow,” I explained, grabbing the handle of her suitcase.
I made a mental note to ask Hadley if she could order Mel some clothes since everything else she owned had been destroyed by the intruder.
She was quiet during the drive to my office, keeping a tight grip on my right hand during the drive.
I was confident that we hadn’t been followed, but her safety was my top priority, so I parked in the underground garage.
Her eyes went wide when the elevator zoomed to the top floor and opened to the reception area.
Brecken hadn’t spared any expense when it came to the building, paying the same attention to detail on the décor as he had the security features.
“Impressive,” she whispered.
“Some of our clients pick their security firm based on how expensive the office looks.” I shook my head as I pressed my palm against her lower back to guide her through the reception area, ignoring all the curious stares. “Dumbasses.”
“There’s an awful lot of people here for a Sunday night,” she whispered as we neared Brecken’s office.
“The kind of security we provide is a twenty-four-seven business,” I explained, knocking on Brecken’s door before I pushed it open.
My boss looked up from the paperwork he was reading, his gaze sliding toward Mel before returning to me. “You picked up a new client during your weekend off?”
I gave him a rundown of what I’d found at Mel’s apartment, careful with my word choices so he’d understand the kind of perv we were up against without freaking Mel out.
I didn’t doubt that Brecken would be on board with protecting Mel, but I heaved a deep sigh of relief when he offered, “Use whatever resources you need to take care of the problem.”
Mel poked my side, drawing my attention away from Brecken.
“Judging by how Devon reacted to whatever was in my bedroom, I get that I’m in serious trouble.
I appreciate what you guys want to do for me, but I couldn’t even afford to get myself out to Portland after my flight was cancelled.
I definitely don’t have the kind of money it would take to hire you guys to keep me safe. ”
Brecken confirmed he understood the significance of my reaction to the break-in—and that Hadley told him why I wanted the plane—when he insisted, “Your money’s no good here anyway, Miss Bisset. Devon won the right to be your knight in shining armor, after all.”