Chapter 36
Holt
All of my plans to tease Piper until she was begging to come flew out the window the second Carter broke the news. Of course, they didn’t fly far— because that would happen. It would just have to wait a bit.
I couldn’t believe Piper’s reaction. It was flippant and sarcastic. Piper has always been quick on her feet, but this situation is different. Of course, I don’t want her upset. It’s just her emotional display is way different than the last time.
Whoever the fuck this is is escalating, and while that is good in one way— it is bad in another. This is when shit gets dangerous. Taking Piper to my house will be safer.
We pull into the driveway and Piper hops out of the passenger side. She is walking towards the front door of my log cabin like she is on a mission.
“Woah, woah, Carter isn’t even here yet,” I say to her as I grab her hand. She looks up at me and nods her head.
“It’s just, I want to see the footage too. Maybe I will recognize this person, and this can end,” she says. The words rushing to escape her mouth.
“I know this is hard— and I’m sorry we haven’t gotten this guy yet,” she shakes her head and goes to interrupt me, but I put my index finger over her plush lips.
“I swear to you, I will get this guy and he will pay—just give me a bit of time,” I promise her. She is nodding her head. I lean down and kiss her quickly and then hear Carter’s truck pull up. I unlock the door and let her go in first.
“Hey man, thanks for coming so quick,” I say to him. He is just as pissed about this situation as I am. Carter just nods and walks in with his backpack slung over one shoulder. He looks relaxed, but I can tell there is a strain around his eyes. If you didn’t know him, you couldn’t tell.
Piper is standing at the bar in the kitchen with her hands clasped in front of her, trying to be patient. Her teeth biting her bottom lip.
“Hi Carter,” she says quietly, tucking a strand of tawny colored hair behind her ear. He nods at her and makes his way to the bar. Pulling out his laptop. He wastes no time logging in and pulling up the program.
“So, the cameras at Piper’s house were tripped about an hour ago, and it looks like he managed to get every window.
Unfortunately, he is wearing a mask, hoodie, and pants.
He also walked down the driveway, so we don’t have an ID on the vehicle,” Carter explains.
I walk around to the side that Piper is standing on to watch the footage.
In it, the individual—my guess is a man— is wielding a baseball bat at all the windows, smashing them in. Piper only has about 6 windows, but they all will need to be replaced.
“I called the sheriff and tried to get out there, but by the time we both got there— he was gone,” Carter explains.
“I did call someone to come and board the windows up today. They will measure and bring replacement windows out to your place as soon as possible,” Carter tells Piper. His tone is as gentle as he can get.
Piper hits replay on the footage. Her face getting close to the screen. I can read the frustration on her face. Carter reaches over her shoulder and taps a button on the screen. It zooms in on the figure a bit more.
“This just sucks,” Piper exclaims, “I can’t tell who it is! Where is my ah-hah moment,” she questions in a frustrated tone. Carter chuckles and I can’t help but smirk.
“Sterling was right last night, it could be no one that you know,” I say to her. She turns around and looks at me. With her brow raised and shrugs her shoulders.
“Well, the sheriff added this to his report and your windows are being boarded up as we speak. Which is good because it is supposed to rain tonight,” Carter states as he looks at his phone and types out a response text. I’m assuming it is his window contact. I don’t ask.
“I just don’t know how this guy can be such a fucking ghost,” I say to Carter. I can’t believe we don’t have a lead on him.
“I am going to go up and down the street to see if any residences have cameras that face the street. We may get lucky and catch a license plate number from a doorbell camera or something,” Carter shares his plans. He is already closing the laptop and putting it in his backpack.
“That isn’t a bad idea. He could only go a couple of different ways to get to her driveway. And we have a time frame to narrow it down,” I nod my head. It’s something, and it’s more than the useless High Ridge PD is doing. No wonder they hire us to help them. They can’t get out of their own way.
“I’m going to do it now,” he tells us as he swings his backpack strap over one of his shoulders. I nod, and go to thank him but the words don’t come as I watch Carter hug Piper. It looks friendly and I trust Carter with my life, but I don’t like anyone touching my girl.
“Okay, thats enough,” I grit out and pull Piper to my side. Carter grins knowingly. The asshole did it on purpose. Trying to rile me up.
“Chill dude, no one is infringing on your territory,” Carter chuckles again. I can tell he is highly amused by this and it does nothing but piss me off.
“I’ll see you love birds later,” he says on his way out the door. I hear him whistling as he shuts the door behind him. Piper giggles and I look down at her.
Her slightly rounded cheeks are a light pink and her eyes are glittering in amusement. When I raise my eyebrow at her she giggles again.
“He was whistling the theme song to The Love Boat. Never would have pegged Carter for a Nick at Nite reruns kind of guy,” she giggles again.
I can’t stand it anymore and my need to consume her takes over.
I bend down and take her mouth in mine. Her laughter quickly stops and turns into a quiet moan.