Chapter 8 – Ink #2
“Thank you. I just think she’ll be more comfortable in your SUV instead of the RV. Plus, Frisco will be trying to climb all over her.”
“What are you whispering about over there?” Alice asked.
“I thought you might be more comfortable riding home in Ink’s SUV instead of the RV,” Presley said. “Ariel can go with Dad and Frisco, and you can ride with us.”
“She’s right, love,” Eugene said. “I’ve ridden with him twice today. His vehicle isn’t nearly as bouncy as the camper.”
“No argument here,” Alice said. “Let’s roll.”
The drive to Presley’s parents’ house in Cedar Valley was much less entertaining than I thought it would be.
Presley helped her mother get situated into one of the captain-style seats in the second row and used a storage tote she got from the RV as an ottoman for Alice to rest her foot on.
After covering her with a warm blanket, Presley got into the passenger seat in front.
Less than ten minutes later, her mother was sound asleep.
Presley didn’t last much longer. Since I was following Eugene and didn’t need help with directions, I let them both sleep until we pulled into their driveway.
“Presley,” I said softly and gently nudged her shoulder.
She sat up straight and glanced around with unfocused eyes. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. We’re at your parents’ house.”
“I slept the whole time. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. You’ve had a rough day.”
“Who’s had a rough day?” Alice croaked from the back, followed by a yawn.
“How are you feeling, Mom?” Presley asked.
“Like I could go right back to sleep, so I’d say pretty good.”
“Let’s get you inside before the good drugs wear off,” Presley said.
“No one likes a bossy nurse,” Alice teased.
“Some people do,” I said low enough for only Presley to hear. Or so I thought.
“If you don’t keep him, I’ll ground you.”
“Okay, Mom,” Presley laughed. “Time to go inside.”
Alice sighed. “I know, but I hate using crutches. Oh, I know. Eugene! Get the wheelbarrow!”
“You know, since I’m your favorite person times two today, I could carry you inside,” I offered.
“Oh, you big, handsome, wonderful friend of my daughter’s, yes, please.”
I carefully lifted Alice into my arms and carried her into the house.
“Thank you,” Alice said kindly. “You can just put me on the couch.”
As soon as I’d put her down, I heard a raspy bark as a little ball of fur zoomed past me before I could stop him. Thankfully, the little dog was too small to jump onto the sofa.
“Hello, Frisco,” Alice cooed. “Were you worried about me?”
“He’s been a royal pain in the ass all day,” Eugene said.
“That’s because he loves his momma. Isn’t that right, sweet boy?”
Frisco barked in agreement.
“All right, Mom, let’s get you situated. What do you need from upstairs?”
“If I’m going to run my empire from the couch, I’ll need my cell phone and my laptop,” she said.
Presley sighed in exasperation. “Your empire can survive without you for a few days.”
“That may be, but I can’t survive without it,” Alice retorted. “I’ll be bored out of my mind by this time tomorrow.”
“Ariel, can you get whatever Nana needs from upstairs while Ink and I pick up her prescriptions?”
“Sure,” Ariel grinned. “I’ll get what she needs and what she wants.”
“That’s why you’re my favorite grandchild.”
“I’m your only grandchild.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I like you.”
“We’ll be right back,” Presley said. “Do you need anything else from the store?”
“We should be fine for tonight and tomorrow. Miles will be back Monday.”
Ariel stayed with her grandparents while I drove Presley to the pharmacy to pick up her mother’s prescriptions. “So, what’s this empire your mother referred to?”
Presley laughed. “She’s a social media influencer.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep,” Presley said. “It was kind of an accident. She couldn’t find a lot of content relevant to people her age, so she posted some videos thinking that would help the algorithm show her what she was looking for.
It turned out that there just wasn’t an abundance of content for her age group.
She saw that as an opportunity and ran with it. ”
“That’s pretty awesome.”
“It is,” she agreed. “She enjoys it, and she makes a lot of money. They were already living comfortably, so they used some of her new income to buy Ariel a car and start a college fund for her.”
I snorted. “I’m not sure comfortable is the right word. It looks like your parents are loaded. Judging by the size of their house, the cars in the driveway, the RV, the boat, and I’m assuming Miles is their butler.”
“I don’t know if Miles has an official title. He helps with the household tasks, and he helps my mom with her business. He’s kind of a jack of all trades.”
“So, she’ll be okay with her leg?” Eugene and Alice seemed capable of handling her injury, but I felt the need to ask.
“Oh, yeah. She’ll be fine. Between my dad and Miles, she’ll have more than enough help.”
When we got back to her parents’ house, Presley made sure her mom had everything she needed. Several times. Finally, Alice told her she was going to remove her hearing aids if Presley didn’t leave.
“Okay, okay,” Presley said. “I’ll check on you tomorrow. Promise you’ll call me if you need anything before then.”
“I will,” Alice promised.
After we said our goodbyes, we headed back to Croftridge.
It wasn’t a long drive, but Ariel fell asleep shortly after we got on the road.
I thought Presley might fall asleep too, but she didn’t.
We were about halfway home when she exhaled audibly.
“I feel like I need a vacation. I’ve had more than my fair share of excitement over the last few weeks. ”
“You definitely have,” I agreed. “Since I know you’re exhausted, do you want me to take you to your house and have one of the guys drop off your car?”
“Yes, to taking us home,” she said. “But don’t worry about my car. Ariel and I can go get it tomorrow.”
“Are you sure? It’s no trouble.”
“I’m sure, but thank you for offering.”
When I pulled into Presley’s driveway, the headlights illuminated the front of her dark house, revealing the wide-open front door.
Before I could ask if she accidentally left the door open, Presley gasped. “What the hell?”
“I’m guessing that wasn’t an accident.”
“No. I went out the garage door when I left earlier. And I know the front door was locked because I’m weird about checking and double-checking locks.”
“Stay here and lock the doors. I’ll go check it out. If something happens, get in the driver’s seat and drive away.”
“What? We can’t leave you here,” Presley protested.
“If it means your safety, yes, you can,” I said and opened the door to get out. “If I’m not back in five minutes, drive away and call Phoenix.”
“I don’t like this.”
Reaching under my seat, I retrieved my gun and chambered a round. “I’ll be right back.”
Presley glanced at the gun in my hand before her eyes met mine. “Please be careful.”
“I will,” I promised and headed for her front door. I knew the chances of anyone being in the house were slim to none, but I’d also found myself on the unfavorable side of narrow statistics numerous times.
Entering the house cautiously, I methodically cleared each room, flipping on the lights as I went. As I suspected, no one was in the house, but it was clear that someone had been there.
Presley unlocked the doors when she saw me walking back to the SUV. I climbed inside and locked the doors before telling her what I found. “The house is clear, but someone was in there. The kitchen and what I assume is Ariel’s bedroom were rifled through.”
“What?” Ariel shrieked, scaring the hell out of me. I thought she was still asleep. “Why would someone go through my room?”
“I don’t know,” Presley said and returned her attention to me. “What do you think I should do?”
“I think you should call the police. When they’re finished processing the scene, I want you two to come with me. You can stay at my house or the clubhouse tonight, but I don’t think you should stay here.”
“Okay,” Presley agreed and pulled out her phone. I’d expected her to protest and was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t.
“Can we go inside while we wait for them to get here?” Ariel asked.
“They said not to,” Presley told her.
“I’m worried about Sir Pickles,” Ariel cried.
“Who?” I blurted.
“Sir Pickles von Gherkin,” Presley said seriously. “Ariel’s bearded dragon.”
“Is he in the big rectangle thing on the far side of her room?”
“Yes!” they answered at the same time.
“I thought that was a big dollhouse or something. I didn’t see your lizard, but the box thing didn’t look disturbed,” I told them.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the police to arrive. I got out of the SUV to greet them.
“Stop right there!” one of them shouted with his gun aimed at my chest.
I slowly raised my hands in front of me. “I’m a friend of the homeowner.”
Right on cue, Presley hopped out of the SUV. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing? Is this how you treat people when they call for help?”
“Are you Ms. Calloway?”
“Yes!”
The officer lowered his gun. “My apologies, Ms. Calloway,” he said. “Please wait out here while we clear the house.”
Presley huffed. “The house has already been cleared. I told them that on the phone.”
“Yes, well, we can’t officially say it’s clear unless we’ve cleared it ourselves.”
“Fine,” she sighed. “We’ll wait out here.”
The officers returned a few minutes later, deeming the house clear. I wanted to laugh when Presley rolled her eyes at the announcement. I understood her frustration, but I also understood their reasoning.
Then, we had to wait for the detectives and someone from forensics to arrive before they would let Presley go inside. The detectives asked her to walk through the house and point out anything that was missing or disturbed.
She was in the kitchen near the open pantry talking to Detective McCoy when Detective Pine said, “McCoy, you want to come take a look at this white powdery substance on the counter?”