Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The vibrating of the phone on the nightstand jarred Adalyn from sleep.
Groggily, she swiped at it and managed to unplug it from where it was charging.
Mind muddled, she tried to place the number flashing across the screen.
A bad feeling in her stomach, she tapped the button to connect the call and held the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Ms. Vale? This is Maryann with Frontline Security.”
Oh, God. Fear crawled up Adalyn's throat, and she clutched at the phone with both hands. “What happened?”
“Ma’am, an alarm has been set off at 1095 Belleview Avenue. Can you please verify your password?”
“No.” She shook her head to clear her foggy brain. “I mean—I’m not there.”
“Thank you, ma’am. We’ve contacted your local law enforcement, and police have been dispatched to the location.”
“Thanks.”
Ending the call, Adalyn tossed the phone on the bed and threw the covers to the side, ready to pull her clothes on and run out the door.
She’d just stepped into a pair of jeans when it occurred to her that it was the middle of the night.
She froze, debating what to do. She didn’t want to wake Jaclyn and take her with her, but she also didn’t want to have to rouse Wendy from sleep.
She knew Wendy wouldn’t hesitate to come help, but still…
Adalyn drummed her nails against the screen of her phone before tapping the number on speed dial. Jaxon’s voice filtered over the line, raspy and sleepy. “Addy. Everything okay?”
“There was a break-in at the salon, and I—”
His tone changed, instantly alert and ready to take charge. “I’ll take care of it.”
Adalyn could hear rustling in the background, and she imagined him rolling from bed, still warm from sleep. She could send Jaxon in her stead, but it was her shop. She was the one who needed to be there. “Actually, that’s not what I wanted to ask. Can you come stay with Jaclyn until I get back?”
There was a pause on the other end, then— “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” She slipped her arms into a zip-up sweatshirt. “I need to be there to speak with the police.”
“Okay.” He seemed hesitant to agree. “I’ll be at your place in ten.”
Without another word, he hung up, and Adalyn shoved the phone in her back pocket. She peeked in on Jaclyn, and a few minutes later, she heard the front door open and close. Jaxon’s voice floated toward her. “Adalyn?”
“I’m here.” Grabbing up her purse, she met him in the hallway.
He caught her arm as she approached, concerned eyes boring into hers. “I don’t like this.”
“I know,” she replied. “The police are already on their way, so I won’t be there alone. I’m sure they’ll get it taken care of quickly.”
“Call me as soon as you figure out what’s going on,” he said. His hand slowly loosened around her arm, as if he was reluctant to let her go.
“I will. And Jaxon?” His brows lifted in silent question. “Thank you.” She stretched up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss.
The second her lips brushed his, an iron band came around her back, holding her close. His free hand cupped the back of her head, and his mouth pressed hard against hers. He lifted his head with a soft growl. “One more for the road.”
He swept down, consuming her, pushing all thought from her head. She knew it was his way of offering reassurance, putting her at ease, taking her mind off the situation at hand. He grounded her, made her feel safe and protected—and she appreciated it more than she could say.
Breaking away, breathing hard, she clutched at his biceps. “Thank you. For everything.”
He gentled his hold, allowing her to peel herself from his arms. Still lightheaded from that one last kiss, she grabbed her keys and headed out the door.
She tossed one more glance over her shoulder before it shut behind her and found Jaxon’s intense gaze fixed on her.
It filled her with warmth and something more—something she had no business entertaining.
The feelings he instilled in her weren’t safe.
He’d been back in her life barely more than a week, yet he’d destroyed nearly every defense she’d put in place after Shawn left her.
She couldn’t let herself fall for him—because he would consume her entirely, heart and soul.
And once she gave him her heart, she knew she’d never get it back.
Nerves twisted her stomach into knots as she sped toward the shop, and blue lights pierced the gray light of dawn up ahead.
By the time she pulled to a stop at the curb, she could tell it was more than a simple malfunction of the alarm.
Three cruisers sat outside the shop, and the front door stood wide open.
She couldn’t tell if they’d found it that way, or if they’d left it open for ease as they made multiple trips in and out.
She made a beeline toward one of the officers standing out front and introduced herself.
She followed him into the salon, her heart sinking at the destruction that greeted her.
Dresses had been ripped from the racks and strewn about the floor.
Accessories from the glass cases littered the carpet, and every shelf was completely bare, their contents swept onto the floor.
One of the officers guided her through the salon. “Are you able to tell if anything is missing?”
They had already begun to fingerprint the doorknobs and several other surfaces, the black dust stark in contrast to the myriad of white gowns littering the floor.
Trying not to touch anything, she examined the contents of the empty glass cases and jewelry shelves that now littered the floor. With a defeated shrug, she turned to the officer. “It’s hard to say, but I don’t think we’re missing anything. I would have to do a full inventory to check though.”
He nodded. “I was afraid that would be the case.” He popped his hands on his hips and looked around. “On the bright side, if there is one, it doesn’t look like anything was truly destroyed.”
As she gazed around the room, she realized he was right. Someone had made a huge mess, but they hadn’t done a whole lot of damage. Thank God for that. She turned back to the officer. “What now?”
“We’ll check with the surrounding businesses to see if any have security footage, but getting warrants for those will take some time, if they’ll even approve it.
We’ll analyze the prints we picked up here to see if we can find a match.
If nothing comes up…” He offered an apologetic shrug, and she knew without asking what he meant.
If the perp wasn’t in their system, and with no witnesses, they had nothing.
He took her fingerprints in order to eliminate them from the dozens they’d collected from the doorknobs and other surfaces, then stowed them in an evidence bag.
Once that was all taken care of, she turned back to him. “When will we be able to get back in here?”
“We’re wrapping up right now. Maybe half an hour or so.”
She fired off text messages to her employees, letting them know that the salon would be closed today.
She was drained mentally and physically and had no interest in sticking around for several more hours to clean.
Instead, she asked the girls to meet at the shop an hour early tomorrow to get everything back in order.
She called Amy and asked her to reach out to the clients they had on the calendar today and reschedule them.
She crossed her arms over her chest and stood off to the side, watching in despair. The shop was her baby. Who would do something like this? Immediately, Caryn Andersen’s face came to mind. She shook it off. Caryn was nasty, but she doubted she would be caught breaking and entering.
As the officers completed their work, they began to pack their things away and file out the front door.
Exhausted, Adalyn closed and locked it behind them.
Once they were gone, she surveyed the mess before her with a grimace.
Though she was dead tired, she hated to leave thousands of dollars' worth of material just lying on the floor.
Scooping a handful of dresses up, she flung them over her forearm and carted them off to the back room.
Once everything else was cleaned up, she would have Jenn check the dresses and see if any were salvageable.
Hopefully, whoever had broken in wouldn’t have had much time to do a whole lot of damage.
It seemed that whoever was in here had just pulled them off the hangers and thrown them on the floor.
She hoped that was the case—it would be much easier to fix a few beads than have to damage out several dozen dresses.
She picked up the jewelry scattered on the floor and spent a good portion of time untangling the strands from each necklace before setting them aside to be checked for quality. Tears burned the back of her eyelids, and now that she was alone, she let them fall freely.
She allowed herself only a couple moments of pity.
She needed to get back home and take Jaclyn off Jaxon’s hands.
Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she heard the soft rumble of an engine pull up outside then cut off.
Craning her neck to look out the front window, she saw a familiar truck sitting at the curb.
She watched in fascination and relief as Jaxon climbed out of the driver’s seat, then opened the rear door of the cab.
Her heart jumped into her throat, and she burst out the front door and down the steps to meet him.
She reached the truck just as Jaxon extracted Jaclyn from a bright pink car seat.
It looked completely out of place in the huge truck, and she blinked at the sight.
“When did you get a car seat?”
A small smile tipped up the corner of his lips. “I called in a favor. Took me nearly half an hour to get the thing installed.” His face contorted into a grimace. “Might not be able to get it out ever again.”
She let out a laugh and took Jaclyn from Jaxon as she stretched her arms out for her.
Adalyn cuddled her close, burying her nose in Jaclyn's fine blonde hair, soaking up her sweet scent.
God, what was it about babies that smelled so good?
It was like they were so clean, so pure that they took all the bad away.
Holding her in her arms, Jaxon at her side, Adalyn felt the tension begin to leave her body.
Jaxon turned to her, his voice quiet. “How did everything go?”
Blowing out a sigh, she gave him a brief rundown of the past several hours. “They lifted some fingerprints and poked around a little bit, but I don’t think they have anything concrete.” She shrugged. He nodded but didn’t say much as he reached into the cab for something.
She glanced up at him. “Why are you here?”
He paused his rustling around in the back of the truck and met her gaze. “Gonna do some work here, and I thought you’d like to see Jaclyn for a bit.”
Immediately on guard, she examined him warily. “What do you mean, ‘do some work?’”
Her grip tightened on Jaclyn, and she squirmed in Adalyn's arms, reaching for Jaxon. Adalyn reluctantly handed her back to him and watched as Jaclyn snuggled against his broad shoulder. The sight caused a momentary pang in Adalyn's heart, and she rubbed the heel of her hand over her chest.
Jaxon slammed the cab door and gestured with his chin to the small silver sedan that slowed to a stop behind his truck.
A pretty, petite brunette climbed out of the driver’s seat, while a hulking giant of a man unfolded from the passenger side.
It was almost comical to watch, and Adalyn couldn’t help but smile.
The man rounded the car and slipped an arm around the brunette’s shoulders as they made their way toward them.
With Jaclyn balanced on one hip, Jaxon gestured toward the couple with his free hand. “This is Luke Stone.” The man nodded in greeting, and Jaxon continued. “And this is his girlfriend, Hannah.”
The woman held out a hand, and Adalyn slipped her palm into hers. “Nice to meet you.”
The confusion must’ve been evident on Adalyn's face, because Jaxon laid a hand on the back of her neck and squeezed gently. He directed his words to Luke and Hannah. “Why don’t you guys head inside, and we’ll meet you there in a second?”
Hannah shot Adalyn another soothing smile before heading up the stairs.
Adalyn watched as the man Jaxon had called Luke placed a hand on Hannah’s lower back and held the door of the salon open so she could enter.
Why were these two here? The question weighed heavily on Adalyn's mind, and after a long morning, she wasn’t inclined to beat around the bush. “What’s going on?”