Pete knew something was wrong the moment Faith pulled out her weapon. He waited for what seemed like eons, phone in hand, ready to call 911 the moment he heard the sound of gunfire.
But all remained quiet. Too quiet.
When Faith returned to the vehicle a few moments later, she stayed outside with Ricci, so he lowered the passenger-side window so they could talk.
“What happened?”
She glanced back at the kids before answering. “It’s been ransacked,” she said carefully. “I need to call Zimmerman.”
Ransacked? Trouble had continued to follow Faith over the past twenty-four hours, making it clear that Logan’s last whispered warning about danger was directed toward his ex-wife.
It gave Pete a chill to think about how Logan must have spoken with his attacker. Had it been that Trevor Wilson guy she’d mentioned? Had he bragged that Faith would be next as he stabbed Logan?
All for revenge?
Faith stepped back from the car to make her calls. He could hear her updating both Detective Zimmerman and Brianne about the most recent problem. He heard her make a third call, to Finn Gallagher. He knew that Finn’s yellow lab, Abernathy, was trained in tracking scents, the same way Ricci was.
“Pete, will you please take the kids back to your place?” Faith asked when she finished. “I’m going to stay here with Ricci until the scene has been processed. When we’re finished, I’ll come to pick up Jane using my personal SUV.”
It went against his nature to leave her here alone, even knowing the police were on their way. The last time he’d done that, someone had shot at her. But he understood the kids needed to stay safe, and he had faith in Ricci. “Okay, but I think you should pack a couple of bags. You and Jane can’t stay here.”
“I know.” She blew out a heavy breath. “I’ll see if I can find a dog-friendly hotel.”
“This close to Christmas?” Pete didn’t try to hide his skeptical tone. “The offer to stay with me still stands.”
“Thanks.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Whatever she’d seen inside continued to bother her. “But you’ll get tired of having houseguests eventually.”
Regular houseguests, maybe, but not Faith. It made him uneasy to realize how quickly he’d grown accustomed to having her around. “Whatever you decide is fine. Just know the offer stands.”
“I appreciate that.” She turned to glance over her shoulder at her home for a moment, before facing him. “You know, it really upsets me to have this happen right before Christmas.”
“Maybe that’s exactly what Wilson is aiming for.”
She slanted him a thoughtful look. “You could be right about that. He clearly wants revenge against me, shooting at me twice and now this. Maybe ruining the holiday is extra icing on the cake.”
The guy had to be mentally unbalanced, but Pete kept the thought to himself. The kids were still playing I Spy and thankfully weren’t paying any attention to the adult conversation.
“Climb in,” he invited. “I’ll stick around until the cops arrive.”
“No need.” Faith stood with one hand on her gun, the other resting on the top of Ricci’s head. “We’re good here. But I’m not sure how long it will take us to finish up. Could be late, though. I know we had a late lunch, but you may have to feed the kids dinner, too.”
“Mikey has to eat—what’s one more?” He really wished he’d gone grocery shopping. “Don’t worry. I’ll think of something.”
“Thanks, Pete.” Faith’s gaze turned serious. “For everything.”
“You’re welcome.” He wished that he could offer her a comforting hug, but of course that was impossible. And why was he so keenly aware of the attraction he felt toward her?
She smiled, then stepped back, gesturing for him to get going. He didn’t want to leave but raised the window and put the vehicle in Reverse.
After he backed out of the driveway, he took note of a dark-colored sedan rolling down the road toward Faith’s house. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, until he noticed the flashing red light on the dash.
Zimmerman. Pete pulled over to the side of the road, watching as the sedan entered Faith’s driveway. Only when he recognized the balding rotund detective did he merge into traffic.
“I want my mommy.” Jane sounded as if she might cry at any moment.
“She’s meeting us soon,” Pete assured the little girl. “I promise. In the meantime, we’ll have fun playing together. We can make another fort if you’d like.”
Jane considered this for a moment before relenting. “Okay.”
Pete realized how much he felt like a husband planning the afternoon while anxiously waiting for his spouse to return home.
And the idea was more appealing than it ought to have been.
Zimmerman asked if anything was missing, which reminded Faith of the pink backpack that had been taken from the police SUV.
She told him about that, but then gestured wearily at the mess. “It will take me a while to go through everything to see if anything was taken, but the TV and my personal laptop computer are still here, so that tells you robbery wasn’t the motive. Other than that, I don’t have many valuables. My jewelry box was the first thing I checked.”
“What jewelry is missing?” Zimmerman asked.
“Nothing. I had a pair of gold earrings and matching bracelet left to me by my mother, and a pearl necklace, which are still there.” She shook her head helplessly. “It doesn’t make any sense. If you’re going to get inside to tear the place up, why not at least try to make it look like a robbery?”
“It looks vindictive to me,” Zimmerman muttered.
For the first time, she agreed with his assessment. Christmas ornaments were broken, sofa cushions tossed around. But the greatest damage was to her bedroom.
Jane’s had been tossed, too, but not with the same vengeance.
“How did the perp get inside?” Zimmerman asked.
She’d been trying to figure that out for herself. “The lock is still intact, although whoever did this didn’t bother to relock it on their way out. Either someone is an expert at picking locks, including the dead bolt, or they had a key.” She’d already called the locksmith to have the locks changed.
“But how would someone get a key?”
“The only thing I can think of is that there may have been a key ring inside the missing backpack. Logan and I didn’t normally keep our keys there, it’s filled with stuff Jane might need while staying at each other’s homes, but maybe for some reason, he tucked a spare set inside.”
Zimmerman nodded thoughtfully, sweeping a gaze over the shambles. “Could be someone was searching for a specific item.”
“Like what?” The mess did look vindictive, which made her think once again of Trevor Wilson and his vow to seek revenge. “I’m not sure it matters at this point, since I can’t say for sure anything is even missing. But I’ll let you know if I come up with anything.”
“See that you do.” Zimmerman turned and headed toward the door. He hesitated, then looked back at her. “Your K-9 friends checked out Claire’s house but didn’t find anything useful.”
Was that a dig against the NYC K-9 Command Unit? “And what have you come up with? Have you located Claire or Trevor Wilson?”
Zimmerman flushed. “Not yet, but we will. I’ve issued a BOLO for Wilson. He can’t hide forever.”
She knew that when a Be On the Lookout was issued that every squad in the vicinity would have Wilson’s picture up in the corner of their computer screen. It was somewhat reassuring.
“What about Claire?”
Zimmerman shrugged. “She’s a person of interest but could also be another victim. We’ve left messages for her mother and sister but haven’t heard back yet. We plan on taking a ride upstate to check on them, soon. In the meantime, you’ll want to continue watching your back. All the animosity is directed toward you at the moment.”
“I will.” In her opinion, Zimmerman should issue a BOLO for Claire, too, but Faith kept her thoughts to herself. Because she couldn’t deny he was right about the perp coming after her.
First Logan, then the two episodes of gunfire, the smashed window of her vehicle and now this.
What was next? If this was Trevor’s work, she knew there would be another attempt to harm her.
It made her consider the possibility of having Jane spend the night with Mikey, leaving her to go to a hotel with Ricci. At least that way, the danger would likely stay focused on her. Then again, she’d feel better staying close to Jane.
Once the officers had left and the locksmith had changed the locks, she surveyed the mess with a sense of despair. She took the time to put Jane’s room back in order and straightened up the living room. At least half the ornaments on the tree were broken, so she cleaned up all the broken glass to protect Ricci and Jane.
But as darkness fell, she sat at the kitchen table, with Ricci at her side, and used her phone to find the nearest hotels.
There were some hotels with vacancies, but they were all located in Manhattan and not only were they above her price range, they didn’t seem dog friendly.
She stared down at her phone for a long moment. Was she looking for a good reason to stay with Pete again? The sofa hadn’t been too bad; the only downside was that the kids had woken her early with their giggling.
The memory made her smile. “Guess we’re going back, Ricci,” she murmured to her partner. “Time to pack.”
It didn’t take long to throw some things for both her and Jane into a suitcase. She changed out of her uniform, choosing comfortable jeans and a navy blue cardigan sweater over a white turtleneck, but added the gun and holster.
After pulling a clean uniform from the closet, she went into Jane’s room to pick out some of her daughter’s favorite toys. She found the dolls easily enough, but the stuffed otter she had given the little girl during a trip to the zoo last summer was nowhere to be found.
Had Jane taken it to day care? Or had it been left in the pink backpack? Either way, she hoped her daughter didn’t ask for it. Hopefully Mikey would keep her preoccupied.
Faith was just about out the door but went back for the few items of jewelry that were most precious to her. She stuffed the earrings, bracelet and pearls into her suitcase, then swept one last glance around the room.
It was distressing to realize she had no idea when she’d be back. In time for Christmas? Hopefully.
She sent up a silent prayer for God to provide strength and guidance to help her catch whoever was behind all of this.
Feeling better, she got back to work. It took a few minutes to get everything packed up in her SUV—the suitcase and Jane’s toys, along with Ricci’s food and water dishes, K-9 vest and toys. When they were ready, she had Ricci jump into the back, and she slid in behind the wheel.
She placed a quick call to Pete. “Hey, how are the terrible twosome?”
He laughed, causing a tingle of awareness to skate down her spine. “They’ve been pretty good.”
She caught herself smiling at the way he’d phrased his response. “I’m sure they’ve been a handful. Listen, I’m getting ready to head over, but thought I should offer to pick up something for dinner.”
“I’m glad you’re on the way, but no need to stop for food. I’m planning to make spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread. Bring your appetite.”
“Sounds delicious.” She paused, then added, “I tried to find a hotel, but couldn’t get what I needed. I’m sorry to keep bothering you, but can we stay one more night?”
“You’re more than welcome to stay.” His voice was low and husky. “The sofa is yours for as long as you need it.”
“Thanks. You’ve been wonderful through all of this.”
“Happy to help.”
“See you shortly.” She disconnected the call and decided to make a quick detour along the Jackie Robinson Parkway just to look around again. Too bad the evidence bag with Claire’s blouse was still in Pete’s SUV; it might have been helpful. Still, she was puzzled by the fact that Logan’s car hadn’t been found. Was it possible that Trevor Wilson wasn’t working alone? She made a mental note to dig into Wilson’s background later that evening.
Traffic wasn’t its usual snarl, maybe because it was a Saturday and people had chosen to stay home after the snowstorm.
Her gaze was on the spot where Logan had been found when bright headlights came up fast behind her. She pressed hard on the accelerator, and was glancing over her shoulder to see if she could change lanes, when the car rammed into her from behind.
The collision was jarring. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, hearing the scrabble of Ricci’s nails as he was knocked off balance in the crate. Concerned for the dog’s welfare, she tried to keep the SUV under control as her heart lodged in her throat.
But within seconds, the car behind her struck her again, harder this time.
The steering wheel jerked beneath her hands, and the entire vehicle shuddered from the impact. She overcorrected and felt the tires hit the curb.
The car wobbled back and forth, then careened up and over the median. As she punched the brake, bringing the SUV to an abrupt stop, the car that had hit her flew past along the parkway.
Faith tried to get a make or model of the vehicle, but all she could see was the snow-covered license plate.