by A. M. Wilson
Reece
Five minutes later, I hear a knock on my front door. I check the peephole and see Tavers’s warped head on the other side.
“Tavers is here,” I tell Niko as I punch in the code for my alarm.
“Call me when he leaves to let me know what’s going on.”
“Will do.”
Hanging up, I pocket my phone, then pull the door open. Tavers has been around my family for years. He and Niko met back in grade school and have been friends ever since. He was the guy who was there for Niko when Aislin disappeared and then helped him solve her case when everyone thought she was dead. When a body was found in the woods a few years ago, and it was thought to be Aislin’s, guilt plagued me because no one believed Niko when he was insistent that she didn’t run away like everyone thought. Later, when it was discovered that it wasn’t her body and that she had been kidnapped, raped, and tortured for all of those years, that guilt grew. I was his big brother. I should have believed in him and had his back. It’s taken me a while, and Niko adamantly telling me he didn’t blame me for not believing him, for that guilt to fade some.
Tavers’s alert eyes run over me before he traces all of the places in the house that he can see. They land back on the gun still in my hand.
“You can set that down now,” he states, jerking his chin to the gun.
I set it down on the table beside the door, feeling somewhat better now that Tavers is here. I’m no pussy and will defend myself and what’s mine, but I don’t relish the thought of actually having to use the gun.
“Niko called and said you had an intruder?”
I nod. “Yes. I was on the landline with him when we both heard heavy breathing. The only other phone is in the basement. I checked, and the window is broken.”
He looks around the house again, taking a few steps forward. “Are you sure they aren’t still in the house?”
“Not unless they somehow snuck by me. As soon as I heard their breathing, I went to check.” I point in the direction of the mudroom. “The basement is empty, and they would have had to pass by me to enter the rest of the house.”
Tavers reaches for his hip, resting his hand casually on the butt of his gun. “I’d still like to check to make sure. You stay here.”
He doesn’t wait for my reply before he takes off. He heads for the mudroom and basement first. The thought crosses my mind to follow him, but I stay in the living room, not wanting to distract him. He comes back out a couple of minutes later and starts for the hallway and the bedrooms. It’s not long before he’s finished and comes back into the living room.
“Nothing,” he states what I already know. “Was your alarm set?”
“Yes.”
He jerks his chin up. “Whoever it was knew what they were doing. They disengaged the alarm on the egress window before they broke in. You never heard the glass break?”
I shove my hands in my pockets. “No, but I’ve been at work all day, so it could have happened at any time.”
“I’ve got an officer coming over to dust for prints and take some pictures, but if they’re good enough to disengage your alarm, then I don’t suspect any prints will be found.” Tavers pulls a small notebook and pen from his pocket. “Niko mentioned this isn’t the first issue you’ve had lately.”
“Yeah. My trash can was dumped over yesterday morning, and someone scratched the side of my truck with a lightning bolt symbol. I also got a package in the mail. At first, I thought it was just some neighborhood kids fucking around, but the package didn’t seem like something a kid would do.”
Tavers makes a few notes on the pad of paper. “You still got the package?”
“It’s in my garage.”
I lead him that way, and as soon as I open the door, the smell hits us.
“Damn,” Tavers mutters.
I gesture to the package on the floor. “It’s definitely not a pleasant smell.”
Pulling out a pair of gloves from his pocket, Tavers squats and carefully opens the box. He lifts out the package from Maggie, looks at it for a moment, then sets it aside. Next is the picture. He flips it over and reads the back.
“Does this mean anything to you?”
“Not a damn thing.”
He puts the items back in the box and gets to his feet. “We’ll leave it here for now. I’ll have someone get it to bring in for evidence. The smaller box, that’s from Niko and Aislin’s daughter, right?”
“Yes.” I clench my teeth. “I was expecting something in the mail from her.”
“I’ll talk to the captain about processing it and see if we can get that back to you.”
“Thanks,” I grunt.
I lead him out of the garage and into the kitchen.
“The marks still on your truck?”
“Yes. I have an appointment next week for a paint job.”
Just then, there’s a knock on the front door.
“That’ll be Dyson. Once I show him to the basement, I want you to show me your truck.”
He walks off, and a minute later, he comes back with an officer in plain clothes. While he takes him down to the basement, I grab a glass from the cabinet and fill it with water. Leaning against the counter, I take several big gulps. My nerves are shot to shit. The adrenaline from finding out someone was in my house has dulled significantly with Tavers’s arrival, but it will take a while to wear off. My shoulders feel like they weigh a ton, and a pounding begins in my head.
I take a step toward the cabinet above the stove to grab some pain relievers when Tavers comes back into the kitchen. I detour back to the cabinet where my glasses are.
“You want something to drink? Water, coffee? I would offer you a beer, but I’m sure that’s not allowed with you on the clock.”
Tavers’s lips twitch. “As much as I’d love one, I don’t think the captain would appreciate it.”
I take a closer look at Tavers and notice the circles under his eyes. I’ve only seen him a few times since Niko and Aislin moved to Florida, and we were never close when we were younger, but even if I had just met him today, it would be hard to miss the fatigue on his face and the stress lines by his eyes.
“Everything okay at home?” I ask cautiously.
It’s none of my business, but with him and Niko being friends for such a long time, I feel a sense of responsibility for him. I guess you could say he’s sort of like a distant relative.
Using his thumb and pointer finger, he jams them in his eye sockets and rubs them roughly.
“We just found out a few days ago that Mindy has breast cancer,” he says, the strain in his voice unmistakable.
“Shit, man. I’m sorry to hear that,” I mutter, feeling like an asshole now for bringing up something that can’t be easy for him to talk about. And they have a young kid at home, which will make the situation even more stressful.
“Thank you,” he grunts.
“How bad is it?”
“It’s one of the most aggressive forms. The prognosis is still pretty good, so long as they can stop it from moving to the rest of her body. She starts chemo next week.”
My heart goes out to the guy. A friend of mine’s wife had cancer a few years ago. It was rough watching the effect the treatments had on her. Not only that but the emotional turmoil my friend went through was just as bad. Thankfully, she beat her cancer and has been in remission ever since.
“Does Niko know?”
“Not yet. Today was the first time I've talked to him in a couple of weeks. I was going to call him tomorrow.”
I nod. “Let me know if there’s anything you or Mindy need.”
“Thanks.” He scrubs his hands over his face before spinning on his heel. “Let’s go check out your truck.”
The sun has already set when we walk outside. It’s not fully dark yet, but it’s dark enough that Tavers has to use a flashlight to see the damage to my truck. My anger renews when I see the scratch marks again.
Tavers takes a few pictures of the marks before he step
s back. “The lightning bolt mean anything to you?”
“No.”
“I’ll have my guys run a search through the database to see if anything pops up. Have there been any other incidents?”
“No,” I answer before something pops in my head. “Actually, there have been a couple of times I’ve felt like someone was watching me, but that could have just been a neighbor looking out their window.”
His brows furrow. “Could be.” His eyes slide to me. “Or it could be someone specifically watching you. How long has it been going on?”
I think back to the first time it happened. “About a month.”
“And other than what you told me today, nothing else has happened? Nothing around the time you started feeling like someone was watching you?”
“No, nothing.”
A barking dog pulls both of our attention about five houses down the street. It takes me a minute to recognize the woman who came to my house the other day looking for her dog. She holds one end of the leash with a medium-sized dog attached to the other. The dog barks again, and I can barely make out her voice when she calls the dog’s name.
“Beau, shush.”
I guess she found her dog.
She turns down a driveway and walks with the dog into the backyard. Tavers and I look back at my truck.
“You have any disgruntled ex-employees or dissatisfied customers?”
I don’t need to think about my answer. “No. Nothing like that.”
“Any enemies that you know of?”
“The only people I really associate with are the men who work for me and my clients. I don’t go out much. I’m either at work or home. I may stop by Rook’s once or twice a week, but that’s it.”
I hear the front door open and close behind us, and a moment later, Dyson steps up beside Tavers.
“It was as you suspected. I got nothing. Not even a partial.”
“Dammit,” Tavers mutters, forcefully shoving his hands into his pockets. “Maybe we’ll have better luck with the package.”
The doubt I hear in his voice matches my own. This whole situation is a clusterfuck. Who in the hell is fucking with me, and what in the hell do they want?
Tavers and I walk back into the house so he can grab the package while Dyson gets in his car. I open the garage door while Tavers puts on a pair of gloves. He opens his trunk and deposits it inside before he slams it closed.
“I’ll let you know if I find anything.” He pulls his keys from his pocket. “In the meantime, you need to call the alarm company and have them repair the line on the basement window. Keep aware of your surroundings and watch for anything suspicious. We don’t know what the endgame is for this guy or how dangerous he is. If anything else happens, call me immediately. You got my number?”
“Is it the same one you had a couple of years ago?”
“Yes.”
“Then I have it.” I hold my hand out. “Thanks for coming by.”
He shakes my hand, then drops it and opens his door. “No problem. I assume since you own a gun, you know how to use it?”
“Yeah. Dad and I used to go to the shooting range. I still go about once a year.”
“Good. Just to say, though, don’t try to be a hero. Only use it as a last resort. You call me or the station if you get into trouble.”
“Will do.”
“And call your brother. I’m sure he’s stressing over what’s going on. I could tell he was worried when he called me.”
My lips tip up. I can just imagine Niko pacing the room as Aislin tries to calm him down. “I’ll do that.”
He climbs inside his car and grabs the door to close it, but I grab the top to stop him.
“I hope things work out for Mindy. Remember, I’m here if either of you needs anything.”
His chin jerks up in acknowledgment. “Thanks.”
When I take a step back, he closes the door, starts his car, and pulls away.
I release a long sigh and go back inside the house. The eerie quietness that greets me rattles my nerves. I’m tired as fuck, but I also feel jittery. There’s no fucking way I’ll be able to sit still until I work off some energy.
Going to the fridge, I pull out a beer and pop the top off. After I chug back a couple of hefty swallows, my eyes land on the gun sitting on the table by the front door. I tip the bottle to my lips again as I walk over and pick it up. The 9mm is a matte black and fits perfectly in my hand. It’s been a while since I’ve been to the shooting range, but as I safely handle the gun, I remember the feel of the kick it gives when it’s fired.
Turning back toward the kitchen, I go through to the mudroom then down the stairs to the basement. A creepy feeling crawls down my spine as I descend the stairs as if someone’s lurking in the shadows.
Spotting a small stack of two-by-fours in the corner, I grab one and pick up the hammer and a few nails from a shelf mounted on the wall. No sense making it easy on the perp to come back in through the window. The boards are already cut to the right length because I was working on building shelving units for the basement.
The jarring in my arm from hammering in the nails feels good. It’s not often I use a hammer anymore. It’s usually a nail gun.
Once several boards are hung, blocking the window, I pull my phone from my pocket and go to my call log. Niko’s name is at the top of the list.
“Talk to me.”
His curt response gives away his worry. I may be the big brother, but he’s the detective in the family. He’s seen true evil in the world and knows the extent to which people will go through to get what they want.
“Tavers just left,” I answer. “Whoever it was disarmed the basement window and busted it out. They tried lifting prints, but none were left.”
“Son of a bitch,” he mutters angrily. “Not even a partial?”
“No.” I walk over to my weight bench and take a seat. “He told me to keep an eye out and stay vigilant of my surroundings.”
“You should have fucking told me this shit was going on before tonight,” he fumes across the line.
His words and the tone he’s using pisses me off. “Get off my fucking back,” I growl. “I’m dealing with enough as it is. I don’t need you on my ass too.”
I grip the back of my neck and squeeze, trying and failing to loosen the tight muscles. I put myself in his shoes, knowing if the situation were reversed, I’d be pissed too if he hadn’t said anything. But it’s been more years than I can count since I’ve let someone talk to me like that, and I’ll be damned if I let my little brother do it now, no matter the situation.
“I’m sorry,” he grunts. I still hear the anger in his voice, but I also sense his remorse. “I hate being so fucking far away. I need to be there doing something to catch this asshole. I’m going to talk to Aislin about coming up.”
“No, don’t. The last thing you need to do is leave Aislin, and you sure as fuck don’t need to bring her and the kids up here with this going on.” My sister-in-law may be doing really well, considering what she went through for years and the intensive therapy she required because of it, but I don’t want her near anything that could remind her of her days in captivity. And I know Niko wouldn’t either. “Tavers is taking care of it. I’m sure he’ll find the person soon. Besides, it’s probably just some asshole trying to scare me.”
“I don’t know, Reece…”
“Stay in Florida, Niko. I’ll keep you updated if anything else happens. If it becomes more serious, we’ll talk about you coming up.”
His breath crackles over the phone. “Fine.”
“Let me talk to my boy.”
My jaw clenches when I hear Mom’s voice in the background.
“Shit, Niko,” I grate. “You told Mom?”
“She got here right after we hung up and instantly knew something was wrong. You know Mom. She’s a bull when she wants something.”
“Just great,” I mutter.
Muffled sounds come from their end of the line before Mom’
s unsteady voice comes across. “Reece? Are you okay?”
“Mom.” I let out a deep sigh. “I’m fine. Everything is okay.”
“What in the world is going on up there? Niko said someone broke into your house?”
I’m tempted to start pulling my hair out. Lord knows I love my mom, but the woman can drive a saint bonkers when she’s worried about her family.
Spreading my legs, I lean an elbow on my knee and spend the next five minutes explaining what’s been going on the past few days. I leave out the part where I’ve felt watched for weeks. There’s no sense in giving her more to feel anxious about.
“That’s it,” she states firmly. “Your father and I are flying up tomorrow.”
This is why I didn’t want her to know yet. I knew she’d get a hair up her ass and demand her and Dad come up.
“No, Mom. You and Dad need to stay in Florida.”
“But Reece—”
I cut her off. “There’s nothing either of you can do by being here.” I hear her suck in a breath to protest some more, so I forestall her. “Put Niko back on the phone.”
He must be close by and heard my remark because there’s another rustling sound before Niko barks, “Yeah.”
“You keep them down there. If they come up here, I’ll be more worried about them than keeping an eye out for myself.”
“Got it.” He’s quiet for a moment. “You watch your back, Reece. We don’t know what this person is capable of.”
“You know I will.”
“If anything else happens, you call Tavers. No matter how inconsequential it may seem. And then your ass better call me.”
“Will do. Tell Aislin hey for me, and give the kids my love.”
We hang up, and I toss my phone on a nearby table. Leaning both elbows on my knees, I scrub my hands over my face, then my fingers scratch through my hair. I grip the strands tight, the pinch of pain momentarily distracting me from the shit show of my life at the moment.
I reach back between my shoulder blades and grab my shirt, yanking it off over my head and tossing it on the floor. Lying back on the weight bench, I grip the bar over my head. It’s been a while since I’ve lifted weights. My mind is going a mile a minute, and I need something to shut it down. I have work tomorrow, so getting drunk isn’t an option. I hope like hell working out will do the trick.
