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.I opened my mouth to say something but didn t get a chance assomeone pounded on the door.Brandon went to the door, checking to make sure it was Noah beforehe opened it.He clapped Noah on the shoulder as he came inside. Thanks for coming so quick, man.You musthave run every light from the precinct to here.Noah chuckled. It wasn t too bad.I don t get to run full out much, so I got to blow my car out a littleon the way. He flashed a smile at me as he said it. You alright, Chloe?I nodded. I m good.Just a little shook up. Show me what you found, alright?I took him outside, Brandon hovering at my back the whole time.He took pictures of the ring where ithung, the surrounding area, and then used tweezers to pull the ring from the branch and put it in a bag. You and I both know that this is going to come back with his prints on it, especially since you can IDthe ring as something you wore once.I ll do what I can, standard procedure and all, but there s notmuch we can do with this unless we knew where he was.We ve already been looking for him andyou ve got the CPO against him, which he s already broken. Noah looked apologetic. It s okay, Noah.I know that and completely understand.I just wish that he d be found so I don t haveto keep looking over my shoulder.I don t know why I started feeling secure& I guess it was whenthey said they d had reports of him in Texas. I shrugged again, feeling helpless about the wholesituation. Is this the first time you ve been out here in a while? Noah asked me. Since last weekend when we mowed and weed-eated.I didn t get out here to pull weeds, though, soI couldn t tell you when he put that there. I paused, a thought crystalizing in my mind. You know,that night that Emma went to the hospital when she was in labor with Everly, something happened thatnight.I mean, not really something, but definitely something.I took the dogs outside after Brandoncalled to tell me the baby was here.It was maybe, I don t know, two or three a.m.? I could look onmy phone and tell you exactly if I needed to.Anyway, Doug and the pups were here and Doug startedacting weird, put his head down and growled at the fence, all the hair on his back up on end.The pupsdid it, too.That got Brandon s attention. And you re just mentioning this now? he asked me incredulously. I m sorry, but it kind of slipped my mind with all the babies and everything. I turned back to Noah. I didn t see anything.It was dark and the fence is six feet high, but& I don t know.I had shivers godown my spine when the dogs growled because they acted like they knew something was wrong.Itfelt like something was wrong.I went in and locked everything down, set the alarm again, andchecked the windows to see if I saw anything or anyone, but there was nothing.Noah jerked his chin towards the backyard. Show me where the dogs were going crazy.I took him through the house and the screened in patio, showing him where I was standing and thenwhere the dogs had been when they d gone off.He checked around a bit and then asked to go aroundthe back of the fence.Brandon took him back there, but he asked me to stay where the dogs were so hecould line it up from the other side of the fence.I heard their muffled footsteps on the backside of the fence and then the silence was broken byBrandon. Mother fucker!I heard Noah s voice but I couldn t make out his words.Then I heard Brandon again. Chloe, come out here, please.I swallowed hard as a frisson of fear sent chills over my skin, even in the summer heat.I unlocked thegate at the side of the house and rounded the fence to the back.The house butted up to a creek aboutfifty feet back, and then there were a bunch of trees.The neighbors yards on either side of the houseweren t fenced in, so there was easy access to the back of my property behind the fence. Yeah? I asked them, trying to keep calm.My voice only shook a little, which I prided myself on. He was out here, baby, Brandon said.His words came out on a growl and I could see that he wastrying to keep his anger in check.I looked at Noah for confirmation, not that I really needed it. He was? He was, or someone was, at least.The grass back here is all trampled.You didn t notice when youmowed the last couple of times? he asked.Brandon answered. No, she wouldn t have because I mowed and I didn t even pay attention.Igenerally mow first and then weed-eat, and that close to the fence I m usually more worried about notrunning into it rather than anything else.Damnit! Hey, it s okay, man.You didn t know.But it looks like the grass is freshly crushed, like he s beenhere recently.And that s not all. He knelt and pulled up a small square of paper that was half buriedin the grass.He glanced at me with a worried look, waiting for me to nod at him before he continued. I m gettingtired of waiting.Let the games begin.I spy with my little eye& something red. He looked up at me,eyebrows raised in question. Does that make any sense to you? No& I don t know what he means, unless& I don t know.Maybe I was wearing a red shirt that nightI was standing out here? Or since then, maybe? I threw my hands up in frustration. I just want this tobe over! Why the hell did they let him out on probation anyway?Brandon grabbed me and hugged me to his chest, murmuring soothingly to me.Noah reached out andpatted my shoulder. We ll figure it out, Chloe.Somehow. Noah sounded sure, but I could hear the worry behind it. I mgonna take this with me and write it all up.I m also gonna have patrols stepped up around this area,especially around your house.If I can swing it, too, I m gonna get tech out here to install some hiddencameras behind the fence to see if we can catch him back here, or at least to see where he s comingfrom.Okay?Brandon and I both nodded.We made our way around front and said our goodbyes, Noah promising to get back with us and let usknow something as soon as he could.We weren t sure what he could let us know about, other than whether or not they were going to do thecameras.He pulled away and left us standing in the driveway.Brandon grabbed my arm and pulledme into the house, locking the door and setting the alarm behind us.I slouched into the armchair and pulled my legs up, hugging my knees to my chest as I watchedBrandon pace back and forth in front of me.He kept rubbing the back of his head with his hand overand over again which, if I didn t already know that was his tell, would have let me know he wasextremely agitated.He stopped suddenly, his gaze zeroing in on me and I could see the wheels turning in his mind.Heconfirmed it when he said,  What if we go away? What? I asked him, confused. You and I could just go away for a couple of weeks.He said it decisively, nodding his head like it was a done deal.I shook my head  no at him.Hequirked a brow at me and frowned. What do you mean no? I mean no because I m not running from him.I want him caught.He s here, he s going to come backaround, obviously, because he s trying to rattle me.He wants to catch me off guard so he can get meback, even though it s never going to happen.But that means, if I m here, he s accessible.I m nothere, he s not here.No one knows where he d be.Get me? I asked it gently.He nodded, though he didn t look happy. I get it.Fuck, Chloe, I just feel like I m doing a shit jobprotecting you [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]