Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
With no one being physically harmed, DPD wouldn’t put a lot of manpower into an investigation, but luckily he could.
The intruder had punched a couple of holes in the walls of the hall that connected the bedrooms to the rest of the condo.
He walked through to Lou’s room, and it looked like whoever this jackass was hadn’t made it back this far. Lou’s room was left alone.
But Daphne’s wasn’t. He moved into her bedroom. He’d never been inside it before, but he could tell it had been fairly spartan since there weren’t a lot of knickknacks strewn all over the place. Her dresser had been turned over, and the intruder had taken her clothes out of the closet and dumped paint all over them. Bright red paint.
“Hutch, we’re looking for someone posing as a contractor.” It would be an easy way to get into the building. All the intruder would have to do was show a halfway decent work order and he could be inside in moments, but it would also mean that he was potentially identifiable. “I’ll check and see who was working security today and talk to them in the morning. Look for anyone carrying paint and paint supplies.”
“Got it,” Hutch replied.
Boomer turned, and Daphne’s clothes weren’t the only things the intruder had “decorated.” On the wall opposite her bed, someone had left a message for her in bright red paint.
I’ll Get U Bitch
So this wasn’t random. He’d been hoping for random. “I’m going to need that report ASAP.”
In the distance, he could hear the dogs starting to tune up.
“Boomer?” an authoritative feminine voice called out.
He breathed a deep sigh of relief. “The cops are here, and it sounds like Regina. I’ll call you back.”
He moved out of the bedroom and slipped his phone into his pocket. “I’m back here, Officer Lonzo. I’m unarmed and coming out with my hands up.”
Regina would recognize his voice, but he had no idea who she’d brought along this evening, so he followed the procedures most likely to keep him from looking threatening.
“It’s okay, man,” Regina said. “I recognized your name and your building. But this is not your place, is it?”
Boomer stepped out of the hallway and back into the living room where Regina Lonzo and her partner were looking around the place. “No. It’s my girlfriend’s.”
Regina’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Last time I saw you there was no girlfriend, and that was Tuesday.”
“We just made it official.” Daphne was in the doorway, tears in her eyes. “I thought it would be okay to come down since the cops are here. Lou is safe. She reset your alarm and she won’t open the door. I had…I needed to see it.”
He wished she’d never had to see this. He had a hundred questions for her, but they would have to wait. He knew what she needed right now.
He crossed the space between them and wrapped her up in his arms. “I’m going to figure this out for you. I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt you and Lou.”
It was a promise he fully intended to keep.
Chapter Six
“Hey, you okay? I know that’s a dumb question, but what I’m basically asking is are you as okay as you can be, and do you need a margarita to be more okay?”
Daphne looked up at the woman who’d offered up her home for a couple of days and managed a smile. Charlotte Taggart was a stunning woman who had at least half a foot on her and yet still looked petite compared to the men currently hanging around her house. “I think a margarita makes everything more okay.”
“On it.” Charlotte turned to her blender and started pouring and measuring. “Did the guys cut you out of the debrief? You know you can walk in there and sit down and they won’t kick you out or anything.”
She’d spent that first night at Boomer’s place, but the next day he’d told her he thought she should stay with friends of his until he’d managed to get the security system installed and cleaned the condo and replaced her furniture.
She hadn’t wanted to leave, but it was too soon to basically move in with the man. It was too much to ask of him. So now she and Lou were staying in the small pool house behind the Taggarts’ large home. Despite the fact that the house was solidly in Dallas, it was on a massive lot, backing up to a big nature preserve. The houses here were all big, almost estate-like, but the Taggarts weren’t like the very wealthy people her in-laws spent time with.
“I know who it is.” There was only one person in the world who hated her enough to trash her place. “I fired this guy a couple of weeks ago, and he flat-out told me he would get revenge. Not in those words, though. I think he said something like I will get some of my own. I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but now I think it meant that he would ruin my life like I’d ruined his. Except I’m not sure how I ruined his life. He was crappy at his job. That wasn’t my fault. I know I should be in there with the guys, but I don’t…” How did she explain this? “It’s been a long time since I was invited to a party.”