Agent in Training by Jerri Drennen Page B

emergency number. He quickly relayed the information then hung up. “They’re on their way. I’m going to stay with you.”
    Her eyes filled with tears and for some reason that caused a tightening in Nick’s chest. Why the director’s tears would stir such a reaction, he didn’t know, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to analyze his feelings now. She needed him to be strong, and he wasn’t leaving her side until she told him to. Maybe not even then.
     
    “Who would do this?” Shiloh looked around at the destruction. Framed pictures of her father lay on the floor, shattered. Shards of glass covered the textured, beige carpet.
    Nick shook his head. “I don’t know. Let’s take a quick look around… but don’t touch anything. We don’t want to disturb any evidence.”
    Shiloh narrowed her eyes at him. “I know the drill, Agent Trent.”
    She stepped over a pile of shredded sofa cushions and walked into her bedroom, inhaling sharply when she saw the mess. On her mirror, in red lipstick was the single word: DEAD. The top dresser drawers of her bureau were askew, her underthings tossed everywhere. A lacy pink bra dangled from the ceiling fan above her.
    A black negligee lay across her bed, a large kitchen knife stuck through it, piercing the mattress.
    Tears slid down her cheeks at the overwhelming scene. No mistaking it. This was a death threat. Someone planned to kill her. But who ? And why? The photos had been a little scary, but this was completely terrifying. Someone had actually broken into her apartment and destroyed everything she owned.
    “Are you okay?” Nick asked from behind her.
    She turned around in shock. “Would you be?”
    Sirens bellowed in the distance, alerting them that the police were on their way. Shiloh shook her head, and in a daze walked back into the living room. Everything she’d worked so hard for, lay in shambles.
    In a matter of seconds she’d gone from tipsy and contemplating whether she should sleep with Nicholas or not, to completely sober and fearful of any guy within a ten-mile radius. A crazed man did this to her apartment––she knew that––and until she found out which one had done this, she planned to take it out on the lot of them.
     
    When the last of the police and forensics team had left, Nick closed the door and locked it securely. Shiloh hadn’t said more than a few words since the cops had shown up and searched the apartment.
    A fingerprint team had lifted a partial print off a bottle of perfume on her bedroom dresser, a print instantly checked against her own––not to match. The intruder, without thinking, had picked the bottle up without gloves. It was the only other print that wasn’t hers.
    Nick walked over to where she stood looking out her living room window, a forlorn expression on her face. “Maybe you should try and get some sleep, Shiloh.”
    “Just go home, Nicholas. I’ll be alright,” she whispered.
    “I don’t want to leave you like this. Let me stay. I’ll sleep on…” He looked at the couch, then back to her. “The floor.”
    She scowled at him. “I can take care of myself, Trent.”
    “I never said you couldn’t. I’d just feel better if I stayed.”
    “Fine. But don’t get any ideas.”
    He frowned. “Ideas about what?”
    She tilted her head, looking annoyed. “You know.”
    “Are you telling me not to try anything with you?”
    She nodded. “The man can be taught.”
    Nick grinned. “Cute. Don’t worry. You’re not my type. I like California beach bunnies, remember?”
    Her eyes darkened. “Right. How totally bitchin’. Good night”
    Nick mentally counted to ten as she closed the bedroom door. The woman was driving him crazy. He should have just left. She was tough as nails and could take care of herself. But once again gallantry had kicked in and he’d insisted on staying. Now he was stuck, sleeping on the floor, with the Ice Princess in the next room wreaking havoc on his sanity.
    Grabbing a sofa pillow