appeared. “I know you’re not happy with the way I did this,” he said softly. He nodded at Ben, who left with a quick wave for her and Rosario. “But maybe you’ll change your mind when you see the scratch marks on your garage door lock.”
Talia’s brow furrowed, a chill running through her as the impact of his words started to sink in. “It wasn’t a raccoon?”
Jack’s head gave a quick jerk to the side. “The lock was picked. Someone tried to break into your house.”
Chapter 3
Y ou can go ahead and file a report,” the officer, who was not nearly as nice as Officer Roberts, said in a voice that managed to convey the emptiness of that gesture. “But your landlord admitted the lock is old and the house had been previously burglarized. There’s no proof those scratches are from the other night—”
“They look fresh,” Jack interrupted. “Had they been from the previous burglary, they would have been smoothed out—”
“So being a high-priced rent-a-cop makes you an expert in forensics?” the cop said, adjusting his belt under his hefty gut as he puffed his chest out.
Ben rolled his eyes and went back into the house. Talia was pretty sure that crunching sound was Jack biting on his tongue. “What else do you suggest I do, Officer?”
“Keep your doors locked and your alarm on,” he said with a smirk, and left.
Jack muttered something under his breath.
“Tal, do you want me to stay with you for a little while?” Rosario asked, her hand on Talia’s arm the only warm spot on her body.
Talia shook her head. “I’ll be fine.” Rosario lovedliving on campus, and Talia would never take that away from her. And maybe she was being paranoid, but if someone was specifically targeting her, she wanted Rosie well away, safe in her dorm, protected by the university’s own rigorous security protocols. “Just do me a favor—no missing any curfew calls this week. Deal?” When Talia had agreed to let Rosario live on campus, they’d agreed Rosario would call her every single night, no matter what, at eleven p.m. to let her know where she was. In the eight months since school started, Rosario had gotten a little lax. And try as she did not to overreact, nothing sent Talia into a tailspin faster than not being able to get ahold of Rosie. There had even been one humiliating—according to Rosario—incident involving her dorm RAs and the campus police.
“Deal,” Rosario replied with a smile. “Eleven o’clock, on the dot, unless I go to bed early, and if I can’t call, I promise to text.” She gave Jack a quick hug good-bye and ran inside to get her stuff together.
“Talia—” Jack got cut off as his phone beeped. He let out a low curse. “I’m sorry, but we have to go.” He nodded at Ben, who emerged from her house with his bag of gear. “We need to move it if we’re going to make it on time,” he called over Talia’s head, then focused back on her. “I’m on a personal security detail over in Atherton—our client has been receiving death threats, so they’re temporarily relocating from London. It’s going to be twenty-four-seven, so the next few weeks—”
Talia held up her hand. “Jack, you don’t have to explain to me that you have a job to do. I know you didn’t come down from Seattle to see me. You don’t have to babysit me. I’ll be fine.”
He cocked an eyebrow and looked meaningfully in the direction of her garage door.
Talia shrugged and said, “Like Officer Friendly said, that probably happened ages ago.”
“You don’t buy that bullshit any more than I do.”
“Let’s move,” Ben said. “And I’m driving. You drive like a grandma.”
Jack didn’t budge. “The system is wired now to call Gemini headquarters and my cell phone if the alarm trips. I’ll get here as fast as I can, but if I can’t someone else will. And if anything else happens, you call me immediately. I’ll have my phone on and with me at all times.”
Talia rolled her eyes.
Talia’s brow furrowed, a chill running through her as the impact of his words started to sink in. “It wasn’t a raccoon?”
Jack’s head gave a quick jerk to the side. “The lock was picked. Someone tried to break into your house.”
Chapter 3
Y ou can go ahead and file a report,” the officer, who was not nearly as nice as Officer Roberts, said in a voice that managed to convey the emptiness of that gesture. “But your landlord admitted the lock is old and the house had been previously burglarized. There’s no proof those scratches are from the other night—”
“They look fresh,” Jack interrupted. “Had they been from the previous burglary, they would have been smoothed out—”
“So being a high-priced rent-a-cop makes you an expert in forensics?” the cop said, adjusting his belt under his hefty gut as he puffed his chest out.
Ben rolled his eyes and went back into the house. Talia was pretty sure that crunching sound was Jack biting on his tongue. “What else do you suggest I do, Officer?”
“Keep your doors locked and your alarm on,” he said with a smirk, and left.
Jack muttered something under his breath.
“Tal, do you want me to stay with you for a little while?” Rosario asked, her hand on Talia’s arm the only warm spot on her body.
Talia shook her head. “I’ll be fine.” Rosario lovedliving on campus, and Talia would never take that away from her. And maybe she was being paranoid, but if someone was specifically targeting her, she wanted Rosie well away, safe in her dorm, protected by the university’s own rigorous security protocols. “Just do me a favor—no missing any curfew calls this week. Deal?” When Talia had agreed to let Rosario live on campus, they’d agreed Rosario would call her every single night, no matter what, at eleven p.m. to let her know where she was. In the eight months since school started, Rosario had gotten a little lax. And try as she did not to overreact, nothing sent Talia into a tailspin faster than not being able to get ahold of Rosie. There had even been one humiliating—according to Rosario—incident involving her dorm RAs and the campus police.
“Deal,” Rosario replied with a smile. “Eleven o’clock, on the dot, unless I go to bed early, and if I can’t call, I promise to text.” She gave Jack a quick hug good-bye and ran inside to get her stuff together.
“Talia—” Jack got cut off as his phone beeped. He let out a low curse. “I’m sorry, but we have to go.” He nodded at Ben, who emerged from her house with his bag of gear. “We need to move it if we’re going to make it on time,” he called over Talia’s head, then focused back on her. “I’m on a personal security detail over in Atherton—our client has been receiving death threats, so they’re temporarily relocating from London. It’s going to be twenty-four-seven, so the next few weeks—”
Talia held up her hand. “Jack, you don’t have to explain to me that you have a job to do. I know you didn’t come down from Seattle to see me. You don’t have to babysit me. I’ll be fine.”
He cocked an eyebrow and looked meaningfully in the direction of her garage door.
Talia shrugged and said, “Like Officer Friendly said, that probably happened ages ago.”
“You don’t buy that bullshit any more than I do.”
“Let’s move,” Ben said. “And I’m driving. You drive like a grandma.”
Jack didn’t budge. “The system is wired now to call Gemini headquarters and my cell phone if the alarm trips. I’ll get here as fast as I can, but if I can’t someone else will. And if anything else happens, you call me immediately. I’ll have my phone on and with me at all times.”
Talia rolled her eyes.
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