Unbreakable Hearts Page 10

  Jeff sat his plate down. “What? What’re you talking about?”

  She told him what’d happened, that she thought it’d been him standing in her doorway.

  “Jesus, Till.” He was now in full police mode and began walking through the house checking it out. He went out the back door then a minute later came in again making a call on his shoulder mic. “We’ve got a possible 10-21 at…” He proceeded to give Tilly’s address but she wasn’t listening. She heard him say something about footprints in the snow but she was too busy internally freaking out thinking that a strange man had been in her house, had been in her bedroom! Oh, God!

  Over the next hour a detective and a whole crew of technicians showed up to dust for fingerprints and cast the footprints outside her back door. She watched as they covered her cameras and laptop in the fine powder, knowing they’d probably be ruined. Only her brother bending down eye level with her seemed to bring her out of her befuddlement at watching it all.

  “Tilly? Hey, Till?” he said, leading her by the shoulders to sit in a chair then he squatted down in front of her. “Hey, you okay?”

  She looked at him, still half out of it. “What?”

  “I asked if you’re okay.” When she just kept looking at him as if she didn’t know what he was saying, he asked, “Do you want to go to the ER? I think you’re in shock.”

  That seemed to wake her up some. “God, no. I’ll be fine. Just a little stunned is all. What’d they find? Do they have any clues?”

  He frowned. “No. They didn’t pull any prints. Guy was probably wearing gloves. He jimmied the window by your back door open. That’s where he came in. You’re gonna need to install an alarm system.”

  “Yeah. Okay, I’ll call someone today. That way I’ll be safe tonight,” she said distracted, still freaked out that a stranger had been in her house.

  “Oh, you’re not staying here tonight,” Jeff informed her.

  She stared at him, still slow in taking it all in. When what he’d said finally got through, her eyebrows came down and she looked at him confused. “Uh, yes, I’m staying here. Why wouldn’t I stay in my own home?”

  He frowned back at her as if she was totally nuts. “Maybe because some asshole broke into your house last night? You think that might be a good reason?”

  “Well, where am I supposed to stay then?” Now the panic was setting in as everything became real.

  “You can stay with Jen and me,” he offered.

  Jen was coming in that night and they only had a small loft apartment. Yeah. That wasn’t going to work.

  “I’ll stay at Quinn’s. She’s supposed to fly in tonight. I’ll call and let her know,” she said distractedly and guessed Jeff thought that was a good idea because he nodded in approval. She woodenly moved toward the stairs so she could go to her room and gather her things.

  “Hey,” Jeff said from behind her. When she turned around, he enclosed her in his arms, holding her tightly. And that’s when she started to cry. “Aw, Till, it’s gonna be okay. We’ll keep you safe. Promise.”

  In barely a whisper she said, “I thought it was you. What if…”

  “Shhhh. Let’s not do the ‘What ifs’ okay? It’ll only upset you more and just piss me off.” He pulled back and looked down at his big sister. “You go get your things together and I’ll try to clean up a little, okay? Then I’ll drive you to Quinn’s.”

  She nodded then went upstairs to pack. She couldn’t help but shudder when she walked into her room knowing that a little over twelve hours before, a man she didn’t know had stood in her doorway and watched her sleep. God, what if he’d hurt her? Or worse? She’d been so out of it with the stupid pills she’d taken, she wouldn’t have been able to even put up a fight. And why had he taken her cameras and not anything else that she’d noticed was missing? What could he want with them?

  Then a horrible thought hit her. Could it have been Doug who’d come in and taken them out of some kind of sick revenge for her breaking up with him? It only made sense since Jeff had threatened him, embarrassing him in front of her. She’d have to tell Jeff her suspicions, which almost made her feel better. If it was Doug, at least it was someone she knew. Better the psycho you know than the one that you don’t, right? But either way, it was upsetting and she knew it’d take some time for her to get over the feeling of being violated.

  Chapter 11

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Quinn remarked in disgust.

  “I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past him, but I don’t want to accuse him of something he may not have done,” Tilly said.

  They were sitting in Quinn’s living room in her apartment. Her flight had come in at five, and now she and Tilly were talking about the break-in.

  “I don’t trust the bastard. And I’m still wanting to die laughing that he thought you’d marry him. Meth does very bad things to people,” Quinn stated.

  Tilly snorted her wine out of her nose, grabbing a napkin as she laughed at her friend. “He’s not on meth. He’s just a serious psycho who may have stalker tendencies. And I know better than to be taking a drink when you’re talking.” She wiped her shirt clean of the Cabernet Sauvignon. Good thing it was an old t-shirt.

  Quinn laughed then took a sip of her wine. “Why do you think I time my drinks when we’re together? I never know what’s gonna be said, and God knows I’ve ruined many a shirt from spewing at something you’ve said.”

  Tilly was glad her best friend was back. She’d squeezed her so tightly when she’d come in the door from the airport it’d practically made Quinn squeak. Now they were on their third glass of wine and she was feeling much better about things. Jeff had called telling her he’d told one of the detectives about her suspicions and he said he’d talk to Doug. Then he said he’d called Joe, a fellow police officer, and he’d contacted a friend of his to come in and install a security system the next day. She’d scolded her brother about it, telling him it’d probably cost double to have it installed on a weekend, heck, triple since it was a holiday weekend, but Jeff had said he’d called their mom and she was footing the bill. Next, Maggie Maxwell had called her daughter all in a tizzy, upset about what’d happened. It’d taken Tilly twenty minutes to calm her mother down and the next twenty to convince her that the answer was not for Tilly to move to Cold Spring and set up her business there.

  “Not as many as I have,” Tilly mumbled as she took another drink.

  “I wish you could stay here for a while, Till, but you know Jodi’s coming in Monday.”

  Jodi was Quinn’s sister who was an actor and lived in California. She’d called the previous month to ask if she could stay with Quinn because she’d gotten a part in an off-Broadway play in New York City, which would be opening the first of the year. Since no one ever knew how long plays would run, the length of her stay was undetermined.

  “Oh, yeah, I totally understand. I can’t wait to see her! It’s been at least two years.”

  “If you don’t count when she was on that sitcom last year.”

  “I meant in person, but that was so cool!” Tilly laughed. “You and I both had sore throats the next day from screaming so loud at the TV.”

  “Good thing I taped it, huh? We couldn’t hear any of her lines we were being so loud.” Quinn giggled. “And then you started crying.” She looked at Tilly, eyebrow raised.

  “Hey! She’s like a little sister to me! I was proud!”

  “Well, if I take you to this play she’s going to be in, we’re not gonna have a repeat performance, are we?”

  “I don’t know,” Tilly said with a giggle.

  “Softie,” Quinn said, rolling her eyes.

  “I know. You should’ve seen me at Jeff’s graduation. All three of them.”

  “Such a sappy big sister.”

  “I know, I know. I can’t help but be proud of my little siblings.” Tilly grinned.

  Quinn rolled her eyes again. “Well, if Jodi didn’t look just like me, people’d think she was your sister. I
think she likes you better anyway.”

  “Only because I used to do her makeup when she’d come visit you in college.”

  “She was thirteen! Of course, she loved you for that since Mom and Dad didn’t let either of us wear it until we were eighteen. Jeez. If I’d done that to Jeff, he’d love me more too.”

  Tilly cracked up. “Yeah, Jeff in makeup. He’d so love you for that.”

  “You know what I mean,” Quinn answered with a laugh. She got up and went to the kitchen to open another bottle of wine. When she came back in the living room, she poured them each a new glass then sat on the other side of the couch from Tilly. “You are gonna be okay, yeah?”

  Tilly gave her an annoyed look. “I won’t need your services, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Quinn frowned. “That’s not what I meant. That was some pretty scary shit, Till. I know I’d be shaken up if it happened to me. You have every right to ‘need my services’ if you feel so inclined.”

  After taking a drink, Tilly stated, “Just keep filling my glass and I’ll be fine.”

  “Oh, now there’s an answer: alcoholism. I might just join you.” She leaned forward and clinked her glass to her best friend’s. “Here’s to Doug, the asshole who thinks he can get away with shit. His balls should be cut off.”

  “We don’t know if it was Doug,” Tilly warned.

  “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Douche bags make douche bag moves, Till. If the douche fits…”

  Tilly had been sure not to be taking a drink at that moment and saved herself another spit take as she laughed. But as she did take her next drink, she shuddered at the thought that whether it was Doug or someone else, they’d been in her house without her knowing.

  ***

  Around noon on Saturday, Oz muttered to himself, “Matilda Maxwell,” as he drove to the address Hank had given him that morning, wondering why the name and even the address sounded familiar. He’d called her earlier to make sure she’d be home for him to install the security system and hadn’t recognized her voice but the name still nagged at the back of his mind. Probably had been a friend of his mom’s with a name like Matilda.

  Now he pulled up in front of the house, gathered the equipment he needed for the job, exited his truck and walked up the steps to ring the doorbell. A police officer answered who he assumed was Jeff, Joe’s friend.

  “Hey, John Osby, with CEP. Joe sent me,” Oz said, putting his hand out.

  Jeff shook Oz’s hand. “Hey, Jeff Maxwell. Yeah, Joe’s a good friend of mine. Recommended you guys highly. Thanks for coming on such short notice. C’mon in, John.” Jeff showed him into the house.

  “You can call me Oz. Joe said you had a break-in, huh?” Oz asked as he followed Jeff inside.

  “Yeah. Pretty bad stuff. Really shook her up. I want this place armed to the fucking hilt, if you know what I mean. Let me show you where the idiot came in.” Oz set his equipment down in the front room and followed Jeff to the window by the back door. “He pried the lock open and came in here.”

  Oz looked at the window, which was an older model with a latch at the top of the bottom half. “Looks like he got that latch to move somehow. Must not have been turned properly to begin with.”

  Jeff looked at it and agreed.

  “Might tell your mom to make sure the latch is turned all the way from here on out,” Oz suggested.

  “Yeah, well, it’s my older sister who lives here. She must’ve opened it back in the fall and just didn’t get it turned tight enough when she closed it. I’m sure she won’t make that mistake again, though.”

  Oz chuckled. “Yeah, I’d think not. Joe said you want the best, so that’ll involve wired and wireless sensors and a motion sensor flood at the front and back doors. Anything else you want, I can do, window sensors with magnets, audio or both.”

  “Let’s go with both. I’d also like a sensor on the stairway,” Jeff instructed as they walked back to the front room.

  “Got it. I can put one at the top of the stairs and then in the hallway. Installation should take around three hours. That okay?”

  “Sounds good. Okay, I’ll let you get to work. My sister’s in the back in her studio, so if you need anything, you can find her there. I doubt she’ll be coming out, though. Working on a recent gig. You’ve got my number, right?”

  Oz picked up his clipboard and looked. “Yep, I’ve got it.”

  “Good. I’ll stop back by in a couple hours, see how things are going. Don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions.”

  “Sure thing.” They shook hands again and Jeff left.

  Oz got busy installing the system and remained so for an hour when he realized he needed a couple more sensors for the windows.

  “Shit,” he murmured to himself. He’d have to go back to CEP to pick up what he needed. He called Jeff to let him know what was going on who informed him that he was about five minutes away and he’d come by and stay while Oz was gone. Moving through the kitchen, he saw a door that he assumed was Jeff’s sister’s studio. “Um, Ms. Maxwell?”

  “Yes?” a feminine voice answered.

  “I’ve got to go back to the office to pick up a part. Are you okay with that, ma’am?”

  “Yes, I’ll be fine. The front door locks on its own, so you can go on out.”

  “All right. I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”

  “’Kay!” she hollered back.

  Oz left, checking to make sure the door did lock on his way out. He took a look around to make sure there was no one suspicious in the area then went to his truck getting in. But he couldn’t make himself leave knowing the woman inside was alone. He waited until he saw her brother arrive in his cop car then got out of the truck.

  “I didn’t want to leave her alone,” Oz told Jeff walking over to his patrol car.

  “Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”

  “No problem. Sorry to have to make you come back. I’ll be back in thirty minutes or so.”

  “No big deal. I’ll just take my lunch break now. Get me some more turkey.” Jeff grinned.

  Oz laughed. “Good deal. Okay, I’ll be back in a few.”

  ***

  “Till? I’m gonna make a turkey sandwich. Want one?” Jeff yelled at his sister when he was inside.

  She came out of her studio. “Oh! What’re you doing here again?”

  “The security guy didn’t want to leave you alone so he called me. Then he waited until I got here before leaving.”

  “Wow. That was really nice of him,” she said, going to the fridge and getting out everything to make lunch. “By the way, who is that guy? When he told me he was leaving, I came out to tell him I’d be okay, but he was already going out the door. He’s, uh, kinda hot.” She blushed as she told her brother something she’d usually only tell Quinn. Ugh. This whole being broken into situation had really messed her up.

  “Gross,” Jeff replied, making a face at her, which made her snort. “He’s out of Citadel Executive Protection. Joe recommended them to me.”

  “You’ll have to introduce us when he gets back. I only saw his back, but he had a nice butt.” Oh, God. What was wrong with her? She put a hand to her cheek in embarrassment.

  “Jesus, Till. You sure that guy didn’t knock you over the head the other night?” he asked, his I-can’t-believe-my-sister-is telling-me-shit-about-how-hot-she-thinks-a-guy-is-and-now-I-think-I’m-gonna-puke look appearing.

  She laughed, feeling the same way about her blurting out those things to him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep too well last night even with the thirty glasses of wine Quinn plied me with, so maybe that’s it. I think my brain’s having a tough time engaging with my mouth. Or maybe it’s having too easy a time. I don’t know. I just feel weird. This whole thing’s just weird. But I feel like what happened is like when you have a bad dream, you know? It’s scary while you’re having it and right after you wake up, but in the morning it’s not so bad. It’s like this never happened. Everything’s better in daylight, know
what I mean?” She knew she was rambling, another side effect of being so rattled she hoped, as she grabbed the bread from the box and started preparing sandwiches for them.

  “I can understand that, but if you had my job, you’d realize bad shit happens any time of day. Don’t get overconfident with this, Till. You can’t trust anyone.”

  “Yeah,” she whispered. He was right. She needed to make sure to remember how serious the situation was.

  They ate their lunch and Tilly asked Jeff about Doug. He said he hadn’t heard back from the detective but he’d check into it. After they’d eaten, she went back to work while Jeff watched a little TV.

  “The guy’s back, Till! I’ll swing back by later, okay?” Jeff hollered at her.

  “Okay! Be safe!” she yelled.

  She waited a while after Jeff had gone before going out to check on how hot the security guy was, er, how things were going with the security guy, yeah, that’s what she was doing. She walked into the living room to see him with his back to her, squatting under a window working with some kind of gadget. Wow. His extremely broad shoulders were covered by a tight gray, thermal Henley, and that broadness V’d down to a narrow waist. And now she saw that she’d been right. The guy did have a very nice butt. When he stood up, her mouth hung open seeing he was around 6’4” and very well built, his long legs thick with muscle that showed through his jeans and his shirt tight on his also muscular arms. And that V was freaking real. She hadn’t imagined it. Dear God, if his face matched the body, she’d probably faint.

  The guy turned to get something out of a box and she did almost faint then.

  It couldn’t be him. No way could it be. But she could’ve sworn that John Osby, the guy she’d crushed so hard on in high school, the star quarterback, was standing right there in her living room looking better than ever.

  If it wasn’t him, something inside her suddenly wished it was. She could seriously go for some Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome right about now after all the crap she’d been through with Mr. Short, Pale and Just Kinda Okay, along with everything else besides.