Page 48 of Rekindle My Heart

He licked her cheek and pushed his big body into hers.

The squeal of tires snagged her attention. His truck—boat and trailer still attached—skidded to a stop in front of her house. Ryan flew from the vehicle, leaving the door open. He didn’t even slow down at Karma’s bark.

“Good boy.” He scratched the dog’s ear as he passed, his full attention focused on her. Before she could speak, he scooped her up, hugging her close. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” His freshly showered scent soothed her. She melted into his hold for a moment before remembering she needed to be strong. “The living room is trashed. Not sure if they took anything. And I didn’t go beyond that.”

“You stay here. I will clear the house and try not to disrupt the crime scene.” Ryan pulled his gun from his holster, and with sure steps, entered the house.

What seemed like an eternity was only minutes, and he was back. “I called it in. A patrol officer will be here in a few minutes.”

“Do you think it was a typical burglary?”

“Your laptop is on the table, and the other rooms look to be untouched. It could have been an attempted B and E, but they didn’t plan on Karma.” He chewed his lip as he canvassed the room.

“What aren’t you saying?”

“It’s quite a coincidence that you started looking into inconsistencies and your home is broken into.” He stroked Karma’s head as he spoke. “I’m just glad you weren’t here.”

“I was lucky.”

“They could have been scoping out your house. Or they knew you were going to be on the river all day.”

She shot him a questioning look. “You don’t really think that.”

“I’m a detective. I question all the angles.” He leaned against the door frame. “Look at it this way. Stevens gets you out of the house so his guy has the day to go through your house and grab any files or evidence you have.”

“I don’t know.”

“Even a typical middle-of-the-road thief would be smart enough to know you have a dog. Especially, one the size of a horse. He would either pick an easier target or neutralize the dog.”

She covered Karma’s ears. “I can’t believe you’d say that in front of him.”

“It’s the facts. I listened to the gala recordings last night. Stevens definitely liked what he saw when you approached him. But his interest piqued once he heard your name and occupation. I think you were on his radar before last night. But the opportunity to get you out of the house didn’t give them enough time to do their research. That’s how Karma got the jump on them.”

She didn’t want to believe his conspiracy theories, but it was plausible.

“Next time, you might not be so lucky.”

She rolled her eyes. It was a habit she’d thought she’d kicked, but around Ryan it was making a comeback. “You’re just trying to scare me, so I won’t go out with Travis next week.”

“You aren’t a cop. This isn’t in your wheelhouse.”

“Please, I run into fires for a living. Hell, last week, my air regulatory failed. I still don’t know how I missed it on the precheck.” She mumbled the last to herself, but Ryan caught it.

His posture stiffened. He shifted from mildly concerned to heightened alert. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because it was a malfunction. Nothing nefarious.”

He squinted as if preforming a lie-detector test. “When was the last time the department had a malfunction?”

She examined the tip of her shoe. “A while ago.”

“Erica.” His voice pulled her attention back to him.

“Fine. I can’t remember one failing.”

The shade of red he turned was not a good look on him. He was about to blow.