Chapter 3

"And this,"Jamie said, after introducing Brax and Marsh, "is Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Levi Bishop."

Levi wrangled his gaze from the ocean view out the balcony doors and extended his attention and hand to the young man standing with them in the middle of his Cardiff home's living area. "It's nice to meet you, Press."

Presley Jackson played basketball for one of the teams in LA, but years before going pro, he'd played at Charlotte University when Jamie had been undercover as a coach there. After impressing at CU, Press had transferred to a D-I school and led his team to a national championship.

"Nice to meet you too." Press returned the shake, then glanced around again at their gathered group, including Aidan. "Though, no offense, this seems like a lot of folks for a break-in."

Levi jutted a thumb at Marsh. "We're getting married this weekend. Again."

Marsh, in turn, jutted his thumb at Brax. "And he's my best man, so he was already along for the ride."

"Well, I appreciate it," Press said with a chuckle. "It's certainly more interest than the one local cop on Saturday night showed." Jamie had told them about how the brush-off by the San Diego County sheriff's department, which served as local law enforcement for Cardiff, was a big reason why Press had reached out to him yesterday. That and he'd been pretty rattled.

"We'll get to that," Levi said as their group carefully followed Press through the tossed living area to the balcony where the furniture was still intact. "But why don't you start by telling us what happened."

"Yeah, so, you know I play in LA. Got a condo up there near the facility. But season's over. Been over for us for a while." He rolled his eyes and swiped a hand over his shaved head. "Anyway, I wanted to spend some time here since I just bought the place and I'm part-time at UCSD."

"Press is getting his law degree," Jamie said, pride brimming over in his voice as he patted Press's back.

A blush reddened Press's dark cheeks. "Promised my mom and best friend."

"How long ago did you buy the place?" Aidan asked.

"Closed the Friday before Memorial Day."

"And everything was okay at first?" Brax said.

"Yeah, first couple weeks were great." He stretched an arm out toward the glass and metal balcony wall. "I mean, look at that view."

"It's stunning," Levi concurred. West of the 5 and situated on a bluff over the San Elijo Lagoon, Press's place had a view that extended all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It was a hell of a perch; the sunsets would be amazing.

"Would sell anyone," Marsh replied. "But it's also isolated up here."

"Also what sold me on it, until the break-in." Press folded his arms, fingers digging into his biceps. "I got home late Saturday. Been studying with classmates for an exam later this week. I was so tired I didn't even realize the house alarm was off. Took the elevator up from the garage, flicked on the lights, and found the place trashed. Ripped sectional cushions on the floor, cabinets and drawers open, pictures down off the walls. Then there was a crash from out here. The balcony doors were open, so I guess whoever it was ran out this way."

Levi peered over to the balcony wall. "That's a steep drop."

"No shit," Press said. "And I sure as hell wasn't chasing him over it."

"Him?"

"Yeah, bulky dude. White from what I could see of his neck between the mask and jacket he wore. Also saw a car waiting for him at the bottom."

"Make and model?" Marsh asked as he stepped beside Levi.

"Old four-door of some sort. Sorry, it was dark out and so was the car."

Marsh craned over the balcony, glancing left and right, then pointed at the intersection and signal lights to the north. "I'll pull cams." He rotated back around, leaning against the rail. "About what time was this?"

"Just before ten," Press answered. "I was about to call—" His abrupt halt drew Levi back around and Brax and Aidan to the edge of their seats, the SAC beating Levi to his next question.

"Why did you buy this place?" Aidan said. "You could've gotten into a law school in LA. Somewhere closer to the facility and your place up there."

The baller blushed again, deeper this time. "Well, I won't be playing forever, and I don't love LA."

"But you do love someone here," Levi surmised, following the clues in Press's carefully chosen words and his less carefully hidden reactions.

His gaze flickered to Levi and Marsh, then bounced to Jamie, a safer, more familiar ear for him. "He's got a job here, a good one, so I figured I'd put down some roots too, for whenever I decide to stop playing."

Jamie clasped his shoulder. "He's a lucky guy."

"I'm the lucky one," Press said, the corners of his lips turned up in a shy smile, clearly smitten. Maybe even in love. But if so, why hadn't he mentioned the boyfriend to Jamie? Where was he now?

"Have you been staying with him since the break-in?" Levi asked. It had been two nights now—the night of the incident, then last night, when, after no follow-up from the sheriff's department, Press had called Jamie. "Doesn't look like you've been here much."

"No, he's... umm... out of town. Special occasion. I didn't want to bother him." Chin ducked, he ran his hand over his head again. "I've been at a hotel near campus."

While Levi was curious what Press was holding back, he sensed Press would be more comfortable having that conversation with Jamie. And Levi didn't sense it was relevant to the case; Press didn't seem the sort who would hold back that kind of information, especially not after calling them in to help. Levi circled back to an earlier, more relevant thread instead. "What did the local officer say? The one who was here Saturday night."

"Random break-in."

"Was anything missing?" Aidan asked.

Press shook his head. "Nothing as far as I can tell. Just trashed the place, then ran." He gestured again at the balcony wall. "I mean, what could he carry out and over?"

"Your championship ring," Jamie said.

"Nope," Press said. "Still in the glass case on my desk."

"Anything else small and valuable like that?" Brax asked. "A safe with cash or papers?"

Press shook his head. "Nope and nope. Nothing's missing as far as I can tell."

"What do you know about the house?" Marsh asked.

"That I got it for way cheaper than everything else around here. Figured it was the highway noise." As if on cue, a car horn blew from not far off, some Monday morning commuter clearly unhappy about the traffic. Press, however, didn't seem too bothered by it. "I can close the balcony doors and hardly hear it."

"We'll look into it," Jamie said before his gaze strayed to Marsh's, and Levi could practically hear their hacker game plan coming together.

"Could it have been someone targeting you?" Brax gently asked. "You are kind of famous."

"Not that famous. Definitely not his kind of famous," he said with a head tilt toward Jamie. "So that leaves who? The asshole I beat at mock trial?" He shrugged again. "Whoever it was, he ran away when I got here."

"I'd still like to put a protection detail on you, especially if you intend to stay here," Levi said.

"I'll stay at my boyfriend's place. He's back today and also former military, so I'm all set for protection."

"You sure?"

"We're good."

"All righty, then," Levi said, letting the matter of protection and Press's boyfriend go again for now, intending to have Jamie follow up in a less my-living-room-is-full-of-LEOs manner. "Let us do some digging and see what we can find out."

"Do you have the contact info for the local officer who responded Saturday night?" Marsh asked.

"Detective Hines." Press fished his wallet from his back pocket, withdrew a card, and handed it to Marsh, who snapped a picture with his phone before passing it back. "We'll reach out, then be in touch."

"I'll check in too," Jamie said. "And keep me posted if you run into any more trouble."

"Yeah, Coach," Press said with a nod. "Thanks for calling in the cavalry."

"Least I could do," Jamie replied, drawing his former player into another hug, then walking and talking next season with him and Aidan as they all made their way downstairs to the garage.

Levi hung back with Marsh and Brax, the latter of whom asked, "Chance it's a random BE?"

"If this were Oceanside or downtown San Diego," Levi said, "fifty-fifty."

Marsh finished his thought. "But here in Cardiff, single digits."