37. Like A Champ

37

LIKE A CHAMP

" W hy is your father here?" Kelsey asked. She knew Adam Harlowe had reached out over a month ago. Maybe close to two at this point and that Van didn't reply back. She'd just lost track of time.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he said.

"Have you had any communication with your father?" Mac asked. "Any reason he'd be here and walk on your porch and not even ring the bell or knock?"

"No to it all," he said. "But I'll find out."

"Are you going to call him now?" she asked. It was seven at this point and they'd had a long day. They were all still dressed from the wedding because Van hadn't let her leave his sight.

"No," he said. "I'll call tomorrow. If it's him I'm not giving him the satisfaction of knowing I know he was here. Didn't you say you can track the dock cameras?"

"We can," Mac said. "But that won't stop him from leaving."

"Something in my gut says he wouldn't come in and look around and leave. Again, the alarms were shut off, meaning the intruder had the code. And a key had to be used. He'd have none of that. It's not him that was in the house."

"Are you sure?" Kelsey asked. She couldn't imagine any of this happening in her family. Someone coming over and not bothering to let them know.

But her family wasn't Van's either. As he got a bird's eye view of today.

She'd warned him they'd be swarmed and they were. He handled it like a champ though.

"Positive. There is another reason he's here and right now I can't deal with him and this. I've got to focus on who was in my house. We aren't staying though. Let's change and go back to your house tonight."

"Probably smart," Jarrett said. "Let us know if you think of anything else."

"I will," he said.

Her cousins left and she and Van changed out of their formal wear and packed up to go to her house with Frankie.

"You're not worried about leaving your house unattended?"

"No," he said. "It's only things. Nothing more. My laptop is locked in a drawer, not that I worry anything is on it of importance."

"They are things that have meaning here," she said.

"Not really," he said. "Only a few pieces in the house. The rest are all new. Things that my grandfather thought I'd like. No meaning there."

Other than Barry actually thought of his grandson and tried.

No reason to add that when Van most likely knew at this point.

She drove her SUV back home and Van followed in his truck. She wouldn't leave until he did. It was only a few minutes to get to her house and she pulled into the garage, Van leaving his truck on the other side of her driveway.

They got in the house and she set Frankie down and then brought her dress and bag to her room, Van following.

"You can start leaving things here if you want. It's up to you. We switch back and forth so much."

"It's not like I'm that far away," he said.

She wouldn't be hurt by those words. He was distracted by the night's events.

"True," she said.

Frankie was barking and prancing around. "What's his problem?"

"No clue," she said. "Maybe he has to go out again. It's been a busy night for him and he was scared at your house I'm sure. He was locked up when someone was in there."

She thought of that and was thankful her puppy was unharmed.

She walked to the kitchen, flipped the light on, unlocked the glass doors. Putting on her jacket, she stepped outside and let Frankie run to do his business.

She was standing on the deck waiting for his return, then turned to go back in the house.

"Motherfucker!" she yelled.

Van came running out and saw her staring at her house.

The word "WHORE" was spray-painted onto the siding.

"Fuck!" he shouted. "You and those damn online dating apps."

"Hey," she said, swinging toward him with her hands on her hips. "Don't blame me for that. That was months ago that Bill came here. No sign of him since."

"Then who else would do this?" he asked. "Has anyone else reached out to you?"

"No," she said. "No one. I hadn't dated that much before you. You know all those things."

"Call your cousin back," he said.

"We have to report this?" she asked. "Seriously?" Talk about embarrassing.

"Yes," he said. "Now I'm starting to wonder if it's connected to my break-in."

"How is that possible?" she asked. "This is vengeance and cowardice. Your house was someone looking for one thing and leaving thinking no one would know they were there."

"I don't know," he said. "Just call them. I'm going through your house now. Stay out here."

"It's cold," she whined.

"Don't go in," he snarled. "Do what you did at my house. Get in the car and back into the driveway."

He was walking off the back deck toward his truck. "Are you getting your gun again?"

She wasn't sure why she found that sexy at a time like this.

"Yes. Do what I said, Kelsey."

"You don't have to snarl at me," she said. She was going to follow directions because she was too scared not to.

"Boy," Mac said ten minutes later. "You're single-handedly keeping me busy tonight."

"Yep," she said sarcastically. "That's my goal in life. To make sure the Amore Island PD earns their salary."

"It's not the time for jokes," Van said.

"I'm not joking," she said, turning to glare at him. "I'm pissed. And when I'm pissed I swear, but I'm trying not to look like a lunatic in front of you two."

Mac lifted an eyebrow. "Nothing has stopped you before. Let it out."

"I can't," she said. "If I did I'd scream at the top of my lungs and wake my neighbors. They are probably all looking at the house right now anyway with your cruiser here, Mac."

Mac turned to Van. "Any signs in the house that someone was there?"

"No," he said. "But she doesn't leave traps like I do."

"Anything missing?" Mac asked her.

"No clue. Van wouldn't let me back in."

"Let's go," Mac said.

Van took Frankie out of her arms and they walked through her house. "I looked anywhere I could to see if someone was hiding in the house. I don't see any signs of entry. If you had a security system rather than just a front door camera we'd know more."

"Sorry," she said. "I've never had a reason for it here. It feels like this crap has only happened to me since meeting Van."

She shouldn't have said that when she saw the hurt look on his face.

"Yep, that's me bringing shit into your life."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean that."

"Kelsey is just worked up. If she was able to let it out then maybe she'd watch her tongue more," Mac said.

"Let's just file this report so I can fix any damage with Van," she told Mac.

An hour later, Mac was done. The neighbors had been talked to and no one saw anything. It didn't surprise her. Someone could have come in through her backyard or up the street and walked by the side of her house, sprayed that and moved on.

Just like at Van's, the motion lights going off could be anything. They could have thought it was her letting Frankie out. Could be the wind or another animal.

When they were back in the living room she was stewing on the couch. "I don't want to think this is connected," he said.

"I believe in coincidences, but how the heck could this be connected? My house is vandalized outside and someone just walked inside of yours and looks around. They could have thought you forgot to set the alarm or it went off on its own. There was no sign other than these little traps you set. It makes me wonder if you do that because you don't trust me."

"Stop," he said. "That's ridiculous and you know it. I've got no reason to not trust you."

"That's right. You don't get jealous even though you were ticked off over Bill. But you still said right away that you thought this had to do with my online dating months and months ago," she snapped.

"You've got a temper on you," he said.

"I do. More so when I'm being accused of something I didn't do and have given you no reason to even think about it. And if you think these are connected, there is no way one of my idiot dates would know you or where you live, let alone be able to get into your house!"

She took a deep breath. Phew, she felt better yelling. Maybe she should have done that outside as Mac suggested.

Frankie was hiding behind the chair and Van was only lifting his eyebrow at her.

Nothing seemed to faze him.

"Are you done now?" he asked.

"I think so," she admitted. "Listen, Van. Tell me why you think it's connected and why you think it has to do with you. I think that is why you're pissed. You can't ever talk to me or tell me what is going on and then it comes out in accusations."

"Just like you yelling at me rather than talking to me?" he asked.

"That's different. No one can deny I talk to you all the time and they sure the hell can't say I hide anything. I'm pretty open with how I feel. I know you think I joke all the time, but I'm not joking. This is serious. And this is what happens when I'm pissed off and it's serious."

"So noted," he said. "The reason I think this is tied together is the fact that neither of us was home tonight."

"We were at a family wedding," she said. It just hit her. "Someone would know that. They would know there would be no chance of us coming home and catching them."

"That's right," he said. "That would almost eliminate my father. He wouldn't know about Carson's wedding. It's not the same last name as yours. I doubt he even knows we are dating."

"It has to be someone on the island. Or someone that knows the Bond family."

"That is what I think," he said.

"What about that asshole from Cape Cod? The one that got in your face at the hotel. They were from Boston. They'd know the Bonds. They knew your name. You said you owned the hotel. If that idiot Bill found out about me and where I lived, someone could have done it at that party. They were taking videos of you and me when you were talking to them."

"Good point," he said. "I guess when you calm down you can piece things together. I'll let Mac know to look into them. But it still wouldn't explain how they could get into my house."

"Someone could be good at picking locks and security systems. Or jammers. Did you think of those things?"

"You watch too much TV," he said. "Like that movie the other night. That doesn't happen."

"Of course it does," she said. "How else do they think of it for a movie?"

He pulled her closer to him on the couch. "You can believe that all you want if it helps, but it's not true. I'm sorry this is happening to you."

"It's not your fault. Don't think it is," she said. The last thing she needed was for him to put this on his shoulders.

"It feels it," he said. "It feels like my whole life is out of control and I have no way to get the answers I need."

"You're getting more than you had before you moved here," she said. "And you could get some more with a phone call."

He kept quiet after she said that and she didn't expect any differently.

She wouldn't push even when she wanted to.