Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Allison

My heart was pounding as Jackson approached the door. I hadn’t thought to check the locks on the windows. Raccoons—or even bears, for that matter—were sometimes ingenious when it came to getting into things. Was it possible an animal had opened my window and gone inside in search of food? Maybe the same animal I heard scratching at my window before? As much as I dreaded cleaning up whatever mess a wild animal might have made inside, I hoped with all my heart it was as simple as that.

Jackson turned his face toward me, making eye contact as he frowned. He pointed to the doorknob and made a motion with his hands indicating that it had been unlocked before he got there.

My heart sank. A raccoon might open a window, but it would go out the same way—if it left at all. Only a human would open a window in order to unlock a door.

I reached over and made sure the truck doors were locked, sinking into my seat even as I strained my eyes to catch a glimpse of Jackson. He had gone inside, and from what I could see through the open front door, he was methodically clearing rooms with his gun raised.

I was beyond grateful he had brought me home tonight. I probably would have run straight inside, thinking only of the bat, never even noticing the window. Someone could have been inside waiting for me. My body went cold at the thought.

Time stretched slowly as I waited for Jackson to return. When he came back outside, he didn’t come to the truck—not right away, at least. He used a flashlight to look around the house, disappearing again as he slowly made his way around the back. When he finally returned and opened my truck door, his face was grim.

“Whoever it was is gone now,” he said flatly. “Nothing is visibly disturbed, but I’ll need you to walk me through and make sure you don’t see anything missing. I’ll dust for prints, though the odds of that turning up anything are slim. Are you completely sure you’ve never opened the window?”

“One hundred percent,” I confirmed.

“Any chance you left the door unlocked?”

“No,” I shook my head. “Locking up is so ingrained in me after living in Memphis that there’s no way I would have left without locking that door and double-checking it.”

“You left your car unlocked the other day,” he pointed out.

I frowned, feeling defensive. “I told you I don’t know what happened that night.”

He looked at me and sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to question you. I’d just rather this be a mistake on your part than a break-in. You shouldn’t have to go through that.”

“Story of my life,” I said, attempting a smile. But he didn’t smile back. He just held my gaze, like he could see right through me.

“You ready to go look around?” he asked, his voice softer than before.

No. Not even close. But I swallowed hard and nodded. “Let’s do this.”

Jackson had me lead him through the house. He was mostly quiet, but he would occasionally ask questions, verifying if something was normal. I was glad he was there, as his presence was the only thing giving me a sense of safety after everything that had happened. But it felt wrong that his first time at my house was walking through it like it was a crime scene. A friend coming over for the first time should be fun, relaxing. It should have been a dinner party or a game night. Or even the Jane Austen movie night I had threatened him with.

Not this.

But we both pretended it was the most normal thing in the world for him to go through my house room by room as I checked to make sure nothing was missing.

It was easy enough, since I had always shared a home and didn’t own many so-called valuables. Very few people would be interested in stealing medical textbooks. As far as I could tell, everything of mine was still there.

When we finished and he had dusted for prints, Jackson stood in my living room, arms crossed, with a look of frustration on his face. “I don’t like it, Allison. It seems like someone broke in just to look around. Nothing’s gone. Nothing’s out of place. But they also didn’t bother to hide the fact that they were here. They could easily have closed the window and at least locked the bottom lock before leaving. You might have second-guessed whether or not you had set the dead bolt. Whoever was here didn’t care if you knew about it.”

The thought sent chills up my spine. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head.

“Any luck with prints?” I asked hopefully.

He shook his head again. “The window and door had both been wiped clean. So he didn’t care if you realized he was here—maybe even wanted you to know—but he took the time to wipe away the evidence of his identity.”

“So we’ve got nothing?” My heart sank.

“It’s still a clue,” he said. “I suspect that means he knows his prints are in the system.”

“Does that narrow it down quite a bit?” I asked, biting my lip.

He winced. “Not as much as you’d think. But some.”

“What now?”

“We file an official report. I want to find out where Frank Cross was tonight, after the incident at the clinic.” His eyes softened. “I’m going to find out who did this, Allison. I promise.”

I shook my head. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. That’s one of the first things we learn in the medical field. If there aren’t any prints, this could be a dead end and we both know it. You shouldn’t promise me differently.”

“I’ll find him,” he said firmly.

His confidence made me smile. “Okay. You’ll find him. Or her.” Another thought crossed my mind, one that felt infinitely less threatening. “Any chance this is a Rosemary Mountain busybody just wanting to poke around in my business?”

He nodded, finally showing me that grin that had been missing since we arrived at my house. “Honestly? Yeah. It’s possible. A few years ago a family moved to town and came home to find one of the neighbors in their house. The woman had broken in just to look around and see what remodeling they had done. She was flabbergasted that they had a problem with it.”

Something in me loosened, shifted. “Then I’m going to hope it’s as simple as that. After all, whoever it was didn’t take anything and didn’t stick around to hurt me. So maybe it’s nothing?”

His face darkened again. “I hope so.”

I cocked my head. There was something he wasn’t telling me. “What are you hiding from me, Jackson?”

“Nothing,” he said, his face becoming a mask. “Just don’t let your guard down, okay? Not until we know for sure. Promise me.”

“Okay,” I said, swallowing hard. “I promise.”

He helped me clean up the mess from where he had attempted to get fingerprints. I delayed him leaving as long as possible, trying to keep him engaged in conversation in an attempt to feel normal. When he left, I would be alone in the house, and there was a fear inside me that I knew would come out to play the minute I was alone.

Jackson seemed to sense it, because when we finally finished and I walked him to the door, he lingered. “Are you going to be okay here tonight?”

“Of course,” I said, even though I could hear the doubt in my voice.

“Allison,” he said, reaching up to touch my face softly. “It’s okay if you’re scared. I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”

I started to assure him it wasn’t necessary, but I paused. What if I didn’t have to be brave just yet?

“Really?” I asked, hesitant. “I know you have to work tomorrow.”

“Yes. So do you, and you don’t even have a car here. I don’t really like the idea of you jogging alone tomorrow after this. Let me stay, Allison.” His face told me he was dead serious, that he truly wanted to keep me safe.

I wrapped my arms around myself to keep from wrapping them around him. “Okay,” I said. “If you’re sure you don’t mind. I had completely forgotten about my car, but after this, I don’t want to jog to the clinic.” I shivered. “And here I thought I was going to leave the gym behind and get back to exercising in nature now that I’m out of Memphis.”

“You will,” he said. “Just not tomorrow.”

“Not tomorrow,” I agreed.

Jackson retrieved some things from his truck while I busied myself setting up the couch for him. The house had only come with basic linens, so I pulled one of my pillows off the bed, along with an extra blanket I had found in the linen closet. It wasn’t a particularly nice setup, and I felt so guilty I almost offered to take the couch myself. But I knew it was pointless to offer—Jackson was a gentleman who would never let me give up my own bed.

Besides, the thought of sleeping down here so close to the window where the intruder had come in was terrifying. What if he came back tonight? The very idea conjured images in my imagination that gave me fresh chills. When Jackson came back inside, he rushed over to me.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head as I came back to earth. “I was just imagining how bad it could have been if…if things had been different.” I put my hand on his chest, feeling somehow more stable when I felt his heartbeat underneath it. “I’m hoping this was nothing more than someone with curiosity and boundary issues, but I admit I’m more freaked out than I realized. Thank you for being here, Jackson.”

“Always,” he said as he reached up and squeezed my hand.

“I’ll have to figure out a way to repay the favor.”

He laughed as he plopped down onto my couch. “You could always get your girlfriends to go skinny-dipping with you again and give me a heads-up as to when and where. Give me another one of those core life memories.”

“Jackson! That’s terrible,” I said, tossing the pillow at him, even though I was grinning from ear to ear.

“You asked,” he said, winking.

“I’m too old for skinny-dipping,” I retorted. “Although I’m sure if you asked Luna…”

He threw the pillow back at me. “Not even funny.”

“Sorry,” I said. “You’re right. I shouldn’t tease you about her.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” he said, though he was smiling.

I tucked my hair behind my ears and sighed. “I guess I should head to bed.” Even though I knew there was no way I would be able to sleep.

He looked at me for a long minute. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not sleepy yet. How about that Jane Austen movie you promised me?”

“Really?”

“Really.” He grinned. “Especially if it comes with hot cocoa.”

“Believe it or not, I can manage that,” I said, laughing. “It’s one of the few things I always keep stocked.”

“I know,” he said. “I cleared your house, remember? Saw the tin sitting in the pantry. Looked fancy and expensive. I always buy the cheap stuff that comes in envelopes. Easy peasy.”

“Oh no,” I said, shaking my head. “None of that fake chocolate and corn syrup here. You’re about to get treated to decadent organic cocoa with real cream and sugar. You’ll never be the same.”

“Might even make the Jane Austen movie worth sitting through.”