“Can you tell us what happened?”

Officer Hartford’s voice was gentle as he sat with Alaina on her living room couch.

She stared at the far wall, not making eye contact. She didn’t know how long she’d been sitting alone, the wind blowing in through the broken window, the darkness shifting to daylight.

It could’ve been minutes. Hours. Days.

“Ms. Dans?”

Blaine’s voice was sharper this time and Alaina blinked.

“What?” she said.

Blaine Hartford was sitting next to her on the couch, dressed in uniform, looking at her with obvious concern.

“What happened?”

Alaina blinked again. She had a question of her own. “How did you get here?”

He frowned. “Our patrol car…”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I mean, did I call you? Did I…” She looked around, her eyes landing on the black smoke bomb still in the center of her living room. “Did I report this?”

“No.” Blaine pointed at the window. “We’ve just been dealing with a call-out in the area, and noticed the broken window when we drove by.”

“We?” She didn’t know why this was important, but she knew that he was speaking in plural, and she saw only one person sitting next to her.

“Officer Moss, my partner,” Blaine said.

“Was my door unlocked, too?”

Blaine’s eyes clouded. “No,” he said slowly. “You answered the door. You don’t remember?”

Wordlessly, Alaina shook her head.

“Where is he?” she asked. When Blaine gave her a blank look, she added, “Your partner.”

Right on cue, the front door opened and Ollie stepped inside holding a thin piece of plywood.

“Found this out in your garage,” he told Alaina. “You mind if I put it up outside? Keep that wind from blowing in?” He smiled. “I took the liberty of looking around out there. Found a drill that should do the trick.”

She just stared at him.

“Uh, are you cool with that?” he asked uncertainly. “I mean, we can wait. But right now, your heater is trying to warm up all of Aspen Falls…”

Alaina tried to snap out of whatever fog she was in. “Yes, of course.”

Ollie gave her a thumbs-up with his free hand and headed back outside. A couple of minutes later, they heard the whirring sound of the drill and the grinding noise as the screws bored their way into the wood siding.

Blaine cleared his throat and Alaina shifted her attention from the noise outside back to him. The room was already getting warmer now that the plywood was halfway bolted in place.

“Any idea what happened here?” Blaine asked.

Alaina pointed to the smoke bomb. “That happened.”

Blaine nodded.

“What is it?” she asked.

“A smoke grenade,” he told her. He looked at it for a minute. “Police have them on hand, but this looks like a military grade one.” He shifted his attention back to her. “You didn’t see anyone outside? A vehicle drive away?”

Alaina shook her head, remembering the dream she’d had just prior to waking up. She winced as the images and sounds came rushing back at her.

Blaine’s brow furrowed and he jotted something down on a small pad of paper. “Nothing at all?”

“I didn’t hear it,” she said. “The window break, I mean. When I woke up, the living room was full of smoke. The smoke detector was going off. I thought the house was on fire.”

He winced at her words. “I’m sorry. That must’ve been a scary thing to wake up to.”

She rubbed her temple. She could feel a headache coming on.

“Any idea who might’ve done this?” Blaine asked her.

She closed her eyes. “No.”

“No strained relationships?”

She thought of her father. He might’ve kicked her out of the house eight years ago, and she knew he still harbored anger toward her, but she doubted he was capable of doing such a thing.

“No,” she finally responded.

Blaine gave her a weird look—probably because of the amount of time it took her to answer his question.

He continued. “Any past clients or contractors?” he asked. “People who might have been upset about your purchases?”

Alaina frowned. “I’m not following.”

“You buy foreclosed homes and flip them, correct?”

She nodded.

“Did any of those sales force people out of their homes? Perhaps someone might’ve harbored some resentment, maybe said something at a closing.”

“No,” she said firmly. “I only buy vacant homes. The owners are long gone before I get involved.”

Blaine scribbled on his notepad. “Okay, but that might be a source, right? If someone was forced to move and then they saw their home was purchased by you?”

“I guess,” Alaina said.

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She was beginning to feel a little like her normal self again. She didn’t know if this was because Blaine was there, or because it was light outside, or simply because the window was now boarded up and the heat was actually serving its purpose, warming the interior of her house. Whatever the reason, she didn’t feel so hollowed out, so distant from herself and her emotions, which was how she’d felt immediately after attacking the smoke bomb with the fire extinguisher. She’d sat on the couch for what felt like hours, almost as if she were having some out-of-body experience.

Blaine sighed and she refocused her attention on him.

“What?” she asked.

He offered a small smile. “There’s not a lot to go on, I’m afraid,” he told her. “We can check with neighbors, see if anyone saw anything outside. Make or model of a car, or if someone was walking around in the neighborhood.” He paused. “Do you remember what time you woke up? Did you look at a clock or anything?”

“Five o’clock.”

His eyebrows lifted, and she could tell he was surprised by her quick response.

“My alarm started going off,” she explained. “It’s set for five on Monday mornings.”

He nodded and jotted this down.

“Alright,” he said, folding the cover over the notepad. “We’ll dust that,” he said, nodding at the grenade. “See if there are any prints on it.” He stood up. “You want me to call anyone for you?”

“Call anyone?” she echoed.

“To come over,” he said. “I didn’t know if you’d be comfortable being here by yourself.”

She felt irritation ignite in her belly. Was he seriously suggesting she couldn’t take care of herself? That she needed someone to come over and babysit her? She’d been on her own for eight years, thank you very much. There were a lot of things she’d learned over that time, but the one thing she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was that she could take care of herself.

But a voice inside her head whispered its objection to that. It needled her about her response to that morning’s crisis, and how she’d glued herself to the couch, frozen into inaction.

And she knew, if she were being honest with herself, that there was someone he could call. Someone who would instantly make her feel better. Safer.

Lucas.

“Alaina?”

She gave her head a quick shake, trying to eradicate the voice and the thoughts it was creating.

Blaine was standing at the front door, his hand on the knob. “I can call Lucas,” he suggested gently. “If you want me to.”

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. It was as if he’d read her mind. Were her feelings that obvious? Had she accidentally said his name out loud?

“He mentioned that he was working with you on your brother’s—” He stopped. “On your brother’s case.”

Relief flooded her. Her secret—was that what it was?—was safe.

“He is.” She cleared her throat and nodded.

“He’s usually a pretty good listener,” Blaine told her. “If you’re looking for that.”

She was looking for that. And a lot more.

She did want Lucas to come over. Needed him.

But her fear of looking weak and vulnerable won out. Blaine had suggested she might not want to be alone, and she’d immediately bucked at this. She knew, even in the state she was in, that she was overreacting, He’d made the suggestion because it was the type of thing he would say to anyone who’d experienced something distressing. It wasn’t a judgment on her character, on her coping abilities.

But still. She was hardwired to be defensive, to put up her guard, to make sure she was proving herself, in whatever situation she was in.

Did she want Lucas to come over and wrap her in his arms and whisper that everything was going to be okay?

Yes. She wasn’t sure she’d ever wanted anything more.

But she wasn’t going to admit it.

And she sure as hell wasn’t going to act on it.

“Did you want me to call him?” Blaine asked.

Alaina hesitated, then shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”