Monday became Tuesday and then Wednesday and soon the entire week had passed, and they’d fallen into a routine. Anna was surprised how quickly she got used to having Ethan around. As much as she wanted him to solve the case, it would mean he wouldn’t have to stay with her. That would also mean she wouldn’t have him in her bed, in her arms, and wake up in the morning snuggled in to his side. And that didn’t even include the excellent meals he’d been making every night and sharing coffee in the morning. There was something to be said for sharing her home with him.

She had a decision to make about their future living arrangements. As much as she loved having him there, she still hesitated about making it permanent. That frisson of fear she couldn’t shake, that something would happen to him and she’d lose him like she lost Ryan. She didn’t know how she’d recover a second time from that kind of a heartbreak.

The thought of only seeing Ethan on the weekends and maybe one night during the week made her sad to think about. Having him there had made her feel safer and cherished. She didn’t doubt Ethan’s love for her at all, even though she hadn’t been able to bring herself to say the words to him. In her heart, she knew she loved him, maybe more than she’d loved anyone. But to say the words out loud scared the crap out of her. And there was the rub. If she couldn’t tell him, was she ready to take the next step in their relationship?

Ethan and Steele were both disappointed that their visit to her meeting hadn’t turned up anything. She knew they had more information then they could share, but still, as the days went on her tension eased in the office as it looked like her employees would be cleared. Anna wanted to tell them ‘I told you so,’ but she still had a niggling feeling she was missing something. She also hadn’t seen Mr. Creepy Pants again, but she could have sworn she’d caught the truck in her rearview mirror one or two times. She was a good girl too; she’d told Ethan as soon as she’d gotten home. It was too bad Florida didn’t require front license plates, or she might have had a chance to get more than just the first two letters.

The week flew by, and they still hadn’t solved the case. Now it was Saturday again. Would there be another break-in? Or had Ethan’s investigation scared them off? Hoping for a nice quiet evening, they decided to stay home, order pizza and watch the movie Deadpool. Unfortunately, their luck didn’t hold out. The phone rang at eleven-thirty. Anna was half asleep leaning against Ethan, but the ringing was like an instant ‘On’ button.  

“Damn.”

“I know. I was hoping, too.” It was Steele, he’d gotten the call first and was passing on the news which wasn’t all that good. Again, it was a Willow Haven Realty listing that had been hit. That much she’d figured out from listening to Ethan’s half of the conversation, but the look on his face scared her. An ominous feeling turned the pizza and beer in her stomach into a roiling bucket of acid.

“Got it. I’ll be there in about ten minutes. I don’t have to tell you if the press shows up we have no comment, right? Did someone contact his wife? Okay.

Contact his wife? It didn’t sound good. What horrible thing had happened now? Had one of their clients been home? But why would the wife have to be notified then?

Ethan disconnected the call and when his eyes met hers she knew. She wasn’t sure how she did, but she knew.

“It’s Hugh, isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so. Did he have an open house today?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Apparently, he didn’t bring a ‘buddy,’ and his wife called the station when he didn’t come home for dinner and didn’t answer his phone. It was too soon for her to file a missing persons’ report, but given the circumstances, they’d decided to check it out. Before they could send a unit to his house, they got a call from one of the neighbors who had just returned from the movies. The lights were on, and the front door was wide open.”

Dizziness hit her like a wave, and if she hadn’t been sitting, she’d probably have fallen over. “Why was he there alone?”

“That’s what I’d like to know. Did you assign partners or leave it up to them?”

“I left it up to them, but they were supposed to tell Jenny so she could keep track of everything.”

“Good. If he followed the rules, then we should know who was supposed to be with him.” Words wouldn’t form, so she nodded. Hugh Johnson was dead? It didn’t seem possible, she’d seen him earlier in the day, and he was as obnoxious as always, but that was him. It had been for as long as she’d know him. Poor Betty. They’d been married forever; all their kids were grown and gone. She would be devastated.

“I should probably go over and see Betty.” When he looked at her oddly, she clarified. “Hugh’s wife, umm widow now. I guess. She’s the sweetest thing, and the opposite of her husband.”

“I’d rather you didn’t. At least not until someone can go with you. He was murdered, and we don’t know who’s behind it. I’d prefer you stay here and set the alarm as soon as I close the door.”

Anna understood his reasoning, but she wasn’t a child. She was trained in self-defense and was more than capable of taking care of herself, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

He got ready and headed out. She knew he waited outside until he was sure she’d set the alarm. She watched him drive away then got dressed. Yes, he was worried about her, but this was getting out of hand. If she didn’t put her foot down soon, he’d have her wrapped in cotton so she didn’t break, and to use one of his expressions, “fuck that noise.”

Double-checking the address, she left a note on the kitchen counter for Ethan in case he returned before she did. She disabled the alarm, went through the mudroom, and opened the garage. As she stepped into the garage, she was hit hard on the back of her head.

***

Ethan arrived at the house as CSU finished and released the scene. Steele was conferring with the LT, and there were several uniforms spread out to keep the press and public away. It was exactly the scenario they’d been hoping to avoid. Hugh’s violent death brought back visions of Iraq, but he pushed them away. He needed to stay focused on the scene.

Steele waved him over, and his grim look didn’t bode well. “What do we know?”

“Not much yet. CSU dusted for prints, but from what the coroner said, the victim was killed with blunt force trauma. It looked like he fought back. But we still don’t know whether it is more than one person. It’s not like the victim was in the best shape or young. He was sixty-five according to his driver’s license.”

Ethan nodded. It wouldn’t have taken too much to subdue him so it could have been one man, although he was convinced it was a group. They got in and out too efficiently for it to be only one.

“We’ll know more when we get the autopsy report but don’t look for that until Monday,” Lt. Mark Watson stated. It wasn’t often he came to a crime scene anymore, so the fact that he was there meant it had gone all the way up the food chain, and no one was happy.

“Did the coroner say anything else?”

“No, liver temp indicated the victim had been deceased about four hours. It was still light when it went down. I’d say that pretty much cements your theory that they really know the neighborhoods they’re hitting.”

“Exactly.”

“Does Anna know?” Steele asked after their lieutenant walked away to speak to the press.

“Yeah. She wanted to go see his widow, but I told her to stay home until I had more information.”

“You told her? You really don’t listen, do you? No wonder you’ve been single for so long. You don’t tell a woman like Anna what to do. You ask her or cajole her. But anything remotely like an order will only get you the opposite of what you want.”

Ethan looked from the house, crawling with police, back to Steele. Was he right? He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed her cell. He didn’t want to wait for her to text him back. Except she wasn’t answering. One ring, two, three, four, voicemail. What the fuck?

“She’s not answering, is she? What did I tell you! You really do need to get on Facebook more.”

“So, you’re telling me the handbook on how to deal with women is stalking Facebook?”

“Yup. Just do it, you’ll see.”

“First, I have to find my woman. She was half-asleep when I left so maybe she went to bed and didn’t hear the phone.”

“Really? That’s the best you’ve got? Bro, what have you been smoking?”

Ethan rolled his eyes. Sometimes he thought Steele would have been better as a private investigator, or maybe he should have joined his brother’s security firm.

Calling over one of the uniforms, he asked him to go to Anna’s house and let him know what he found. He’d have gone himself, but he had a crime to investigate.

They went into the house after putting on their gloves and crime scene booties. The place was trashed. It was a huge departure from the other crime scenes. Those homes hadn’t been wrecked inside, just cleaned out of valuables. It looked like there’d been a knockdown drag-out fight in the front room.

“What the fuck happened here?” Steele asked. “None of the others were torn apart.”

“I’m wondering the same thing. Could it be different perps? Or maybe there was something else going on here.”

“Do you still think Johnson is involved?”

“Yup. I do. There was something not right about him.”

Steele nodded. They’d discussed their observations, and he’d agreed with Ethan after he’d met him. But if he was involved, why kill him? Did he want out? Maybe he got scared they were going to be caught or too greedy, and the rest of the group took him out. For now, they had a lot more questions and a lot fewer answers.

They were still going through the house when Ethan’s phone rang. He expected it to be Anna. Instead, it was the uniform he’d sent to her house.

“Sir, I think you need to get over here. The garage door is up, and the car is in there, and the door to the house is open. There’s no sign of Ms. Taggart but her keys and purse are on the garage floor, and there’s blood.”

“Damn. Don’t touch anything.”

“No, sir.”

“Stay there, and don’t let anyone in or out until we get there.”

“No problem.”

“What happened?” Steele asked concern etched on his face.

“It looks like someone’s grabbed Anna. C’mon we need to get over there. You call CSU, and I’ll grab the LT away from the press.”

Steele didn’t bother to reply just pulled out his phone and started dialing. When they arrived at Anna’s house, CSU was already there, and the uniform was standing guard. They ducked under the yellow crime scene tape, and he fired questions at the crime technician. “What have you got?”

The tech looked up at Ethan and shrugged. “Not a hell of a lot. We took samples of the blood and some mud we found on the floor, but there’s not much else here. The place is clean. It looks like she was surprised by the way everything is on the floor.”

“Do you think they killed her?” Ethan didn’t want to say the words out loud, but he had to know. He wasn’t the expert, but the tech in front of him was.

“No, I’d say there’s a good chance she’s alive. Not enough blood for a major injury. If I had to guess, I’d say she was knocked on the head.”

He and Steele exchanged glances. They’d just come from another crime scene with a similar MO. It looked like Ethan’s theory was proving itself.