All A Heart Needs B&N (23 page)

Sean opened the door on her third knock. He looked like he'd recently gotten out of the shower, his hair damp, his cheeks freshly shaven. A pair of jeans hung low on his hips but his chest was bare, with beads of water glistening on his skin. She'd never been so happy to see him. She stepped forward, threw her arms around his neck and said, "Thank God you're home."

She took a deep breath, inhaling the musky scent of his aftershave. He felt so good, so solid, so safe, but as he pulled her into the cradle of his hips, safe turned to sexy, and the shivers that ran down her spine now had less to do with what she'd just seen and more to do with the half-naked man who was holding her in his arms.

Desire, fear, and a half-dozen other emotions ran through her, and her head was literally spinning.

"Jess? What's wrong?"

She didn't want to answer. She didn't want to make it real.

"Jess," he said again. He shifted slightly so he could see her. Then he put two fingers under her chin and lifted her face to meet his gaze. There was concern in his eyes. "You're shaking."

"Am I?"

"Yes." His arms tightened around her. "Are you cold?"

"I was," she said, but there was delicious warmth now seeping into her bones, the heat coming from Sean. She cleared her throat and told herself to focus, remember why she was here.

"Someone broke into my house," she said, finally getting the words out.

His eyes widened in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"The dining room window near the driveway was smashed in. When I went to the back door and tried the knob, it opened. I know it was locked when I left."

"Did you call the police?"

She shook her head. "I came straight here. I should have gone inside and looked around, but I was too scared. I'm a coward."

"Don't be ridiculous," he said, his brows knitting together with worry. "The last thing you should have done was go inside by yourself." His hands dropped from her waist, as he stepped away from her. "Let me throw on a shirt and I'll check it out."

As he pulled a t-shirt over his head, she felt cold again, and she wrapped her arms around her waist. She was worried now that she'd done the wrong thing coming to Sean. She should have called the police. They would have sent someone out, someone who would be armed and who would know what to do if the burglar was still inside the house. But now Sean was going into what could possibly be a dangerous situation.

"Maybe we should call the police," she suggested, as he finished tying his shoes and stood up.

"Let me check it out first. See what we're dealing with. Did you hear anything or see anyone inside the house?"

"No, it was completely dark. There weren’t any lights on. I just got home from Nicole's house. I was gone all afternoon."

"Then whoever broke in is probably gone."

That suggestion made her feel better. But when she saw him pull a baseball bat out of his closet, her heart sank again. "Do you really think you need a weapon?"

"Probably not. But I'd like to have something in my hands. Did you walk or drive?"

"I drove."

"Okay, we'll take your car back."

They left the apartment and got into her car. Her hands were trembling, but she managed to drive around the corner without incident.

A moment later they pulled into her driveway.

"I'm probably getting all worked up over nothing," she said, trying to talk herself out of the panic that was still racing through her. "Maybe a kid threw a baseball through the window. It could just be that, right?"

"I doubt they would have unlocked your back door. Speaking of kids, where's Kyle?"

"He's spending the night at Nicole's house."

His hand tightened on the bat as he reached for the door handle. "Wait here."

She waited for two seconds, enough time for him to get down the driveway, then she got out of the car, catching up with him at the side door.

"Jess, I told you to wait," he said with irritation.

"I'm not letting you go in there alone. There could be trouble."

"Exactly," he said tersely. "Which is why you should be in the car."

"It's my house, my trouble. And I think it's better if we stick together."

"Fine, at least stay behind me."

"Happy to," she said.

He opened the door, waited a second and then stepped into the kitchen.

She put her hand on his back as she followed him into the room. "Should I turn on the light?" she whispered.

"Yes."

She flipped the switch, and the kitchen lit up. The room looked completely normal, exactly the way she'd left it, with one exception. Her gaze landed on the table—the now empty table.

Oh, my God," she murmured. "The computer is gone." There was no hard drive, no keyboard, no mouse, and no monitor. "Someone stole Robert Emery's computer."

Jessica turned to Sean. Surprise in his eyes had been replaced by anger. His jaw was tight, his eyes fiercely determined. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Let's check the rest of the house," he said, heading toward the hall.

There was dirt on the floor, the trail leading to the dining room and the broken window, where they found more pieces of jagged glass.

"Looks like this is how they got in," Sean said, examining the window. "They must have gone out the side door when they took the computer." He looked around the room. "I don't see a rock or a brick."

"There are loose bricks that frame the planter outside. I didn't notice if one of them was out of place."

"That makes sense. They probably tossed it back out the window when they were done. Not exactly a high tech operation, but it worked."

After a quick glance into the living room, which looked untouched, they went upstairs and checked each of the rooms. Again, there was no evidence of a search or a robbery. Her laptop computer still sat on the bed, and in Kyle's bedroom there were video games in plain sight on the dresser. The door to Stacy's old room was open, but since the room was still jammed with furniture, it was doubtful anything had been taken. Next stop was the attic.

There were traces of dirt on the stairs. The thief had definitely gone into the attic. And why not? If they were interested in Robert's old computer, then they were interested in the past, and the attic was filled with family history.

The attic showed signs of at least a quick search. Some of the boxes had been moved around and upended, the contents tossed on the ground. But the room was a mess and there were many boxes still untouched. There was no way to tell if anything had been found or taken.

"I don't know if they ran out of time or gave up," Sean murmured.

"It would take days to look through everything in this room." Her mind wrestled with the question of who could have done this, and one name kept coming to mind. "Do you think it was Sally who did this?"

"She's certainly a suspect," he said grimly. "She had an extremely negative reaction when she saw the computer. And we know there are emails from her on it. She also had opportunity. It would be easy for her to see you coming and going. All she had to do was break the window, climb inside, grab the computer and go out the side door. Even if someone saw her in your driveway, they might not think anything about it. And who would see her? Her house is the only one facing the driveway."

"Brett could have seen her from across the street, and I don't think we can eliminate him as a suspect. After you dropped me off earlier, he asked me about our trip to Lana's house. Then he started grilling me about what we were doing here in the house. When it became clear we were looking into the fire, he got angry. He basically told me to stop, that stirring up the past was going to be bad for everyone."

"That sounds like a threat."

"He tried to veil it, but he didn't quite succeed. He asked me who I thought would want Robert dead. I turned it around on him, asking the same question. He told me that Robert had a lot of enemies, that he was a ruthless, ambitious businessman."

"That coincides with what Clark said about Robert."

"Yes. Neither Brett nor Clark seemed to like Robert. Even Lana talked crap about him," she added. "I'm not sure anyone was that unhappy he died. It almost sounds like they think he got what he deserved."

"But Stacy didn't deserve to die," Sean said harshly.

"No, of course not." She put a hand on his arm, feeling his tension. "Everyone expresses great remorse about Stacy."

"Remorse doesn't bring her back." He drew in a breath and blew it out. "Let's go downstairs."

"And do what?"

"Well, I should try to find something to cover the window until you can get it repaired. Do you have any wood around?"

"There might be some bookshelves in the garage," she offered.

"That will probably work," he said, heading toward the stairs.

"What about calling the police?"

"Why don't we start with Emma and Max?"

She liked that idea a lot. The police would probably blow them off since the only thing that had been taken was an old computer, but Emma and Max would know what to do next.

While Sean called Emma, Jessica went into the dining room to take another look at the window. Through the broken glass she could see the lights on at Brett's house across the street as well as the lights on at Sally's home. Was one of them watching her right now, maybe wondering if they'd left any fingerprints or other damning evidence behind?

A car drove down the street, and she felt even more nervous. Was she wrong in thinking that the burglar was Sally or Brett? Maybe it was someone else entirely. Was the car going slow because they were looking for an address, or because they wanted to see if she'd come back?

Nervous tension tightened every nerve. She felt completely shaken by the break-in. This was her home. She was supposed to be safe here. But she didn't feel safe at all.

"Jess?"

She jumped at the sound of Sean's voice and whirled around.

"Sorry," he said, putting up a hand in apology. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Everything is scaring me at the moment. I've never felt so uneasy. I feel like someone is watching us."

"Maybe they are."

She didn't like his answer. "Great."

"Sorry again. I spoke to Emma and told her what happened and what was taken. I also filled her in on what we've learned the past few days from Lana and also from Clark Hamilton. Unfortunately, Emma is working a fire and can't get away right now. Max is also tied up. She said we could call the police and make a report, but probably nothing would be done based on the fact that only an old computer was taken, a computer that was probably the target of the break-in. I also told her that Sally had seen the computer, and that we had found emails on that computer between Sally and Robert that suggested an affair or blackmail or maybe both. Emma is frustrated that she can't help us figure it all out right now, but she'll get back to us tomorrow. In the meantime, she suggested that you spend the night somewhere else."

Jessica was more than happy with that suggestion. "I guess I could go to Nicole's house, but I don't really want to have to explain all this."

"I have a better idea. Come home with me."

She immediately shook her head. "I can't stay in your parents' house."

"I'm talking about the studio over the garage. You can have the bed; I'll take the couch. You're not going to get any sleep if you stay here, Jess. You'll be listening for the next creak, wondering if someone has come back in."

Unfortunately, he was right about that. "I know I should probably stick it out."

"Why?"

She couldn't come up with a reason. "Okay, I accept your offer."

"Good decision."

Was it a good decision? Hadn't she just agreed to spend the night in a small room with a man who set her heart racing with every smile? This might be her worst mistake yet. She let out a heavy sigh.

"What's wrong now?" he asked. "I hope you know you can trust me, Jessica."

She stared back at his handsome face, his beautiful blue eyes and thick dark hair, and said, "It's not you I'm worried about; it's me."

He sucked in a quick breath as shadows darkened his gaze. "I really wish you hadn't said that."

"Me, too. I'm just going to grab a few things, then we'll go."

* * *

Sean let out a breath as Jessica left the dining room. Her provocative words and the look in her eyes had put him more on edge than the break-in. But he was not going to take advantage of the situation. He was helping her out tonight as a friend. And friendship was all he was going to offer her.

As for what she might offer him…

He was trying not to think about that.

He went to the garage, grabbed the bookshelves, nails and a hammer. It took only a few moments to cover the window. Tomorrow Jessica could get someone out to replace the glass.

When he went back to the garage to put the tools back, he paused for a moment, reminded that this was where it had all started. This was where Robert had died.

A chill ran through his body. How weird it would be to die in your own garage. It seemed unimaginable, and yet it had happened. Had Stacy run into this room and seen her father through the flames? Had she tried to get to him? To save his life?

It would have been just like her. She'd been a fearless little girl. But she wouldn't have been strong enough to pull her father out, especially if he was unconscious.

Or she might not have come in here at all. She might have gotten caught in the flames that had already spread to the house.

His mind flashed on her image once again. When she'd come through the front door, she'd looked right at him.

Had she seen him that night?

He'd always wondered if she had; if she'd hoped he would save her.

But he hadn't moved, not one inch. He hated himself for that. He should have had the courage to go to her, to try to help.

"Sean?"

Jessica's voice spun him around.

She gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I guess this time I scared you. Were you thinking about Robert?"