Armed and Fabulous (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (48 page)

Every policy needed an address and it stood to reason that the fake ones were empty. Even so, I didn't think it could be that simple. A fraudulent damage claim wouldn't pay out
much
money. The bigger payouts would be in burglaries or fire damage
,
but that would mean having paperwork falsified at
the police and fire departments. Maybe
realtors were being paid off so the properties
could be used. I had a horrible
feeling the insurance fraud
ring
was
more widespread
, and there were a lot more people involved
,
than I guessed.
I wondered if Maddox already knew. I wondered what Solomon investigated when he wasn’t rescuing me and if he had any leads.

Despite feeling like I was barely part of the investigation,
I was looking forward to going home because I thought I might have something to work on with the notebook. I felt certain it was
connected to the fraud somehow
,
and the
particular
addresses Lily
noted
had given me another idea. I might have found a reference point to work from.

Halfway through my
filing
pile, Bob stuck his head around the door. "
Adam
is letting us all go early," he said
, adding,
"
o
n account of Martin's death."

"It was
very
sad."

"Yeah, I'm devastated. I'm going to O'Grady's to drown my sorrows. Want to come?"

"I think I'll just head home."

"As
you like. See you tomorrow
." Bob nodded and ducked out.

"Bright and early,
"
I called after him cheerfully.
I slid the filing on top of the cabinet, ready to pick up tomorrow. My work ethic might have bucked up lately, but I wasn't
prepared
to stay if I'd been given a free pass. Plus
,
I could almost certainly still claim the time on my time
card
.
After
I got back to my desk, everyone else had
already
cleared out. I craned my head around to check Vincent's desk, worried that he
might be
hovering
,
ready to ambush me.

"Don't worry. He's gone."

I jumped at the sound of Maddox's voice. "I hate it when people sneak up on me."

"Sorry. I'll give you a ride home
,
then I have some stuff to do."

"Thanks."

I decided not to tell Maddox about Lily's
and my
snooping. So far
,
it was just bits and pieces, not enough to go on. And okay, I was a little worried he was going to laugh at me.

"Your brother got in touch with me," he said.

"
Garrett
?"

"Yep."

"He said he would."
I gave him a surreptitious once over for injuries and saw none. That was positive.

"He's pretty mad."

"I know."

"He thinks I've put you in danger."

"Have you?" It wasn't an accusation and I didn't think he
was
put
ting
his career before my safety because I thought there was more to Maddox than
just a
career detective.
I
remembered
what Garrett said about Maddox’s
“
puppy dog eyes.
”
Maddox struck me as a stand-up guy, but having it confirmed was fine by me.

"Maybe. For my career? No." He looked sincere
.
He was
breathing deep
ly
like he wasn't sure if I believed him
,
but he wanted me to.

I nodded my acc
eptance. "Good to know," I said, feeling relieved.

He wa
ited while I gathered my stuff and turned off
the computer
. We left the building and headed towards the parking lot. When we climbed in
the car
, Maddox reached into a compartment under the seat and pulled out his gun, strapping it to his waist.
I thought about my own order for the SIG and said nothing.
We
easily
slipped through the afternoon traffic, Maddox steering his car into the empty space in front of my building
,
now
that
Lily's Mini was in the shop
. He
shut the engine off. "You going to invite me up?" he asked
. H
is eyes
were
smoky. Even if he asked for tea right now, it would probably sound filthy in my mind.

"Sure. Come up."

I let myself into my apartment and
within
a few steps, I knew something was wrong. I
froze
, causing Maddox to bump into me as I held up a hand. I looked around. My jackets on the coat rack by the door seemed rumpled, and my shoes
,
that I hadn't put away
,
were out of their neat
rows
.

"Someone's been here," I said.

Behind me, I
heard a rustle as Maddox dre
w his gun and stepped past me. "Wait here," he said.
He pushed the bathroom door open and scanned i
nside
.
Then h
e stepped into my bedroom
,
searching. From the doorway
,
I saw him drop to his knees and check under the bed. I cringed inwardly and hoped I hadn't kicked any
used
underwear there. I heard him
open and close my closet doors
, and
held my breath, waiting for an assailant to jump out. Instead
,
Maddox
closed the doors and
stepped out,
taking
a cursory look into the kitchen
before moving
o
nto the living room. He walked around checking the windows
,
then open
ed
the apartment door and peer
ed
at the lock.

"It's all clear. But you're right. Someone's been here. See these scratches around the lock?" Maddox pointed to light scratches before shutting the door.

I followed him into the living room and looked around. Someone had r
ansack
ed the room
,
but
were
careful about it. If I w
ere
n't such a neat freak
,
I might not have noticed the way the couch cushions were pulled out
,
or that the pillow zippers weren't quite
zipped
all the way up. I might not have noticed the drawer of the desk
slightly out of
its slot
,
or that my laptop wasn't square with the corners of the desk. But that wasn't what
captured
Maddox's attention. He was looking at the bunch of flowers on the table.

"They left me flowers?" I squeaked.
“Someone broke into my place and left
flowers
?”

Maddox just stared at the
yellow blooms
. "You didn't
have
them before? Maybe Lily brought them up?"

"She didn't say anything when I saw her earlier
,
but I guess it's possible."

"Call her and ask."

I did
, keeping
my fingers crossed while I asked her
. Lily was in the gym an
d hadn't seen any flowers. More
over, she left the house as soon as her car was
towed
and hadn't been home since.

"That narrows the timeline a lot."

"This is creepy," I said
, entering
my bedroom. I felt sick when I saw my underwear moved around in the drawer and the lid not quite
back
on my favorite perfume. I imagined the burglar poking through my things, a lascivious expression on his face
, and
I made a mental note to go lingerie shopping.
“This is creepier than the dead flowers.”

“Say what?”

I explained and Maddox ran a hand through his hair, his face growing angrier. I skipped the before and after parts of that evening, along with the bits about Lily and I scaring ourselves stupid, obviously, and he didn’t ask.

"I hate to say this, Lexi, but you can't stay here anymore," said Maddox, looking up from the flowers and fixing his attention on me as I returned to the living room, trying not to shake.

"It could just be a random burglary," I protested.

"You see anything missing?"

I looked around. My television was still there, along with the DVD player. On my desk
stood an iPod dock
,
with my
iPod still in place. There was my laptop along with some loose change in a dish and my car keys; Lily had the spare set. They were the most valuable things in the apartment. My wallet with all my cards and cell phone were in my purse.

"No," I conceded, "I don't."

"You nearly got ran off the road last night, and someone's been in
side
your house.
This isn’t the freakiest warning I’ve ever seen
,
but it’s creepy.
If I were a betting man, I'd say someone had you under surveillance."

"The killer?" I asked, gulping.

Maddox nodded. "We knew it was a risk letting you carry on your life as normal, but
obviously
someone suspects you know something. Even if we keep you under a twenty-four
hour watch, things can still go wrong."