“I can’t see anything,” she grumbled.
“Me, either.”
We were both still peering out her kitchen windows trying to catch a glimpse of anything when someone rang the doorbell, causing both of us to scream and the dog to bark.
“It’s Ink and Diablo,” Ink called from the front.
Gabby quickly disarmed the alarm and opened the door to let them in.
“Are they okay?” I asked and reached down to pet Diablo’s head.
“Yeah, they’re fine,” he said hesitantly.
“But?” Gabby asked as she reset the alarm.
“I’m sorry, Daphne. Whoever was at your house set your dock on fire, and your dad’s boat exploded.”
“Oh,” I exhaled in relief. “We knew about that. I thought something else happened.”
“If it did, I don’t know about it,” Ink said. “I was only there long enough for Dice to tell me to take Diablo and stay with you two. Ranger should be here soon, too.”
Gabby laughed. “You didn’t have to tell me that.”
I sighed and reached for my phone. “Will you two excuse me for a moment? I need to call my dad.”
“Of course,” Gabby said.
Walking back into the kitchen, I selected my dad’s name on the screen.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he answered.
“Hey, Dad.”
“What’s wrong?”
There was no point in beating around the bush, so I gave it to him straight. “Someone set the dock and your boat on fire tonight. Dice and Byte are at the house, and I’m down the street at Byte’s house.”
“Are you alone?”
“No, I’m here with Byte’s fiancée and Ink. Gabby’s grandfather is on his way here, too.”
“Okay. Stay put. Buck and I are at Irene’s, so we’ll be there soon.”
“Be careful.”
“We will. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
After the call, I rejoined Ink and Gabby in the living room. Shadow and Diablo were playing tug-of-war with a rope toy, as if they hadn’t just spent a couple of hours playing together.
“Dad and Uncle Buck are on their way over,” I told them, and didn’t bother to hide the exasperation in my voice.
“Are you okay?” Gabby asked.
“Yes, and no. I’m getting really tired of this bullshit. Every day, I wake up and wonder what, if anything, this crazy person has in store for me. It’s exhausting. After a week of peace, I was starting to think it might be over, but clearly, I was wrong.”
“I know how you feel,” Gabby said. “I recently went through something similar.”