As I crossed the hall, Vader was right on my heels, hackles still raised, and that caused mine to do the same. He stayed right at my side as I entered Maisey’s room. I barely had time to take in the empty boxes she’d flattened and leaned up against a bookshelf before I was storming back out.
My rage grew with each room I cleared.
I hadn’t kept her safe. After the first note, I’d sworn no one would threaten her again, and yet I’d done nothing to stop it. I’d confronted Delilah, but when she’d denied it, I’d let old guilt push me into backing off. Since then, I hadn’t lifted another finger to figure it out. And now, whoever this was had left another note on my goddamn door.
When I was certain no one was in the house, I headed back to the great room. Vader leaned up against me, and I crouched down, giving him a good rub. “Good dog, Vader. Good dog.”
His fur was finally laying flat, and his tail thumped.
“You keep watch like that, and I’ll forever forgive you for bringing up stinky trash from the river.”
He looked toward the crate, where I could hear the kitten scrabbling with its claws to get out.
“Maybe not more cats, Vader. I have to draw the line somewhere.”
He let out a bark that was all relaxed playfulness, just as Maisey emerged from the hall with the switchblade she’d used to cut open boxes in her hand.
Any relief I’d found disappeared. I gritted my teeth in frustration. “I told you to wait with your dad.”
“And I was supposed to let you face whomever this was on your own? Let you get hurt while I sat like some defenseless princess in the bathroom?” She shook her head. “No way, Beckett.”
I hadn’t done a good job of protecting her anyway. I’d let someone close enough to scare her again. To scare us both.
“Did your dad hear anything?”
“He said no,” she replied. She tossed the blade onto a side table, wrapped her arms around herself, and stared at the closed door.
I pulled my phone out, dialing the sheriff’s office.
“I don’t understand, Beckett,” Maisey said quietly, pain in every word. “Why would someone hate us being together so much? What have I done that would make someone try to destroy our relationship before we even have a chance to be together?”
My nails bit into my palms. If this was Delilah, I wouldn’t let unresolved guilt stop me from holding her responsible. I wouldn’t let her destroy Maisey to get my attention. I’d hand her over to the sheriff in a heartbeat.
As I hadn’t called the emergency line, it took a minute for Suzanne at the front desk to pick up. When I explained about the vandalism, she put me on hold then came back to say Deputy Cleaver was on his way.
Which was just fucking great. It was bad enough fury was still raging through me with the speed of a brushfire, but now I’d have to deal with Josh Cleaver flirting with Maisey. Nothing about my mood was going to get better. I had to find a way to work these intense feelings out of me before I did damage to something…or someone.
“Stay,” I told Vader when he attempted to follow me out of the house. “Protect.”
I stormed out to the garage, brought back paint remover, sandpaper, primer, and the leftover paint from when I’d redone the door to begin with. After Cleaver did his thing, I’d work all afternoon and into the night if I had to, but there would be no sign of this nastiness by the time tomorrow came.
I’d just returned to the house when Cleaver drove up in his official vehicle. The man was a year younger than me and had gotten the unfortunate nickname of Beaver in school, not only because he looked just like the kid from the old 1950s show, but because he’d had an unfortunate overbite back then. It was how he and Maisey had become friends. They’dboth spent an inordinate amount of time in the orthodontist’s office together.
I wasn’t sure Maisey had ever realized how infatuated he’d been with her back in school, but then again, Maisey never expected anyone to see her as beautiful and desirable. And Carter Smythe and the asshole frat boy had only added to her distorted self-image.
Worse was the realization that I’d done nothing to help. Nothing to ensure she saw herself as desirable and wanted. I’d been too busy keeping our relationship carefully in the friend zone so I wouldn’t hurt her the way I’d hurt Delilah. I’d let Maisey assume she’d never be enough for me, when really it was me who wasn’t enough for her.
As Cleaver stepped onto my front porch, my foul mood was at nearly epic proportions and had me snapping, “What took you so long?”
His eyes narrowed at my tone, but he remained calm, saying, “Afternoon, Beckett.” He tipped his hat at Maisey as she came out of the house, quickly shutting the door before Vader could follow her. “Maisey.”
“Thanks for coming,” she said softly, easing up next to me.
“I’m going to take some pictures. Sandy is on her way with an evidence kit to get some fingerprints. We’ll need to take elimination prints from the two of you too.”
“My fingerprints and Maisey’s are already on file because of our jobs,” I bit out.
He nodded. “Sure. Sure. Anyone else here in the last few days?”