Page 73 of The Woman By the Lake

“Because I was intent to get to you because you sounded panicked due to your house being broken into.”

“Another indication of your machismo. I need to inform Webster so they can be thorough in their redefinition.”

“See you got two different reactions to possible peril. Being a pain in the ass or being a smartass,” he returned.

Her mouth dropped open.

Harry broke into their conversation by saying, “Desi, Lucy, you two wanna come inside and have a look around?”

Nadia swung a scowl Harry’s way.

Riggs hooked a thumb at her. “That’s the pain in the ass version.”

She latched onto his thumb and hissed, “Stop it, Riggs.”

He grinned at her.

Harry took her attention.

“Mizz Williams, I’m Sheriff Harry Moran.”

“Hi. Nadia. I’m Nadia,” she replied, letting Riggs go and sticking out her hand to Harry.

Harry took it, squeezed briefly then let it go and stepped aside so they could go in.

“Have a look around,” Harry instructed. “As thorough as possible, but please don’t touch anything. If you think you need to touch, let us know and we’ll get you some gloves. If you see anything amiss, no matter what it is, bring it to our attention.”

She nodded, glanced at Riggs, then started moving around the space.

Riggs crossed his arms on his chest and watched her. Harry settled in beside him and did the same.

She was taking this seriously, and he noted, after a cursory walk-through, she went right to the closet, where the door wasn’t open, but it was ajar.

Sean was close, and she asked him to open it for her, which he did.

She went in with Sean and came out to call, “They didn’t take my jewelry.”

“Please keep looking, Nadia,” Harry returned.

She nodded and looked.

After a while, and that buzzing in his head coming back when he saw how pale she became when she got a closer look at the back door, she stopped on the outside beside the kitchen island. Once there, she put her hands to her hips.

Harry and Riggs approached.

When they got close, Nadia shared, “I don’t see anything missing. I don’t even see anything that’s been touched, outside the obvious, the back door.”

“You’re sure?” Harry pressed.

She nodded while doing a sweep with her eyes.

It was when she looked over her shoulder toward the kitchen that he noticed her body jerk.

“What?” Riggs asked.

Her head whipped around to him, and her eyes were big.

“What, honey?” he pushed.

---