Page 80 of Breaking Free

Tristan did so, raising his hands and revealing his gun.

“I live here, Officer,” Piper explained. “Tristan and Axyl are my, uh, security team.”

“I received a report of a break-in in progress.” He relayed this without his eyes ever leaving Tristan, the apparent threat. “I’m gonna need you to drop your weapon.”

Keeping his hands in plain sight, he half squatted to place it on the ground, cooperating fully, although annoyed by the delay.

“Now I’ll need to see some ID,” the officer stated.

Axyl flashed him his. “I’m Axyl Tavares, licensed PI. The bearded big guy with the scowl is Tristan Rogers. We’re both with Rossi Security.”

That got his attention. “The PI firm that solved the Castillo multistate drug case last year?”

Axyl proudly replied, “One and the same.”

He seemed satisfied and holstered his weapon, instantly cutting the tension of the situation in half. “What happened here?”

“We don’t know much except that the perp who broke in escaped over the fence in back.” Done with waiting, Tristan retrieved his gun and pointed at Piper. “I’m going inside to checkit out. One of you can join me, but the other needs to stay with Miss Emory.”

“I’m coming. I’ll have to write this up.” The officer trailed behind him up the front steps, although he didn’t seem too thrilled.

Tristan punched in the access code. An instant later, he silenced the still-screaming alarm. Through the open door, he heard Piper breathe a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness. I’m really beginning to hate that sound.”

TRISTAN EMERGED TWENTYminutes later with Jaxx under his arm and a bag full of her clothes.

“What’s going on? Did you find something?” she asked, taking her squirming cat from him.

“The crime scene unit will be here for a while,” he said, deliberately not answering. “You’re staying with me tonight.”

“Jaxx will need his food, bowls, and litter box.”

“Let’s get you settled at my place, and I’ll come back for the rest.”

She glanced at her open door. “Wouldn’t it be easier if I got it really quick?”

“It’s an active crime scene. They won’t let you inside.” And he didn’t want her to know what the asshole had done to her place until she was settled in his.

It was no burglary. The creep had gone through her drawers, touching her bras and panties and strewing them all over. He’d left her bed in a mess, tossing her linens and comforter on the floor, and there was a suspicious substance on one of her pillows.

He’d seen enough stalker cases to know this was a sexual threat meant to frighten and control her. Tristan asked the investigators to go through the room with a blue light in casethere was other DNA evidence left behind. Stalkers jerking off into the victim’s panties or on their bed wasn’t uncommon, although this guy would have to be sick and really quick to break in, ransack her room, and get himself off in the seven minutes it took from the alarm trigger to when David saw him running through the courtyard.

An hour later, Piper was curled up in a corner of his couch with Jaxx in her lap. Both of them appeared visibly uncomfortable, startling at every little noise, and Jaxx would frequently get up to pace around, meowing or demanding to be petted.

“Think, Piper,” Axyl urged her, his tone low and soothing because he, too, understood how tweaked she was by this. “Is there anyone you know who might do this?”

Despite the late hour and knowing what she had already endured, Tristan hated subjecting her to an interrogation, but dammit, they needed clues.

“Is there anyone you’ve argued with?” his teammate persisted. “Or said something odd or made you feel uncomfortable? Even looked at you funny. Or someone you keep running into?”

Unable to sit still and be grilled, she put Jaxx on the floor and crossed to the sliding doors. As she looked out, her arms wrapped around her middle.

Tristan watched her, feeling her unease. For all the talk of neighbors with benefits, they were more than that after the last two nights together. He couldn’t simply sit there and do nothing while she was a bundle of nerves. He came up behind her and slid an arm around her, pulling her back against his chest, lending her his strength and support.

“I know this is hard to hear,” he said softly, picking up where Axyl had left off. “Often these guys have proximity, and it turnsout the victims knew them, or at least knew of them. It could be someone you’ve seen in passing, maybe repeatedly.”

“I thought...there was someone,” she haltingly replied. “But he’s not an option anymore.”

“Ruling out suspects is our job,” Tristan murmured against her hair. “Who is it?”

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