Page 17 of My Stupid Heart

Less than a minute later, the door unlocked and Ryker, along with the police officer—Officer Linden again—returned.Officer Linden was on the phone reporting what had happened.

Ryker only gave Molly and Sasha a quick nod before he went to the French doors and outside into the dark, where the photographer had to stand on the deck to see inside the kitchen window.

“Let’s check the security camera footage,” Molly suggested to Sasha, keeping her arm around her daughter, but guiding them to the security panel in the dining room where they could review the footage.

Officer Linden ended his call just as Ryker came back inside.They huddled behind Molly and Sasha as the footage from the evening started to play.

“Whoever it was knows exactly where the cameras are because they’re sticking to the blind spots,” Officer Linden said.

“We made sure there were no blind spots when we installed the system,” Ryker said with anger—not directed at the cop.“One of the cameras has been covered.”He was gone again in a flash, out the French doors, only to return a second later with a black pillowcase.“This was thrown over the camera in the back.”

Molly and Sasha gaped at him.

“I see movement,” Sasha said, pulling all their attention back to the screen.“Right there.In the corner of the driveway.”

“There are two people,” Ryker murmured.

“How can you tell?”Officer Linden asked.

“Look at the shadows on the grass from the moon.It’s two figures.”

Officer Linden’s eyes widened.“Shit.You’re right.”

“And at least one of them is a woman,” Ryker added.

“The shadows are elongated,” the cop pointed out.“How can you tell?”

“Shoulders are narrow,” Ryker said, pointing to the paused image on the screen.

Ryker pulled out his phone and punched in a number, then walked away with it to his ear.

“So … Adrian is working with someone?”Sasha asked.

“I don’t know, honey,” Molly replied.

“I have two cops headed to Mr.Huber’s apartment now to question him,” Officer Linden said.

Molly nodded and thanked him.

“I’m going to go see if they dropped something or left footprints we can go on,” Officer Linden said, nodding at Molly before heading out the front door to look for clues.

Sasha shuddered in Molly’s arms and Molly squeezed her daughter tighter.“I’m so sorry about everything, kiddo.”

Sasha glanced up at her.“You and Ryker are … together?”Hope flickered in her daughter’s green eyes.“Is this new?”

“We are … working through some stuff,” Molly said with hesitation.“But … we have admitted that we love each other.It is new.Despite how long we’ve loved each other, admitting it is new.”

Sasha mustered a smile and wrapped both her arms around Molly.“I’m happy for you.And I’ve secretly hoped you guys would get together.For five years straight, that was what I wished for when I blew out my birthday candles.”

“What changed after five years?”

Sasha shrugged.“I really wanted a cellphone.”

Snorting a laugh and kissing her daughter on the forehead, Molly guided them into the kitchen.“I’m going to make some tea.”

Ryker returned to the kitchen, resting his phone on the island.“I’ve reached out to my hacker contact, and he’s going to dig deeper into Adrian.He only went back a couple of years and stuck to relevant information, but I want him to go deeper and further back.I have this weird feeling that there is some kind of jealousy involved in this.”

“Like Adrian is jealous of you?”Molly asked, opening up the long, shallow drawer on the island that housed all her different loose-leaf teas.She selected a calming camomile and lavender blend and filled up a few tea balls while the kettle on the gas stove made a gentle roar as it was heating up.

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