Page 62 of The Last Grift
Lundin’s attention was directed at something near Gabe’s feet. With a frown, he reached over and picked it up. Gabe raised his head to see what had caught his attention. Between his thumb and index finger, Lundin held a ballpoint pen.
Shaking his head, Lundin rose to his feet and stared intently across the front of the property, the pen still in his grip. “No, I didn’t see who that was. I heard noises and then you yelled. Whoever it was ran down the driveway to the road. But I thought I’d better see if you were dead or not. This,” he said, holding up the writing instrument, “is a pen. The Sheriff’s Office hands them out like candy. The question is, did our intruder drop it when they ran off or was it here already? It was lying on top of the grass here, so I tend to think it was recently dropped.”
“Thanks for checking on me. I bet that was a hard decision.” Gabe slowly sat up. “I didn’t see a face either. It was too dark, and I think they had a hat pulled down low. The way they came at me, I don’t even have a good idea how tall they were. Maybe my size?” he speculated.
Gingerly, Gabe pushed his body up off the ground, managing not to vomit, which he counted as a win. His side hurt where he’d been kicked, but he didn’t think anything was broken, his pride was just bruised.
“Now what?” Gabe asked as he bent and started to brushoff. “If Gordon knew the owners were away, he might have thought it was a safe place to hide out. But that wasn’t him, I don’t think.”
Lundin tucked the pen into a coat pocket. “I’d like to know if it was our intruder who dropped this pen.”
“I didn’t see it fly out of his pocket, but I think we should assume it did. Does that mean he’s with the Sheriff’s Office though?”
“No, I suppose not.”
Straightening up again, Gabe stumbled, still a bit lightheaded from being used as a human punching bag. He would have face-planted had Lundin not grabbed his shoulder, using his body as ballast. Gabe should not have had the time to notice that he smelled good. Earthy.
Clearing his throat, Gabe stepped away from uninvited temptation.
“Greta’s going to want a report,” Ranger Man said absently.
As if the man needed a reason to check out the interior other than some jackass had set off the alarm. And when they’d arrived, he’d panicked and run.
“Well,Abbyis going to want one. I might as well get some pictures to send to them.”
“Whatever it takes for you to justify coming inside with me, because I’m going in no matter what,” Gabe informed him.
After all, they weren’t breaking in. The intruder had taken care of that for them.
But first, Ranger Man made his dog get back in the car.
“There could be broken glass. Do you want to go to the vet?”
Bowie stared up at him. Gabe could see that the dog’s mental arms were crossed as he appeared to debate the question.
“I didn’t think so,” Lundin said after a moment. “Get your furry butt in the car.”
With a disgusted huff, Bowie leaped into the back of the Wagoneer but he didn’t immediately flop down. Once the door was shut, he jumped into the front passenger seat and stared at them through the window.
“Hm, I think you’ve been voted off the island by your dog,” Gabe said, rubbing his side again. He was going to have a hell of a bruise.
“No doubt. It isn’t the first time. Let’s go.”
They tromped around to the back of the house. Casey took a few pictures of the door frame and then they eased through the half-open sliding door that led into a sleek and modern kitchen. Lundin flicked on a light switch near the door. Gabe blinked; he’d expected the room to be a wreck, but it wasn’t. Nothing obvious seemed to be out of place. What had they heard breaking? He started across the room, heading for a doorway that looked like it led to a living room or great room.
“Hello,” Lundin called out. “Anyone here?”
Unsurprisingly, there was no answer.
“Don’t touch anything,” he snapped before Gabe made it through the archway.
“As if,” Gabe responded. “This isn’t my first rodeo, Ranger Man.”
Gabe was rewarded with another one of Lundin’s special looks.
“I’ll call the Sheriff’s Office and report this,” Lundin told him. “After we look around. Once they get here, we’ll be persona non grata.”
“Don’t I remember something about you being law enforcement?”
