Page 26 of Dark Terror
“Breathe, Cara,” Gabe said, crouching down in front of her. “You’re safe, okay? We won’t let him get to you.”
“You can’t promise that.” It didn’t help that he wasn’t doubting it was the killer either.
Harry put her hand over Cara’s. “You’re right, we can’t. But we will do everything in our power to protect you. And believe me when I say that we’re damn good at our job.” She let go of Cara’s hand and stood. “We need to go, Gabe.”
“Do you want to come with us or stay here?” Gabe asked.
Harry shook her head. “She needs to stay here.”
“No, I’m coming.” Yes, she was afraid, but she refused to let a nameless sorry excuse for a man make her cower with the covers over her head. “I’ll be able to tell you if anything is missing.”
Gabe squeezed her hands. “Good girl.”
It was faint praise, but coming from him, it rolled over her like a cooling breeze. Both detectives raised their brows when she picked up Cricket, fully intending to bring him with her, but neither said anything.
* * *
“Benjamin,” Gabe said as they approached the man wearing wire-rim glasses standing outside her front door.
Cara had seen him at the crime scene the morning after the murder. Benjamin glanced at her, but if he was surprised to see her with the detectives, he didn’t show it.
“Good to see you back, Detective Harrison,” he said to Harry.
“Believe me, no one is happier about that than me.” She gave a dramatic shudder. “Weddings give me hives, even when it’s my brother’s.”
“Your day will come, Harry,” Gabe said, grinning.
“Not in this lifetime.”
Although Gabe and Harry did seem like they liked and respected each other, Cara wasn’t picking up any vibes of physical attraction. She had always been honest with herself, so while it shouldn’t matter either way, she had to admit those little streaks of jealousy that had coursed through her at first meeting Harry were gone on the realization that there was nothing between the partners.
Whether she’d act on her attraction to Gabe was the unknown. One thing she knew. She wanted him to kiss her again.
Gabe was distracted from what Benjamin was saying by the myriad of thoughts running through Cara’s head. All of which he could see happening in her expressive eyes. What was she thinking? Her gaze had landed on him several times as he’d watched her, and it didn’t take a perceptive detective—which he happened to be—to ascertain that whatever was on her mind had to do with him. Anyone could see that, like for example, Harry. His partner, who was even more insightful than him, was studying Cara as if trying to solve a puzzle and not liking her conclusion.
“… broke in through the sliding glass door.”
“Sorry,” Gabe said. “Run that by me again.”
Benjamin glanced at Cara. “There definitely was someone hiding in your bushes.” He turned his attention to the detectives. “Unfortunately, other than some scattered mulch and a shoe print that matches the one at the scene, there’s no other evidence. Our subject pried open the sliding glass door—”
“People don’t realize how easy it is to break into those things,” Harry said. “Once this is over and you’re back in your house, Cara, you should keep a wooden stick in the track. A sawed off broom handle will do the trick.”
“I didn’t know that. Of course, I never expected to be the target of a murderer.”
Gabe heard the tremor in her voice, and saw how she held the dog close to her chest, something she did when she was upset. He put his hand on her back, wanting to comfort her. Harry was right, he couldn’t promise to keep her safe, but he was damn well going to do it anyway. As if needing his touch, she leaned into his palm. Harry didn’t miss a thing, and she frowned at him. He didn’t care.
“You’ll have to tell us what, if anything is missing, Ms. Jenner, but there is a bit of a mess in your bedroom,” Benjamin said.
“Ready to get this over with, Cara?” When she nodded, Gabe stayed next to her as they entered her house, stopping in the living room. “We’ll start in here. See anything out of place or missing?”
She turned in a circle, taking the room in. “No, everything looks like I left it.”
Her bungalow was small: living room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bath. They had inspected all the rooms except her bedroom in a matter of minutes. As far as she could tell, nothing had been moved or taken. When they came to the master bedroom door, she paused and let out a breath before walking in ahead of them.
“It smells like a perfume factory in here,” Harry said.
Gabe had been in this room when he’d brought her home the first time, and it hadn’t smelled like that then. A broken perfume bottle was on the floor, along with some unbroken ones. Close by was a jewelry box, its contents scattered across the carpet.
