She looked over and saw him reading a message on his phone. “What’s up?”
“We’re shorthanded now, just got called out on something.”
Sienna fought the disappointment that he had to leave. It wasn’t like she’d planned to see him tonight anyway. That had just been a bonus she wouldn’t admit to. “Stay safe,” she murmured.
Giving her a look she couldn’t even begin to describe, he tossed a few bills on the bar, more than covering both their meals. She wanted to protest, but knew it would be pointless.
As he headed out, an unexpected pang slid through her rib cage, hitting her right in the heart. Oh, who was she kidding? It wasn’t unexpected. She already missed Carson and that spelled trouble with a capital T.
Chapter 3
Sienna pulled into her driveway, exhausted from the day she’d had. And completely wired at the same time, all because she’d seen Carson.
Twice.
Sighing at herself, she headed inside but as soon as she stepped into her mudroom, she froze. Normally her security system chirped, the loud beeps a signal that she needed to disable it within forty-five seconds. Now there was simply the little beep beep of her door opening.
But nothing else.
And she was absolutely neurotic about setting her alarm every day because of what she did for a living.
For the most part the clients she dealt with were angry at someone, whether it be a spouse or whoever, but at the end of the day she was just a PI. A small weapon in whatever war they were waging against each other. Still, there were a few occasions where people had been stupid and vengeful, so she was cautious.
Easing back out the door, she hurried to her car. Instinct buzzing through her like angry mosquitos, she opened the garage door and hurriedly reversed into her driveway.
She was probably being stupid but there was always that one percent chance that— Her heart stopped for a millisecond as a masked man wearing dark gloves stepped into her garage. The door was closing on him as he took a step in her direction.
Holy sweet potatoes!
Heart racing, she pressed on the gas, flooring it into reverse.
In hindsight, she hadn’t even looked back to see if anyone was in the street, her eyes glued to the man standing there.
She quickly kicked it into drive, racing down the road even as she yanked her cell phone out.
Without questioning why, she called Carson instead of 911. Sure he was the police, but she’d still called him and was surprised when he picked up on the second ring.
“Hey gorgeous,” he murmured, his voice sex and sin.
She had another jolt of a different kind upon hearing him call her gorgeous, but she quickly moved past that. “Someone broke into my house. A masked man.”
“Don’t go inside,” he ordered.
“I’m in my car, driving away,” she rushed out, wild horses still galloping in her chest as she checked her rearview mirror. Everything felt so surreal right now. She knew what she’d seen and it still didn’t feel real. Her fingers tightly gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles pale as she came up to a stop sign. She glanced all around her, fear ratcheting up inside her.
She realized she was heading straight toward Carson’s place, which was also ridiculous. Or maybe not. Her instinct was telling her to get somewhere safe. No matter their personal history, in a situation like this he would keep her safe.
She glanced in the rearview mirror. No one was following her. The horses in her chest eased up a bit, but not by much.
“Get somewhere safe. I’m calling in the nearest patrol right now,” he said before there was a muffled sound and she heard another voice. He was talking to someone and she wondered if he was still at whatever had called him away before. A crime scene, she’d assumed. He came back on the line again. “Where are you now?”
She quickly gave him her location as she kept driving, trying to put distance between herself and her house.
“Okay, get to the Publix about two blocks from where you are. Go sit in a brightly lit section of the parking lot. I’m three minutes out.”
“Will do.” She was glad that her voice didn’t shake, though she had no idea how it wasn’t at this point. A tremble had started in her core and she couldn’t seem to stop it as she took a left-hand turn.
Someone had been in her house, her sanctuary. They’d broken in and done God only knew what inside. That someone had been waiting, could have attacked her if she’d ignored her instinct and gone inside.
A wave of nausea swelled up suddenly, but she managed to shove it back down. She hadn’t gone inside and she was safe.
For now.
“Talk to me, Sienna. I need to hear your voice.” Carson’s tone was soft, soothing as he talked to her, and she realized she’d just gone silent as she got caught up in her thoughts.
She cleared her throat. “I’m here, I’m fine. I just…” She cleared her throat again as the words stuck. “Thank you for answering,” she rasped out, so damn grateful that he’d picked up, that he was coming to see her.
That he’d be involved with whatever this was. Because even if she didn’t want a relationship with him, she trusted Carson to help her.
“I’ll always answer for you.”
It didn’t take her long to get to the Publix, and even though she was still terrified, panic buzzing through her like angry bees, she found a spot near the front, thankfully. So she sat in her locked Jeep and waited.
* * *
Carson put his hand at the small of Sienna’s back as they stepped into her house—and ignored the look his partner gave him. Because Julian Ruiz missed nothing and it was clear Sienna mattered to Carson.
Plus, he’d had too many drinks one night months ago and told Julian about her.
“As far as we can see, nothing has been overly disturbed and we’ve got a small team searching for hidden cameras and microphones in case this has to do with your job,” he said quietly as they moved through to her kitchen.
Sienna nodded at him then glanced at Julian, but didn’t say anything else. Her expression had a pinched quality and he hated that this had happened to her.
No matter what, he was going to get to the bottom of it. Because a masked man breaking into her place? There could be multiple reasons for that, none of them good.
“I just don’t understand how he got in here,” she murmured to herself as she opened two cabinet doors and rummaged inside.
“We found a few scratches on the lock on your back door. And your alarm was obviously off.”
“No, I set it. I always set it.” She headed out of the kitchen and straight for the living room.
“Maybe you forgot.” He stayed with her, but gave her enough space to search for anything that might be missing.
She started walking around, methodically looking at everything, opening the doors to an entertainment center. The flat-screen on the wall was still in place and other electronics scattered around the room appeared to have been untouched as well. Julian had dusted for prints in a few places, but Sienna had said the guy was wearing gloves—and Carson trusted her recollection and observation skills.
“No,” she finally said, referring to his statement minutes earlier. “I’m so neurotic about programing my security system. I mean, I guess there’s a one percent chance I forgot to set it on the same day someone broke in—” She let out a low curse, then pulled her phone out of her back pocket.