If you wanted to find the truth, you had to dig it up for yourself. Often…literally.
“Mistake two…”
Her spine snapped even straighter. As if that small movement would miraculously give her more height so Odin didn’t loom over her with his immense form.
“No weapon.” His lips thinned. “You’re alone with me, and you’re completely defenseless.”
She was most certainly not defenseless. “There’s a lamp two feet away. I could always grab it and slam it into your head.” If he tried anything funny with her, she’d jump up and ram that baby at him.
His gaze darted to the lamp, then back to her. “Try it,” Odin dared. “Let’s see what happens.”
Was he serious? “You want me to slam a lamp into your head?”
“I want you to realize that what you’re doing isn’t a game! You can’t just go up to some strange man and invite him in your place—”
“Oh, is that what this is about?” Relief rushed through her. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t invite strange men home. Not my style. So you don’t have to worry about me heading out to the bar scene and picking up a random guy.” She gave him a reassuring pat on the chest. “Thanks for worrying about me, though. It’s sweet.” Maisey turned away. “Now let me show you the murder—”
“I am not sweet.”
He sounded offended. Men. “Fine. You’re salty. Better?” Her steps quickened as she passed her bedroom and turned for the door on the right. She swung it open and—
Stopped. Stared in shock.
The board was…empty.
She felt Odin move in behind her. Actually felt the air shift as he drew closer. “Huh,” he said. “That your evidence? Because it’s a little…not there.”
Maisey couldn’t move. “There were pictures. Maps. Printed copies of old newspapers and victim statements.” This couldn’t be happening. “He took it all.” Anger poured through her as Maisey took three frantic steps forward.
Odin’s hand closed around her shoulder. “You’re saying someone broke in?”
“I’m saying all my evidence is gone!” Wait—maybe not all. She whirled back toward him. Shot past him and ran for her bedroom. Her laptop was in there. She had backup files on the laptop. She could show that info to Odin.
“If someone broke into your house, we should call the cops.”
The cops. They should definitely talk about the cops and contacting them. But first—her laptop.
She raced into her bedroom. Odin’s steps followed slowly behind her. Maisey headed straight for her favorite reading chair. She’d left the laptop there and it was—
Gone.
Her breath shuddered in and out. “He took it all.”
“Um…Maisey?”
She jerked her gaze off the chair. Forced herself to turn toward him. “My laptop is gone. The evidence on my murder board is gone. He took everything.”
Odin didn’t speak. Just stared at her with inscrutable blue eyes, and she realized—
Maisey stumbled back a step. “You don’t believe me?”
“Don’t believe that your next door neighbor is a killer? Or don’t believe that he broke in here—disabled your alarm, stole your murder board info and your laptop before resetting your alarm and slipping out? You’re gonna need to be specific about what you think I don’t believe.”
“All of the above,” she whispered. She had to blink because the room had just gone blurry. Blurry because she had tears of frustration and fear filling her eyes. No one believed her. Not even Odin. “I had all the material here,” she told him. Her voice trembled. So did her hands. Maisey balled them into fists. “Everything was here.” She knew what had happened. “He must have realized I was on to him. He slipped inside and took it all.” Now, without the promised information, she looked even crazier. Dammit.
“Do you have security cameras?” Odin asked her, voice expressionless.
“No.”
“Any sort of tracking device on your laptop?”
She shook her head. Swiped away a tear. “I am not lying. All of this is real.”
“If you’ve had a home invasion, we should call the cops.”
“They aren’t going to believe me.” Frustration burned through her. “You’re my PI, and you don’t even believe me!”
He edged closer to her. Studied her with those bright blue eyes of his. His hand rose, and the back of his knuckles carefully skimmed her cheek.
He’s wiping away my tears.
That just made everything worse. Made her feel even more miserable because on top of everything else, hot and sexy Odin pitied her. “Don’t,” she bit out.
He stiffened.
“Maybe you should just go,” Maisey mumbled. Because there was no way she could prove her story at this point. Everything was gone. She’d have to start over at square one. This time, I’ll have a backup for my backup. Keeping the info on her computer hadn’t been good enough.
“You need to call the cops,” Odin insisted.
He didn’t get it. “They won’t believe me.”
“Doesn’t matter if they do or not. They’ll dust for fingerprints. Maybe find some evidence. You have to report your laptop as missing.”
“No.” A rough exhalation of air. “I had a break-in here a month ago, and they didn’t find any evidence. They don’t routinely look for prints, just so you know.” That was a big misconception, one she’d had, too. “The cop who came told me this wasn’t CSI.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“Prints can’t be pulled from all surfaces. And the cop told me they usually only dust if they have someone that they can compare the prints to.” Hello, like my neighbor. But the cop hadn’t listened to that explanation from her.
“Back up. You’ve had two break-ins recently?”
She nodded. This one made two.
Odin’s jaw hardened. “We’re calling the cops. They’re checking the scene.”
“But—”
“I’m your PI, remember? Isn’t that what you just said?”
She had said that, yes. Maisey sniffed.
“Then do what I tell you. Call the cops. First order of business is to get the theft on record. Then we go from there.”
Her breath caught. “Wait. Do you believe me?” Hope was struggling to flare to life again.
His gaze drifted over her face. “I’m your PI,” he said slowly, voice growling. “And we’re going to figure this shit out.”
That was not a resounding, oh, hell, yes, I believe you. But she’d still take it. Gladly take it. Without another thought, Maisey threw her body against Odin. Her arms wrapped around him—tried to, anyway. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He was tense and felt rather like a muscled wall against her.
But…
His hand awkwardly patted her shoulder. “You’re welcome.”
He’d given her hope. Did Odin get how important that was? She had her own PI now. And together, they were going to stop the serial killer next door.