Risky Return. Virginia Vaughan

Today was only the beginning. Someone had been here, inside her home.

      “Stay here,” he warned her. “I’m going to check the house to make sure he’s not still here.”

      Again, he wished for his gun, but he was ready if he saw anyone hiding. He checked room by room but saw no evidence that anyone was still here. He did find broken glass by her living room window. That must have been how the intruder got inside.

      “No one is here,” he said, returning to the front hall, where she was still crouched, her face pale and her eyes wide with fright.

      Rebecca was small and frail in his arms as he helped her to the couch and his instinct was to pull her to him for comfort. But he checked that feeling, since they weren’t in a relationship any longer.

      Tears rolled down her cheeks. “They were in my house.”

      “I know, but we’ll find them.” He took out his phone and called Kent, explaining the situation. He promised to come by as soon as he wrapped up the scene at the parking lot.

      Collin hurried into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water for her. Her hands were shaking as she held it and took a sip.

      He cringed as he thought about the man who had attacked her earlier. Had he been the one inside her home as well? Someone was after her and they knew where she lived. “You said you had threatening letters? Can I see them?”

      She nodded then got up and walked on shaky legs into the kitchen. She opened a drawer and pulled out a plastic bag. Inside were several pieces of paper with letters cut out of magazines and glued onto them to form words of warnings. They were old-school and that was notable, but it was also harder to trace than emails or text messages. The notes were chillingly to-the-point.

      Mind your own business.

      Stay out of our way.

      Stop investigating or you will die.

      He shuddered at the threat. She’d stumbled across a serious and potentially dangerous person. And they’d already tried to make good on their threats. Fear crept up his neck—fear for her and her safety. “We should get these to Kent. When did they start coming?”

      “I found the first one on my car windshield eight days ago. The next two were here at my house.”

      He didn’t like the fact that whoever was after her knew where she lived and had been inside her house. “Do you live alone?”

      “Yes.”

      “Any pets?”

      “No. Why?”

      “Dogs are the best alarm system you can have.” He slid into the chair opposite her.

      “Do you have a dog?”

      It struck him as an oddly personal question that had nothing to do with keeping her safe. “No, I don’t.” He wasn’t generally home enough to take on the commitment of a pet. That might be changing soon however, after his team’s actions in Libya. They’d been working security for a covert CIA base when an attack on an American embassy occurred only a few miles away. Collin recalled seeing the smoke from intentionally set fires even from their base, but they’d been told to stand down, as the government had decided its CIA interests were more important than the Americans dying nearly in front of them. His team had defied those orders and gone in, anyway. Assuming the CIA continued to utilize Security Operations Abroad operatives, Collin doubted his contract, and those of the others on his team, would be extended.

      It looked like he was back on American soil for good.

      He heard a car pulling into her driveway and walked to the window. “It’s Kent. How did that guy get to be a cop?”

      “He’s worked his way up the ranks. He says it’s all he’s ever wanted to be.”

      Kent entered the house, glanced at the threat painted on the wall and whistled. “You have angered someone, haven’t you, Rebecca?”

      Collin pointed to the window that had been shattered. “That’s how he got inside. And the threatening letters she told you about are on the table. They’re pretty intense.”

      He walked over and glanced at the letters then took out his phone. “I’ll have Forensics come by and process this scene.”

      “How long will that take?” Collin asked.

      Kent shrugged. “A couple of hours. We’ll try to pull prints off the windowsill and the wall.”

      “Good. I’ll take Rebecca and go to the hardware store for something to board up the window and some paint to cover that.”

      “We should be done by the time you get back. I’ll also have these letters sent to the lab for examination. Maybe we can pull some prints off them.”

      Collin glanced at Rebecca. Even though she’d stopped shaking, she still looked so fragile sitting in that chair. He wanted to get her out of here, fix everything and make it like it was before to make her feel better, but he knew paint and boards couldn’t fix this.

      She was in danger and he couldn’t make that go away with only a trip to the hardware store.

      * * *

      Collin did his best to keep Rebecca’s mind off what was going on at her house and, for the most part, he succeeded. Except she knew very well what the lumber and paint were for.

      Rebecca stole a moment at the hardware store to slip into the bathroom and phone Missy to let her know she’d been held up and wouldn’t be returning to the motel tonight. She didn’t tell Missy about the attack in the parking lot or the threatening message on her wall. The girl didn’t need the added worry and Rebecca wasn’t entirely sure she could make it through that conversation without breaking down herself. She touched the tender spot on her forehead where her attacker had slammed her head against the car and knew Missy would find out about it tomorrow, anyway. She certainly couldn’t hide the bruises from her.

      “I’m fine,” Missy assured her. “I’m going to try to sleep.”

      “Good. Be sure to keep the door locked and don’t answer it for anyone. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Rebecca ended the call then rejoined Collin at the cash register.

      A text message from Kent alerted them that it was safe to return to the house. When Rebecca reentered her home, she flinched at the threatening message still there, but then she saw fingerprint dust everywhere. Kent’s people had left a mess but at least they were gone.

      Collin got to work boarding up the window that had been broken. “Tomorrow, I’ll have someone come out and replace the glass.”

      “Thank you,” Rebecca said, grateful to have someone else handling these things. She was still shaking inside from knowing someone had not only attacked her, but had also been inside her house. It felt different now, like a sacred trust had been broken. Having Collin with her eased that feeling, but how comfortable would she feel once he was gone?

      He opened the can of paint he’d purchased and began covering up the threatening words, but after one coat, it still seeped through. Evil always did.

      He shook his head. “Guess it’s going to take another coat. I’ll let this one dry then start on another.”

      She heated up the takeout containers of ribs they’d picked up and they sat down to eat. It was surreal sitting across from Collin eating a meal. He was so different yet so much the same. He didn’t have to be here with her, yet he’d chosen to stay and help without being asked. She wasn’t surprised he’d made a good soldier; he’d always had a heart to help others.

      She had to stop thinking so fondly of him. This was the man who’d promised to love her for all time then abandoned her with no word after she lost the baby. No amount of boarding up windows or painting a wall could change that. He’d left her and no matter how nice he was being today, she couldn’t let herself trust him or she’d be devastated again when he left.

      They