“How about I find us all some coffee and maybe a few of those bad-for-you items in the vending machines? This could take a while.”
Cole rose quickly to her feet. She wasn’t the least bit hungry but she knew they needed a few minutes alone. This wasn’t her family anymore.
“Come back.”
Cole looked over her shoulder. It was Scott who had spoken. She smiled. “Absolutely.”
*
“Angioplasty and a possibility of stents.” Scott had pulled Cole out into the hallway when she returned with coffee. His mother was keeping his dad company while they waited. “They are just waiting for a room.”
“That’s good news, isn’t it?”
Scott nodded but yet his eyes were hollow and the stubble shadowing his lower jaw seemed to weigh down his face.
“Something else is wrong, isn’t it?”
He didn’t answer directly. “I need to go and secure my parents’ house. Can you stay here and wait with my mother?”
“Of course. If you think she’d like that.”
A ghost of a smile flickered in his expression. “I think she might be happier to see you than me. I’m certain my father will be.”
“Don’t.” Cole moved in close to him. When he didn’t respond, she leaned her head against his chest. After a moment, his arms came up around her, tightening until she was having trouble breathing but she didn’t complain. His crushing embrace told her all he could not say.
He released her quickly and headed for the door. He had climbed into his truck before she remembered Hugo was still in the front seat. She ran out after him but he had pulled away.
She debated calling him but decided he must think he knew what he was doing. After all, she couldn’t bring a dog into the emergency room. If she hadn’t been so worried about Scott and his dad, she might have been amused by the thought of Hugo and Izzy and Scott together.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Looks worse than it is. Strictly amateur hour.”
The New Brunswick patrol officer who had accompanied Scott to his parents’ home turned the key to let Scott in past the police tape.
On alert, Scott gazed around the living room of his parents’ home, looking for a clue. Pictures and mirrors had been smashed. Lamps, the flat-screen TV, and small tables knocked over.
Scott shut his eyes briefly, imagining his parents’ horror when they walked in on the destruction of their home. My fault.
“You getting a picture?”
His expression void of emotion, Scott turned to the officer who had followed him in. “Yeah. The scumbags didn’t miss a trick.”
“Yep. Real bad boys. They shit and pissed on things upstairs. Cleaned out the medicine cabinet and all the liquor. Your dad’s a professor, right? We’re thinking maybe he gave some frat boy a grade he didn’t like. Got his friends in here to toss it.”
“My mother’s a family court judge.”
“For real? Then it could be some juvie miscreant sending a message he didn’t like her decision. No real harm, but ugly.”
Scott got the message. The local police weren’t all that concerned about vandalism. Any excuse to write it up and file this case away would work. He knew the drill. It might have looked bad to the owners. So horrifying, his dad had had a coronary event. But to the hardened gaze of law enforcement, this was a minor incident.
They didn’t know what he suspected and he couldn’t tell them without jeopardizing both present and former undercover work. Besides, he had no proof.
He looked around for some clue to the identity of the intruders. Even his parents’ CDs had been dumped from their chest in one corner and stomped on. The intruders didn’t steal. Just set out to do maximum damage. This was intimidation masquerading as rage.
“Can you get DNA from the piss and shit?”
The officer shrugged. “Took samples. But I doubt it’s going to be a high priority with the lab. We’ve had a stabbing plus a rape case just this week. Could be months before results, even if we make an arrest. No one was injured. No weapons displayed. Say, did your parents have guns in the house?”
Scott shook his head. His mother didn’t even like him to bring his weapon into her home, though she’d never said so. So many silent displays of disapproval of his life choices. And now this. His father would never forgive this, if Scott was the cause.
Scott treaded cautiously around the main room. “You did collect other evidence?”
“Some. Without suspects, fingerprints are next to useless with this kind of thing. We don’t have much to go on. No neighbor heard or saw a thing. That’s about all we can do. Vandalism is not that big of a crime, on the scale. Know what I mean?”
“You go tell that to my mother.”