“Yes, sir.” The uniformed officer moved into the shadows of the hall.
“What more do we need here?” Aud asked. He was anxious to see what was going on at his house.
“I think we have everything.” Benet walked toward the short hallway to the main gallery. “We can come back for the security footage. Would you like to ride with me?”
“I have my car and my boyfriend with me.” Aud fell into step with him. “Heather, can you pull the security footage and burn it on a disk so that when detective Benet returns it’s ready for him?”
“Sure. Anything else?” She sounded tired, and Aud didn’t blame her. She’d stayed to help one of the artists clean out a few small pieces that hadn’t sold so he wouldn’t be late for his date with Leo. That would’ve required a bit of bookwork after the artist left. It was a safe bet she hadn’t had dinner before everything got chaotic.
“No, once you get that footage, unless Detective Benet needs something more from you, I think you can go get some dinner and head home.” He looked at Benet. “Do you need anything else?”
He shook his head. “I’ll have one of the officers stay here and take the disk from you. I’ve already gotten your statement.”
“Thanks.” Heather sounded relieved.
Aud caught her gaze as they reentered the main gallery floor. “If you need to come in late tomorrow, that’s fine. I’ll be here.”
“I’ll let you know, but I’ll probably be here.” She flashed him a weak smile.
“Okay.” Aud looked around for Leo and spied him sitting on a stool just behind the cash register. If it had been anyone other than Leo, he might’ve had a big problem with it, but somehow, seeing Leo perched there like he was guarding the place for Aud made a warm, happy feeling well up in him. “Leo, we need to get to my place. The alarm there just went off.”
Leo stood from the stool. “What? At your house? What the hell?”
“That’s what we aim to find out.” Aud gestured for Leo to follow him out the door. He didn’t wait for Benet and the other officers to follow. He was tired of his life being intruded upon and wanted to get to the bottom of it.
21
THE RIDE from the gallery to Aud’s was, in Leo’s opinion, a lot more frantic than the drive across town in response to Heather’s call had been. By the time they reached the small house a few blocks from the gallery, a police car was already there and two more followed behind them.
Aud was out the door without taking the keys from the ignition. Leo jerked them free and followed a bit more sedately.
“Are you the homeowner?” asked one of the cops on the scene before them.
“I’m Aud Sorenson.” Aud paused at the short gate that separated his walk from the sidewalk. “I was with Detective Benet when my security company called me.”
“We’ve only just arrived.” The officer held open the gate for them. “You can tell us what’s missing or out of place.”
With a dark look, made worse by the flashing emergency light, Aud strode into his small yard. Leo hurried to his side. Once again, something was happening to people he cared about and there was almost nothing he could do. If we were straight, I could take his hand and offer him comfort, but we’re not. I don’t know what the cops would do or how Aud would react. At least I can offer him a hug and a shoulder when everyone goes.
“The front window’s busted.” Aud gestured to the huge window that was shattered; the blinds inside rustled in the breeze blowing them about. “Looks like there’s something stuck in the door.” His voice was low and level as he walked up the steps to the door.
Aud pulled a heavy folded paper from the doorjamb. He unfolded it and frowned before he turned to the police. “I’m not sure you want to see this.” His gaze stopped on Leo. “I think this is evidence from my stalker,” he said louder.
Leo looked at the paper in Aud’s hand. In the low light, it looked like a piece of printer paper, but there was a picture on it. “No, let me see that.” Leo took the paper from Aud. It was a picture of him. From the shirt he had on, it had been taken the night of the opening. Across the bottom, it read “I didn’t know you liked geeky guys.” Leo gulped. What does the freak want? He knows who I am? Are either one of us safe?
Detective Benet hurried between the other policemen along the walk and up the steps. “May I see that?”
“Sure.” Aud slipped the paper out of Leo’s numb fingers and passed it to the detective. “I guess we shouldn’t have been handling it, in case there were fingerprints or something.”
“Somebody get me an evidence bag!” Benet shouted without turning to any of the other officers. “We can run tests. We’ll need to get both of your fingerprints so we can eliminate them. There’s a chance, not a good one, that we can get something off this.”