“I do.”
“Okay then. The rest of the responders should be with you soon. As long as you feel completely safe, it’s okay to hang up now. We can stay on the phone if you’d like, though.”
“It’s okay. I’m safe. I’ll hang up,” Peighton confirmed, feeling her heartrate finally slowing down. I’m safe, she repeated once again in her head. “Thank you so much.”
With that, she pressed the button, allowing the line to go dead. When the officer came back into the room, he shook his head, holding a hand out for her. “It’s okay, the coast is clear. I called in to dispatch to let them know that I’m here. The other officers just pulled up. Let’s go into the living room to meet them.”
She took his hand, allowing him to pull her from the closet. “How did you…I mean…why did you…how…what are you doing here?” she stammered.
“I was in the neighborhood, heard the alarm going off,” he said simply.
As they walked into the living room, Peighton heard a man’s voice. “318 to dispatch, show me on scene.” She heard the buzz of his walkie before he entered through the open door. “Nealson.” He greeted him before turning to Peighton. “I’m Officer Kendrick.” He held out his hand to shake hers.
“Peighton Claiborne,” she said.
“The house is clear, I’ve already done a sweep. Point of entry was the front door, it was standing wide open when I arrived. It doesn’t look like it was forced open though, I didn’t see any damage.”
Officer Kendrick took notes as Nealson spoke. They both looked at Peighton. “Did you see anything? Hear anything?”
“Just the alarms going off. They woke me up. The alarm company called me and then called you guys.” She pressed her lips together, feeling incredibly damsel-in-distress-like.
“Is anyone else home?”
“No. My maid is off for the night. It’s just me and my son other than that, and he’s staying with a family friend tonight.”
“Okay, good. Does anything appear to be missing?” He glanced around the room. Peighton followed his gaze. The TV was still in place, laptops didn’t appear to have been touched. Her jewelry was all in her room and no one had entered there.
“I don’t believe so. I haven’t been able to check everything yet.”
“Good. That’s good.” They all turned to the door as another set of footsteps could be heard approaching them.
“320 to control, 10-4,” the new face, a third officer, said into his radio before looking at them. “Perimeter is secure, there aren’t any signs of forced entry anywhere. The ground’s too wet for a good set of footprints right now. Anything?”
“No. It doesn’t look like anything’s missing. The front door was open when Officer Nealson got here and the perp was already gone. Probably got scared off by the alarm before he could get whatever he came for.”
“Or whoever,” Peighton mumbled under her breath, causing the officers to stare her way.
“Do you know who could’ve been here? Do you believe you’re in danger?”
She thought first of Drew, who had admittedly been stalking her house the night before, but knew better than to mention it. She shook her head instead. “No, not really. I just think it’s strange that my husband’s death happened not two weeks ago and now we’ve had our first break-in in all the time we’ve lived here.”
“What are you saying?”
“Well, what if the person who killed my husband is after me too?”
Officer Nealson put his hand on her back. “Peighton, don’t let yourself get worried thinking about that. Most likely, someone broke in knowing that you’d be here alone. It was probably some dumb kid just trying to get his hands on something valuable, and that’s if it was anything. The door doesn’t look damaged, for all we know the door wasn’t latched properly and the wind caught it just right, causing it to open.”
Officer Kendrick nodded. “He’s probably right, ma’am. If there’s something that makes you think otherwise though, you can tell us. We’ll check into it for you.”
She didn’t answer, her mind racing. If she told them about Drew, Frank would be furious. But was it worth it to risk her life? She shook her head. She was being crazy, Drew wasn’t dangerous, disturbed maybe, but not dangerous.
She shrugged. “No, I’m sure you’re all right. I’m just a little shaken.”
The two officers looked at each other, the first putting his pen and notepad away. “Okay then. Since there doesn’t seem to be anything missing and no one’s hurt, we’re going to go. If you need anything, you just call. We’ll have someone patrol your street for the next few nights to be sure we don’t have any trouble.”
“Thank you,” Peighton said, clasping her hands together in front of her as her anxiety grew. The two officers turned, walking out the door with a final nod goodbye. She watched them pull away before turning to the officer beside her. “Officer Nealson—” she began.
He held up his hand. “I think you can call me Clay by now.” He smiled at her jokingly.
“Clay, can I tell you something in confidence?”
“Is it about your husband’s case?”
“Yes—err, no. I’m not one hundred percent sure either way, to be honest. Maybe?”
“I can’t keep anything about the case to myself, Peighton, I’m sorry. It’s my job to find out the truth about your husband’s death. So, if there’s something you need to tell me…I would certainly hope that you would.”
She paused, her last hope crumpled. “It’s nothing. I’m just…a little scared, I guess.”
“Would you like me to stay with you tonight?” he asked, his voice low. She looked up at him, his face looking as if he’d shocked himself with the question. “To help keep watch, I mean.”
“Is that allowed?” she asked.
“I’m off-duty,” he replied. “What I do tonight is my business.” She felt heat rush to her cheeks at his words, pressing her hands to them quickly. “I mean…” He cleared his throat. “Well, you know, I only mean that I can do whatever I want tonight. Including, keeping you company, if that’s what you want.”
“I’d like that,” she said honestly.
“Well, then it’s settled.” He walked over to the door, locking the deadbolt. “We’ll make sure that door doesn’t set off any more alarms, first of all. And then, I can sit up and keep an eye on things if you’d like to go back to bed.”
“If there’s one thing my momma taught me, Clay, it’s that it’s impolite to sleep while you have company over.” She smiled at him, for the first time allowing herself to really take a closer look at this man, her protector. His buzz-cut hair and strong jaw, the slightly crooked nose and small smile; he was exactly the opposite of her perfect husband. Todd had been what she’d often called “perfectly handsome.” Perfectly everything, in fact. His head full of beautiful, thick dark hair, his sea-green understanding eyes, porcelain skin, and movie-star grin made him a perfect candidate for any office he’d run for: councilman, mayor, and senator. He could’ve been president one day, and they’d often joked that he would. He had a face people could trust and he genuinely cared about those he could help. Thinking about her husband made her feel guilty about having Clay there. She lowered her head.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sensing the change in her mood.
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “Maybe I’m just being silly. I’m not sure this is such a good idea after all. You really don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”
He walked to the couch, running his hand along the arm. “Who said I don’t want to?” When she didn’t answer, he approached her. “Peighton?”
She shrugged. “Yeah?”
“What do you think this is?” he asked, pulling her chin up to meet his gaze.
She felt the heat rush to her face. “What do you mean?”
“Do you think I’m trying to come onto you?” he asked, straight to the point.