The irish blessing, p.21
The Irish Blessing, page 21
“Honey, after everything you went through, you deserve it. Now, get out of here before you mess up your plans. I’ll call you next weekend.”
“Sounds good. I’ll talk to you then.” I hugged Yvonne a second time, and then Shane and I walked back to the motorcycle. A few minutes later, we were heading home.
*
“The steaks are done.” Shane placed the platter containing the grilled steaks on the counter. He’d seared the outsides perfectly, their aroma filling the kitchen.
I retrieved macaroni salad and a bottle of wine from the refrigerator, setting them on the counter next to the dinnerware, empty wineglasses, and a pot of baked beans I had pulled from the stovetop. Shane opened the bottle and poured us each some wine.
“Here. Try the steak.” Shane cut a piece from one of the steaks and held his fork out so I could bite it.
“It’s perfect. Barbequing is one thing I’ve never done well. From now on, it’s your job.” I laughed at Shane’s raised eyebrow.
We made our dinner plates, taking our food and wine to the table on the covered patio. The view of the coastline was gorgeous, with the sun beginning to set on the horizon. The air was fresh with a salty smell, and a light breeze blew across the yard.
“I had a nice weekend,” Shane said, setting his wineglass down on the table. “Well, except for the fight with that asshole. I’m glad Danny and Glen backed me up.”
“Danny, Glen, and the ladies are good people. As I mentioned earlier, Danny was Alex’s best friend, and I’ve known him since I was a teenager. Kurt isn’t my favorite person, and Jesse is something else. I’ve never liked or trusted him.”
“I can see why. Jesse seems underhanded and sneaky. He’s the kind of guy you never want to turn your back on, so you need to be careful. I got the impression something is cooking between him and Kurt.”
“I thought so too.”
We finished our dinner. Shane took our plates into the kitchen while I refilled our glasses with the last of the wine. When he returned, we moved to the lounge chairs next to the swimming pool to relax and enjoy the view.
Shane leaned back in his chair and stared at the sky, the last of its orange streaks fading into darkness. “I have to admit, I’ve got nothing as gorgeous as this sunset at home.”
“Does that mean I get points for this evening?”
“If we were keeping track, sure. But don’t forget, you still haven’t seen what you’re up against, and the East Coast has a lot to offer.”
I was about to say something when Maggie walked up between our chairs.
“Well, hello, Maggie.” Shane smiled when she laid her head on his chair.
“That’s strange. Maggie’s never done that before. I swear it looks like she wants to climb in your lap.” I shook my head in wonder.
Shane scooted over and patted the space next to him. He started laughing when Maggie jumped on the chair and lay down. “Maggie, you better be careful. You’re going to make mom jealous, and then we’ll both be in trouble.” Shane glanced at me. “You better watch out, mo ghra. Maggie likes me better than you.” He reached down and petted Maggie, causing her to roll over on her back and nudge him for a belly rub.
“I don’t believe this. Maggie, you’re a traitor.”
Shane chuckled as he rubbed Maggie’s belly.
I couldn’t help but smile. Dogs were a good judge of a person’s character, and Maggie acted like she adored Shane. She would miss him when he left in the morning, and so would I. One thing was clear. I didn’t like living apart from Shane, and one of us had to move.
CHAPTER 15
MAGGIE
I kicked my shoes off and sat on my bed. After fluffing up the pillows, I leaned against my headboard and opened my laptop to video call Shane. I hated calling him this late at night, but he had insisted I let him know when I made it home from the multiday conference. While away from home, I had time to analyze our pending situation with an objective mind. Having come to a decision, I wanted to tell Shane I would be moving to the East Coast.
“You made it home from Anaheim. How was the drive?” Shane leaned back against a stack of bed pillows and yawned. It was midnight on the East Coast, and he looked exhausted.
“Horrible. It’s typically an hour-and-a-half drive, and it took me almost four hours. It seemed like I would never get here, and then I had to pick up Maggie at the vet along the way.” I shifted on my bed and adjusted the screen on my laptop so that Shane could see me better during the call.
“I figured you got stuck in traffic. So, how was the conference?”
“Good, like usual. My San Francisco broker was disappointed when I told her I was leaving a day early since none of tomorrow’s topics pertain to my job.” I paused, glancing toward the odd sound coming from the hallway. “Oh, no. Hang on a minute. Maggie sounds like she’s going to throw up.” I set my laptop on the bed and rushed into the short corridor outside my bedroom door. “Outside. Come on, girl. You have to go out.” I shooed Maggie out the sliding door in the family room and slipped the panel into the doggie door to block it. After turning off the lamp by the couch, I went back to my bedroom, shutting my door behind me. I resumed my video call with Shane. “I’m back. I had to put Maggie outside.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She has an upset stomach from the food the vet gave her. I normally leave a bag of her food with the vet, but I forgot this time.”
“I hope it isn’t serious.”
“It’s nothing major. Maggie should be fine by tomorrow.” I hesitated, debating whether it was a suitable time to broach the topic of moving. Shane looked so tired. I wasn’t sure if I should wait. I decided to briefly touch on the subject and see if he cared to discuss it. “When I was in Anaheim, I had quiet time in the evenings to think about our ongoing issue of where we’re going to live. I hoped to discuss the subject tonight, but it’s pretty late, and you look exhausted. Would you prefer to talk about it tomorrow when we have more time?”
Crash!
I jumped at the noise, the sound carrying through the quiet of the house. It sounded like a loud metallic thud with something shattering. I cocked my head, trying to pinpoint its location. It had to be the plant stand by the sliding door to the side patio. The realization of what that meant hit me. “Oh God,” I whispered, staring at my bedroom door.
“What’s happening? Why do you have such a terrified look on your face?”
“Someone is in the house.” My voice was barely a whisper, my body beginning to tremble. “It sounded like the plant stand in the hallway got knocked over.”
“Listen to me carefully. I want you to go over to the sliding door in your bedroom and let Maggie in the house. Do it right now.” There was an unmistakable urgency in Shane’s tone, making me even more scared.
I put my laptop on the bed and got up. I jumped, eliciting a gasp as my bedroom door swung open. I took a step backward. “What do you want?” My voice shook when I forced the words from my throat.
“Shit. She’s not supposed to be here.” Todd looked wide-eyed at Jesse as he stood next to him in my doorway. “You said she’d be out of town at some conference.”
“Shut up, you idiot.” Jesse looked me up and down. He had a sneer on his lips, his eyes ice cold. “Hello, Liz.”
“Come on, man. Let’s go.” Todd appeared upset, his cheeks as orange as his scraggly head of hair. He grabbed Jesse’s arm. “She wasn’t supposed to be here. We need to leave.”
“No. The bitch already saw us. If we leave now, it won’t change anything, so I might as well have some fun with her. I’ll call it my payback for teasing me and leading me on the way she did.”
“Bullshit. We weren’t supposed to hurt anyone. I’m not going to be a part of this.”
Terrified at the look on Jesse’s face, I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. God help me. My only chance to escape him was to let Maggie in the house. Jesse was scared of dogs, and Maggie would give me an advantage. I glanced at the sliding door across my bedroom. It was too far away. I’d have to make it around the end of my bed and dash to the door before Jesse caught me. I might stand a chance if I ran for it while they distracted each other with their arguing. Either way, I had to try. I closed my eyes, trying to steel myself, my knees trembling. Then I bolted for the door.
“Fuck.” Jesse scrambled after me.
My fingers grasped the handle on the unlocked glass panel, and I desperately tried to hold on to it as Jesse struggled to yank me away. I cried out as my hand slipped, and he tossed me like a rag doll onto the bed. I snapped my head toward the door when the sound of snarling ripped through the air.
Maggie was able to get her nose and most of her head through the gap I created in the doorway when Jesse pulled me away. She wriggled her body, growling and snarling at Jesse and Todd as she pushed through the opening.
“Fuck. The dog’s coming in. Go, go, go.” Jesse rushed toward the open bedroom door, pushing Todd out of his way as he bolted through it.
“Dammit. Wait for me.” Todd ran out the door behind Jesse, the thump of their boots on the tile floor echoing through the hallway as they raced to the front door.
Maggie charged after them, and then there were screams, shouting, and snarling coming from the front of the house. The screaming suddenly stopped, and the front door slammed shut. Then Maggie started barking. I scrambled from the bed and ran from my room, stopping when I rounded the corner and looked down the hallway. Maggie was jumping at the door, trying to get out, and Todd’s blue plaid flannel shirt was lying on the tile. He must have used it to subdue Maggie so they could get away. The sound of an engine starting carried through the air as I stood there.
Relieved, I glanced around the hallway. The sliding door to the side patio was partially open, and the wrought-iron plant stand was lying on the floor next to it. The ceramic pot had broken into several pieces, and the plant and a bunch of soil were in a messy pile. I rushed to the tall rectangular window next to the front door and peeked through the shutters. I needed to call the police, and they’d want verification Jesse and Todd had gone. While I scanned the street, a police cruiser came speeding around the corner, stopping in front of my house. Two officers bolted from the car and came running up my driveway.
“Maggie, stay.” I threw my front door open and stood inside the threshold, calling out to the officers. “Two men broke into my house. They just took off.”
“Ma’am, another police unit stopped a black Dodge Ram a block away as the driver sped down the hill. Can you describe the men, so we can verify if it’s them?”
“One of the men is Jesse Hawkins. He’s about six feet tall, with shoulder-length dark hair and blue eyes. He has tattoos covering both arms.” The words came out of my mouth in a rush, and I could hear the trembling in my voice. I swallowed several times in an attempt to calm down. “Jesse drives a black Dodge Ram, so that has to be them. The other man is Todd. He’s medium height with orange hair and freckles.”
“I’ll call it in.” The shorter, bald officer stayed on my porch as he got on his radio.
I pointed to the flannel shirt on the floor when the taller officer came inside. “I found the shirt lying like this on the floor. Todd was wearing it, and he must have used it to subdue my dog so they could get way.” I led the officer to the sliding door. “They broke in through here. I heard them knock the plant stand over. That’s how I knew someone was in the house. I was on a video call with my fiancé at the time. Oh my God. Shane.” I ran into my bedroom with Maggie and the officer running after me.
“Ma’am, wait. I don’t want you to touch anything.”
I stopped a few feet inside my doorway and stared at the floor. My laptop was open and lying on its side with the screen cracked. My video call with Shane must have gotten disconnected when that happened, and he would have been the one who called the police.
“You mentioned that you were on a video call when the men broke in. Is the laptop on the floor the one you were using?”
“Yes. I must have knocked it onto the floor when Jesse threw me on the bed.”
“Are you saying one of the men assaulted you? Are you hurt?”
“Jesse did. But I don’t think he hurt me anywhere.”
“Can you give me a description of what happened?”
“After I heard the crash, I got up from my bed to let my dog in the house. My bedroom door flew open before I could move, and the two men were standing there. I ran to my patio door, and that’s when Jesse grabbed me from behind and threw me onto the bed.”
“What else happened?”
“I managed to open the sliding door several inches before Jesse pulled me away, and my dog squeezed through the opening. She chased after the two of them, and I could hear a horrible commotion by the front door. I think one of them used Todd’s shirt to subdue her because whoever was screaming stopped, and then my front door slammed shut.” I glanced at the laptop on the floor. “Can I please call my fiancé? He was on the call with me when this all happened, and he must be worried sick.”
“I believe he’s the one who called us. Since he’s a witness, I’ll need to get his statement before you talk to him. Can I get his name and phone number?” The officer took a pen and a small pad from his shirt pocket and wrote down the information as I gave it to him. “Ma’am. I’ll need you to take a seat in the other room.” The officer escorted me to the family room.
I sat on the couch and threw the lap blanket lying across its back over my shoulders. Maggie lay across my feet. Protective of me, she was sticking to my side like glue. Two more officers came into the house and joined the first two. They talked amongst themselves, and then the tall officer I’d spoken to earlier walked away. I assumed he was going to call Shane.
“Ma’am, do you have a motorcycle?” One of the officers that had just arrived stood in front of me.
“Yes, why?”
“One of the men we arrested confessed to breaking into your house. He pointed his finger at the other man and blamed him for everything. According to his story, the intent was to steal your motorcycle and burglarize your house, so it didn’t appear that the bike was the target. He said they didn’t know you were home, and when they discovered you were here, he tried to talk the other man into leaving.”
“It must have been the redhead, Todd, who confessed. He did try to get Jesse to leave and told him not to hurt me. I think my sister-in-law and her husband might have had something to do with this too.”
“Pete, you and Walt can take off. Lou and I have it covered.” The tall officer came back into the room and stood next to the couch.
“No problem, Carl. The lady told me she thinks her sister-in-law and the woman’s husband had something to do with this. You’ll need to get more information.” The officer walked away, rejoining his partner.
“Why do you think they had something to do with the break-in?” The tall officer, who I now knew was Carl, looked down at me from where he stood.
“Because my sister-in-law is the only person besides my coworkers and fiancé that I told I was going to a conference out of town. What I didn’t tell her was that I was coming back early. She and her husband are friends with the two guys that broke into my house, so it makes sense that they thought I was gone.”
“What are their names, and do you have an address for them?”
“Their names are Nicole and Kurt Thompson. They live out in Lakehurst at four twenty-one Carlotta Street.”
“All right. We’ll check it out. Do you know if the men were anywhere else in the house besides where they broke in and your bedroom?”
“Only the hallway by the front door, as far as I know.”
“Okay. We’ll need to see if either one of the men left fingerprints.”
“They were both wearing leather gloves, so there won’t be any fingerprints. I noticed the gloves on their hands when they stood in my bedroom doorway. Did you get a chance to talk to my fiancé? I’d like to call him.”
“I did. Your fiancé gave me his statement. You can call him.” Carl walked over to his partner, who was inspecting the sliding door to the patio.
I retrieved my cell phone from the kitchen counter and went over to the two officers. “I’m going to talk to my fiancé in the first bedroom down the hallway. Is that okay?”
“That’s fine. We’ll let you know when we’ve finished,” Carl said.
I went into the guest bedroom and shut the door, with Maggie by my side. I sat on the bed and called Shane. He answered on the first ring.
“Thank God you called. I’ve been so worried. I talked to Officer Chastain earlier, and he said you were okay. He told me Maggie went after Jesse and Todd and chased them off. So, is what the officer said true and you’re all right? I heard you cry out, and then our video call disconnected.”
“I’m fine physically, but I’m still pretty shaken. I can’t begin to describe how scared I was when Jesse and Todd burst into my room. The look on Jesse’s face was terrifying. He grabbed me as I reached the sliding door and threw me on the bed, and I have no doubt he would have hurt me if Maggie hadn’t stopped him. Now that the police arrested them and it’s over with, I feel a little better. I’m pretty sure Nicole and Kurt had something to do with this, though. Jesse knew I was going out of town to a conference, and Nicole is the only person other than you and my coworkers that I told about it. I let the police know I thought they were involved. One of the officers told me Todd confessed and said the intent was to steal the motorcycle.”
“I’m coming out there.”
“No. You don’t need to do that. I swear I’ll be okay, and you don’t have any leave time left. We have a few things to work out anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“I decided something when I was at the conference in Anaheim. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about earlier. I’m moving to Washington, D.C.”
“You’re moving here? To live with me, I hope.”
“Of course, and what happened tonight didn’t have anything to do with my decision. I’ve thought and thought about it, and there are several reasons why it makes more sense for me to move than it does for you.”
