stalked
over to her car. His heart thundered. Sweat popped on his brow. His training
kicked in, and he surveyed the damage. Mostly paint, a couples of scratches,
nothing major. And no Micha. So that meant she’d been able to drive it here at
least. Relief flooded him. He wasn’t sure what to anticipate, but he half expected
to see her slumped in the driver’s seat.
He frowned as he examined the interior. No damage.
The exterior looked like street graffiti, but it worried him. She’d also received
the anonymous flowers last week. Could this be from the same person that sent
her flowers? She hadn’t seemed alarmed about them, but maybe she was getting
some unwanted attention.
Or maybe she parked in the wrong part of town. But
that didn’t seem likely. The car was covered in
graffiti. The form of the vandalism made it look like street thugs having some
fun, but the sheer amount of it looked personal. Like whoever did it wanted to
make sure to really mar the car’s paint job. It looked like overkill. Like
there was a lot of hatred and emotion behind the act.
Satisfied Micha wasn’t in the car and that there
was no perp, Caleb holstered his gun and jogged to the stairs. He took them two
at a time until he hit the fourth floor. Wasting no time, he ran to her unit
and knocked.
From inside, there was rustling, and he said a
quick silent prayer that he’d find her unhurt. “Micha? Open the door. It’s
Caleb.”
“I hear you, keep your pants on, would you?”
Funny, she’d sung a different tune Sunday night. “Open
the door, Micha.”
When she swung the door open, her hair hung in wet
hanks down her back, and she was dressed in sweats. “Are you all right?”
She nodded but didn’t quite meet his gaze. “Yeah,
I’m fine. I was in the shower.”
“I saw your car.”
“Yeah, me too. It was fine when I parked it, but came
back from grabbing fro-yo and someone had left me a present.”
So the damage had been done in their garage? He’d
have to talk to the building manager and get a look at the security tapes. “Any
idea who did this?”
She sighed, and her shoulders slumped. “Caleb, I
appreciate the concern, but I’m fine. I’m dealing with it. Already called the
cops, and they’ll get my statement in the morning at the office. I don’t need
your help.”
“You mean you didn’t file a report tonight? Why
the hell not?” He made no attempt to keep his voice below a bellow.
“No, and I can’t deal with it right now. I’m
exhausted. I’ll do it in the morning.”
“Micha, you realize this means someone targeted
your car specifically. None of the other cars around yours were vandalized. We
can’t wait to deal with this.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and rolled her
lips inward. “Caleb, I’m a very short fuse right now. I can’t deal with you
pushing. All I want to do is climb into bed and sleep for a month. Just once,
can we do things my way?”
He studied her again. Her eyes were rimmed red,
and she looked like she’d been up for days. What wasn’t she telling him? “Micha,
I’m here to help. I want to make sure you’re doing okay.”
“And like I said, I don’t need your help. I’m fine
on my own.”
Chapter
11
Micha’s alarm clock screeched. Aiming for her
bedside table, she reached to turn it off, but couldn’t find it. Popping her
head out from beneath the covers, she cursed. Every morning without fail, she
forgot she’d moved it over to the dresser so she wouldn’t be tempted to snooze
her way out of a run. “Of all the idiotic things.” Tossing off the cover, she
sat up and immediately regretted the decision.
To say it felt like someone had taken a
sledgehammer to her head was an understatement. She’d taken a sleeping pill
last night after the car fiasco. But that had done nothing for the migraine she
felt coming on.
As she went about with her morning routine,
running socks, shorts, industrial strength sports bra, she tried to remember
what in the
over to her car. His heart thundered. Sweat popped on his brow. His training
kicked in, and he surveyed the damage. Mostly paint, a couples of scratches,
nothing major. And no Micha. So that meant she’d been able to drive it here at
least. Relief flooded him. He wasn’t sure what to anticipate, but he half expected
to see her slumped in the driver’s seat.
He frowned as he examined the interior. No damage.
The exterior looked like street graffiti, but it worried him. She’d also received
the anonymous flowers last week. Could this be from the same person that sent
her flowers? She hadn’t seemed alarmed about them, but maybe she was getting
some unwanted attention.
Or maybe she parked in the wrong part of town. But
that didn’t seem likely. The car was covered in
graffiti. The form of the vandalism made it look like street thugs having some
fun, but the sheer amount of it looked personal. Like whoever did it wanted to
make sure to really mar the car’s paint job. It looked like overkill. Like
there was a lot of hatred and emotion behind the act.
Satisfied Micha wasn’t in the car and that there
was no perp, Caleb holstered his gun and jogged to the stairs. He took them two
at a time until he hit the fourth floor. Wasting no time, he ran to her unit
and knocked.
From inside, there was rustling, and he said a
quick silent prayer that he’d find her unhurt. “Micha? Open the door. It’s
Caleb.”
“I hear you, keep your pants on, would you?”
Funny, she’d sung a different tune Sunday night. “Open
the door, Micha.”
When she swung the door open, her hair hung in wet
hanks down her back, and she was dressed in sweats. “Are you all right?”
She nodded but didn’t quite meet his gaze. “Yeah,
I’m fine. I was in the shower.”
“I saw your car.”
“Yeah, me too. It was fine when I parked it, but came
back from grabbing fro-yo and someone had left me a present.”
So the damage had been done in their garage? He’d
have to talk to the building manager and get a look at the security tapes. “Any
idea who did this?”
She sighed, and her shoulders slumped. “Caleb, I
appreciate the concern, but I’m fine. I’m dealing with it. Already called the
cops, and they’ll get my statement in the morning at the office. I don’t need
your help.”
“You mean you didn’t file a report tonight? Why
the hell not?” He made no attempt to keep his voice below a bellow.
“No, and I can’t deal with it right now. I’m
exhausted. I’ll do it in the morning.”
“Micha, you realize this means someone targeted
your car specifically. None of the other cars around yours were vandalized. We
can’t wait to deal with this.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and rolled her
lips inward. “Caleb, I’m a very short fuse right now. I can’t deal with you
pushing. All I want to do is climb into bed and sleep for a month. Just once,
can we do things my way?”
He studied her again. Her eyes were rimmed red,
and she looked like she’d been up for days. What wasn’t she telling him? “Micha,
I’m here to help. I want to make sure you’re doing okay.”
“And like I said, I don’t need your help. I’m fine
on my own.”
Chapter
11
Micha’s alarm clock screeched. Aiming for her
bedside table, she reached to turn it off, but couldn’t find it. Popping her
head out from beneath the covers, she cursed. Every morning without fail, she
forgot she’d moved it over to the dresser so she wouldn’t be tempted to snooze
her way out of a run. “Of all the idiotic things.” Tossing off the cover, she
sat up and immediately regretted the decision.
To say it felt like someone had taken a
sledgehammer to her head was an understatement. She’d taken a sleeping pill
last night after the car fiasco. But that had done nothing for the migraine she
felt coming on.
As she went about with her morning routine,
running socks, shorts, industrial strength sports bra, she tried to remember
what in the
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