Page 41 of His Obsession
Val gets out of the car before I can answer.
“No,” she says firmly. “The police can’t do anything. What are we going to tell them, that I know my ex broke in because a pillow was out of place?”
Nico turns toward her. “Val.”
“I said no.”
There’s enough force in her voice to stop both of us.
Nico takes one step toward her and reins himself in before he crowds her.
“Your front door was open and you know you locked it,” he reminds her. “Someone was inside your house, even if they didn’t take anything.”
“I know that.”
“Then we call the police.”
“No.” She says it again, flatter this time. “They’ll come out here, write down that nothing’s missing, ask if I’m sure I locked the door, and leave. That’s all they’ll do.”
Nico opens his mouth to argue, but I cut in first.
“She’s right.”
Both of them look at me. Nico’s expression darkens immediately.
“We have to do something,” he says.
“You know what will happen if we call the police,” Val says to him, and I hear an edge. They share some kind of understanding that I’m not in on.
I can’t prove it, but I think this is about her ex. If she’s afraid to involve the police, he must be even more complicated than I thought.
Either way, she’s right. The police would walk through, find no forced entry, no theft, no immediate signs of violence, and write this off as a nuisance call from a woman too rattled to trust her own memory. They might phrase it more politely, but they wouldn’t do a damn thing.
And that’s before you factor in the less official reason I don’t bring police into situations unless I absolutely have to. Nico knows that, too. I can see it in the set of his jaw.
Val looks between us and lets out a bitter laugh. “Great. Glad we all agree I’m on my own.”
“You’re not on your own,” Nico says immediately.
“No?” She gestures toward the house. “Because it really feels like it.”
I step in before the whole thing tips into another useless argument. “The only thing that matters right now is making sure the house is clear.”
That lands cleanly enough to redirect them both.
I look at Val. “Did you touch anything besides the door?”
“I walked into the living room and kitchen.”
“That’s it?”
She nods once.
“Good.”
Nico exhales through his nose. “I’ll go through the house.”
“No,” I say.
