Page 85 of Cautious Love

I lean over, cupping her cheek with my hand. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t need me to Shy. The difference is I want to.”

She blinks at me and I expect her to say something sassy, but she doesn’t say a word.

“Goodnight,” I mumble and close her door behind me.

Chapter 21

Ledger

Goingthroughmyroom,I change and look out the window of my bathroom that faces the street. It’s quiet. No odd cars, no one walking around. It is midnight, but that’s usually when the crime starts happening. I can’t have a car stationed outside. We’re too understaffed, and I’m on my own.

Grabbing my shotgun and phone, I post up in the living room. Luckily, one of my comfortable chairs wasn’t destroyed like my couch. I fill a glass of water, start some coffee, and take a seat.

It’s crossed my mind that Grey or afriendmight come back for seconds and wait for me to come home, so I need to be prepared. His motive remains unclear, but knowing the man he is, I wouldn’t put petty crime past him. It’s the only way he can get back at us without having to face his other illegal activities. This was always in the back of my mind, but I told myself he wouldn’t. But he had the balls to do this, so it’s possible my first mistake was underestimating him. Then again, if this wasn’t just Grey, and it’s the Kensingtons, that could mean a lot of things, including Will being made.

I dial Luke, hoping he knows a little more.

“Hey boss.”

“Hey, have you had a check-in with Will?” I ask him.

He sighs. “No, I haven’t. He missed it earlier today.”

“Shit. So then his next check-in is when he reports back for his suspension review,” I mutter.

“Yeah, if he’s not there, then I think we’ll have to respond sooner rather than later,” Luke says.

“Alright, if anything changes, let me know.”

“Will do, and uh, boss, I heard about your house,” he pauses. “Do you think it was them?” he asks.

I sigh, rubbing the exhaustion from my eyes. “It was Grey. But I can’t be sure if his father put him up to it, almost like a warning to Shiloh.”

“What are you going to do?” he asks.

I huff. “Find him and arrest his ass.”Even if I shouldn’t or can’t.

“He made it easy, didn’t he?” Luke says.

“We were looking for something actionable to get him, and this definitely did the trick.”

“Assuming you can get proof,” Luke says.

The stuffed animal won’t do the trick. “I don’t think it will be difficult to find out. But the problem is Calder called and told me Grey wasn’t at home. So maybe Will saw something.”

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” I mumble and hang up.

“Ledger?” Shiloh’s sleepy voice calls. I look over my shoulder and she comes around the chair.

“What are you doing?” she asks, observing the shotgun leaning against the chair, my glass of water in one hand and my handgun in the other.

“Keeping watch,” I mumble.

“That’s … encouraging,” she mumbles and scoots into the kitchen.

I listen to her rummage around and pour coffee into a mug. She comes back around and sets the coffee on the small table next to the chair. Grabs my gun, setting it next to the coffee, and climbs onto my lap.