Page 142 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

“Fuck,” I cursed in the living room, taking it all in.

Who had done this? What were they looking for?

The screech of tires outside sent me hustling out the front door. Willa was still inside the truck, watching with panic from the passenger window as Sheriff Magee and two of his deputies hopped out of their cruisers.

With hands on their holsters, they rushed toward the house.

“Is anyone inside?” Magee asked.

I shook my head. “No. I checked all of the rooms. They’re all trashed but there’s no sign whoever did it is still in there.”

“Mind if we check, just to be sure?”

“Be my guest.” I stepped out of the way as he and his deputies rushed inside to sweep the house.

Meanwhile, I went over to the truck, opening the door for Willa.

“What happened?” she asked, clinging to my hand as I helped her out.

“I don’t know, babe. Someone broke in and made a mess of the place looking for something.”

“What?” she gasped. “Who? Why?”

I pulled her into my chest, hoping some of my body heat would stop her shivering. Though I doubted it was from the cold.

“I don’t know. Let’s go inside and talk to Magee.”

She nodded, leaving her arms wrapped around my waist as we walked. The minute we stepped inside, she gasped again and slapped a hand over her mouth. “No.”

“Better stay there,” a deputy warned from the kitchen. “We’re going to dust this whole place for fingerprints.”

Fuck. Even with the carnage all around us, it was hard to believe this was happening. When were we going to catch a break?

“All clear, Sheriff,” one of the deputies called from the direction of my bedroom.

“Same here.” Sheriff Magee’s shout preceded him as he emerged from the hallway going to Ryder’s room. As he stood in the living room, he surveyed the mess and shook his head. “Your brother’s room is the worst. Whoever did this spent more time in there than anywhere else.”

I nodded. While things in the rest of the house had been upended, his room had been fucking destroyed. “I noticed the same thing.”

“I think you’d better go get him from school and bring him to the station,” Magee said.

I sighed, tucking Willa closer to my side. “I think you’re right.”

My brother had some explaining to do.

Willa and I left the house immediately, driving straight to the school. We went inside, stopping at the office to request Ryder’s early release. One of the aides went to get Ryder from his classroom and it only took a couple of minutes for him to come rushing around a wall of lockers. The moment he saw us in the hall, he jogged toward us.

“So?” he asked, hiking his backpack over his shoulder. “What happened?”

“They know I didn’t do it,” I told him.

Ryder dropped his backpack and flung himself at my chest.

I wrapped my brother up in a hug, realizing then just how much of his worries this past week had been for me.

“I was worried they’d take you away.” Ryder’s voice was muffled in my chest. “Then they’d take me away too.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” I dropped a cheek to the top of Ryder’s head. “Neither are you. Love you, kid.”