Until Cobi (Until Him 3)

“I….” she starts, but stops when there is a knock on the door.

“Get dressed,” I order softly, turning away from her. I don’t want to make her feel any worse than she already does. I don’t want her to see how pissed off I am.

“Cobi.”

When my gaze meets hers, the anger I’m feeling is amplified. Her eyes glistening is my undoing, and I swear to God I’m going to kill her dad if I find out it was him who broke in. I move toward her, calling, “Hold on,” to the officers outside. Once I’m close, I wrap my hand around the side of her neck and gentle my voice. “Get dressed and come right back out to me. It’s going to be all okay, sweetheart.”

“Cobi.”

“I promise you, baby, it’s going to be okay.” I bend my head down and kiss her wobbling bottom lip then pull back to look into her eyes once more. “Do what I asked and come back to me.”

“Okay,” she whispers, and I let her go, watching her as she disappears into the bedroom.

I pull in a few breaths before going to the door and opening it. I let Haws and Tracy, two officers I know, into the house, shaking their hands. I’ve worked with each of them a few times in the past, and both are good people and officers, having been with the local PD for years. While Hadley is getting dressed, I relay the story of what happened to them, tell them how I woke up and heard a sound, then went in search of it and saw someone run from the house. I tell them I didn’t get a glimpse of him or her, but in my estimation, the person was a man, the height alone leading me to believe that fact. They must have been at least six foot, and not many women are that tall. I tell them about Hadley mentioning that it might have been her father who broke in, and when Hadley comes out of the bedroom dressed, they ask her what her father’s name is. I’m stunned that I know of him. I’ve personally never dealt with Derrick Emmerson, but his name and his wife’s have come up in meetings more than once since I started with the department.

“I don’t know for sure if it was him,” Hadley says, and I pull her against me, rubbing her arm when her voice cracks. “But he asked me just yesterday to borrow money, and he knows I always keep at least a hundred dollars cash in my wallet.” She shakes her head. “He’s the only person I can think of who’d break in.”

Not liking the idea of her believing her father would do this to her, I ask, “Do you guys know if any other break-ins have happened in the area?” Looking between both officers, I watch as they share a look then shake their heads.

“None in this neighborhood, but the days are getting shorter and the holidays are coming up. People always start getting desperate around this time of year,” Tracy says, and I nod. Hadley’s neighborhood is one of the safer ones within the city limits, but Tracy is right. With the holidays fast approaching, break-ins are occurring more and more. Most people will get a second job to provide for their family, but there are some who will just go out and take from others in order to give their loved ones what they think they need. I can’t even tell you the number of times I’ve been called to a home in the month of December with the owners telling me that someone stole all the gifts from under their tree or packages off their doorstep. Christmas makes people crazy, and the crime rate during the holidays is proof of that.

“Do you know how they got in?” Haws questions.

“I haven’t done a sweep yet. Didn’t want to go out without my weapon, which is locked up in my truck.”

“I’m going to check around the house to see if I can find an entry point,” he mumbles before giving out chin lifts and heading outside.

“Did you notice anything telling about the perpetrator before they took off?” Tracy asks.

“Nothing more than what I already told you. I’m not sure if they wore a mask, but I didn’t see their face. I couldn’t even tell if they were Caucasian.”

“What direction did they head in?”

“Toward 5th Street. I lost sight of them when they got to the end of the block.” My hand clenches in frustration. “I didn’t pursue them after they took off. I didn’t want to leave Hadley alone, and like I said before, I had no gun.”

“Probably smart you let them go,” Tracy says, while Hadley nuzzles my chest with the side of her face. I kiss the top of her head and try to force myself to relax when I feel how tense she is. I don’t want her to feel my anger and feed off it, especially not in the middle of the night. She still has a few hours to sleep, and I want her to do that without having another nightmare.