Gracie folded her hands in her lap. “You should have seen me a few minutes ago. I wasn’t so calm then.”
Wade placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “You had every right to get upset, sweetheart.”
Gracie looked at Wade. A little thril ran down her spine as she noticed the admiration in his dark gaze. “Thank you.” She hadn’t expected him to come to her defense so quickly. However, this was one time she was glad she had a man to speak up for her. Wow, she real y wasn’t feeling herself.
Detective Henderson took out a notepad and a pen. “Let’s start at the beginning. You were gone, and when you came home your apartment looked like this?”
“My dad cal ed. He’d stopped by and found the door unlocked and the place in shambles.”
“And it doesn’t appear the perpetrator took anything?” This time Officer Delaney spoke.
Before Gracie could answer, Wade effectively stopped her with a look. He turned to address the young officer himself. “We haven’t gotten a chance to go through everything, but nothing seems to have been taken. I think the asshole picked her lock. No windows were broken.”
“Does your lease al ow for pets? It might give you some peace of mind to have a dog around,” Detective Henderson said.
She shook her head. “I thought of that, but I’m afraid no pets al owed.”
He frowned. “Do you have somewhere you can stay for a while?”
“She’l be staying with me until this guy is caught,” Wade stated, as if it’d already been decided.
Al three men stared at Wade while they digested that little tidbit of information. Gracie wanted to kick him for his high-handedness. She would’ve too, if not for the relief swamping her at the idea that she wouldn’t have to stay in the apartment. She couldn’t imagine ever staying there again. The very idea made her queasy. She felt violated. And she hadn’t even gotten a look at her bedroom.
The detective took a pair of plastic gloves from his inside breast pocket. After putting them on, he picked up the note. One eyebrow arched upward. “I’ve been going through the copies of those e-mails you showed me, and I’ve noticed he cal s you Gracie Lynn.” He tucked the note in a plastic bag and sealed it. “In the note too. You have no idea who this guy could be? A coworker maybe or an ex-boyfriend?”
Gracie had asked herself that same question a hundred times; she stil had no answers. “I can’t think of a single person who would do this.
And no one cal s me by my middle name.”
“He’s obviously becoming more and more violent toward you, Ms. Baron. Breaking into your home tel s me he’s damned confident he won’t get caught.”
“Or he just doesn’t give a damn if he is,” Wade growled.
Detective Henderson tucked the note into his pocket. “Either way, you aren’t safe alone. We can have an officer keep an eye
on your apartment.”
Gracie pushed a hand through her hair. “I’m not sure it’s necessary. Not anymore. He’s already ruined everything anyway. And I won’t be staying here. So what’s the point?”
The detective cringed. “Yeah, the damage is done. But his next step could be to harm you personal y.”
“He’l have to go through me first,” Wade said, his voice as hard as steel.
The detective nodded approvingly. “We’l need you to come down to the station and give us a statement.” He pointed to the vase and said, “In the meantime maybe we can get some fingerprints. Something to indicate who this guy is.”
Gracie wasn’t holding her breath on that one. So far her lunatic admirer had proven damned resourceful when it came to hiding his identity; she doubted he would make a mistake now. But she kept her thoughts to herself. “I just need to cal my neighbor. She’l worry if she sees police in my apartment.”
The doorbel rang, and Gracie frowned as she glanced at the clock. It was two in the morning. “Who could that be?”
“I’l check,” Wade said.
Curious, Gracie fol owed him out of the kitchen, but when he looked out the front window and cursed, her curiosity increased. “Who is it, Wade?”
“Jean,” he said, with a definite grimace.
Gracie smiled. Knowing Jean had come over to check on her took some of the chil away. Gracie closed the distance and nudged Wade aside and opened the door. Jean stood on her doorstep, her hair up in rol ers. The rainbow-colored robe she wore should have looked garish on her, but somehow Jean pul ed it off.
“What on earth is going on? I saw the police car and—” She stopped talking, and her eyes grew as round as quarters. “Oh, my Lord! What happened here?”