“Business.” I would’ve enjoyed seeing his surprise if the circumstances had been different. “I’m a PI, and my investigation took me to Rochester. I went to the city to stop by my place and office before coming back.”
“You’re a PI.”
I gritted my teeth and tried not to be annoyed at his surprise. “Yes. My license is in my purse.” I gestured back to where I’d left the bags. “I can get it if you want me to.”
“That won’t be necessary,” he said. “I just need to know how long you were gone.”
“We left on Tuesday afternoon and got in on the one o’clock flight today.”
He closed his notebook. “All right. I didn’t think either of you had anythin’ to do with this, but my captain would have my ass if I didn’t get your alibis.”
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t an ass.
“Can you tell me now if the cabins are covered with the same shit as the house?”
“Pretty much,” he said. “Barn too. And two of the cabins were broken into.”
I went cold. “Which two?”
“Yours and Bradyn’s.” Isaac came up behind the cop. “I don’t know how bad the damage is. I just opened the doors to make sure you two weren’t there and then waited for the cops with my parents.”
“No one was hurt?” It didn’t look like it, but I needed to know for sure.
“No.” Isaac turned his attention to the cop. “Your partner wants to talk to you.”
“Probably wants to see if our stories match,” Bradyn said as he walked over. His tone was casual, but the lines around his mouth weren’t.
“Just doin’ our job,” the cop grumbled as he headed over to his partner.
“I don’t know why they wasted any time thinking the two of you did anything,” Isaac said. “It’s your cabins that are trashed.”
“Wait.” Bradyn’s eyes narrowed. “What about the main house? The barn?”
“Graffitied,” Isaac said. “But not broken into.”
Bradyn’s gaze met mine, and I saw my thoughts reflected there.
Shit.
“My parents told me there’s some lawsuit you’re investigating that has something to do with them.”
I turned to Isaac and tried to pretend that the hairs on the back of my neck weren’t all on end. “I am.” I glanced over to where the cops were walking toward a car that was coming up the driveway. “And I think Bradyn and I need to find out if anything’s missing from our cabins. See if it’s just vandalism or if we need to report a robbery.”
“I’m not going to let some lawsuit put my parents in danger.”
“I wouldn’t have gotten them involved if I’d known something like this was going to happen.” I hoped Isaac knew I was telling the truth. “Hell, I wouldn’t have been staying here if I thought it’d risk your parents.”
Isaac sighed, and he suddenly looked years older. “I know, Nyx. This racist shit just gets old.”
I couldn’t even tell him that it wasn’t about race, even if the vandalism was supposed to cover up a theft. Money or racism alone could be a motive for crime. Together, they were explosive.
“Let’s go see if anything’s missing,” Bradyn said. “Isaac, figure out what’s needed for your parents to be safe. Whatever it is, I’ll take care of it.”
It said something about how shaken Isaac was that he didn’t argue with Bradyn’s offer. Guilt twisted my stomach into knots, making me worry that if I tried to add to what Bradyn said, I’d throw up. It wasn’t as much the things that’d been done, but what could’ve happened if whoever it was had been angrier or hadn’t found what they were looking for.
Sure, it could’ve just been some assholes, but if I had to accept one more thing as coincidence, I was going to scream. My hands curled and uncurled, nails digging into my palms. I needed to move, do something. I started toward my cabin and heard footsteps a few seconds later. When Bradyn made it to my side, he slowed down and matched my steps. Neither one of us said anything until we got to my cabin.
“Want to do this together?”
“No. We should each do our own.” I turned, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back to him, folding me into a hug.
“This isn’t your fault.” He kissed the top of my head. “Stop blaming yourself.”
“I’m working on it,” I said, pressing my face against his chest. “What really sucks is that I can’t wish that I hadn’t taken the case because these families deserve