this all up for us?”
The night was silent around us and he grunted in satisfaction and started to gather the SWAT team up so they could head out.
“I’m sorry about the scene,” Connor said, his focus on Saint. “I was a little bit of a mess, and I don’t even want to talk about how much of a girl I just acted.”
Saint snorted out a laugh.
“Having someone in her house scared the absolute piss out of me,” Connor continued, looking contrite. “So you’re fully forgiven.”
Connor grinned and offered Saint his hand.
Saint took it, even though I saw that it pained him when his shoulder moved.
“Oh, and Merry fucking Christmas,” Connor said before heading to his cruiser.
CHAPTER 18
All I want for Christmas is you. Just kidding. I want a million dollars and a three-month vacation.
-Caro to Saint
SAINT
“It was an isolated incident,” Lynn said. “I don’t really know how he breached the house. I think it was a poorly planned switch off on our part, compared with luck on his on when he chose to go in, but we don’t feel like it has any bearing on what is surrounding you.”
No, it didn’t seem like it.
Apparently when Carolina had gone to pick up the donuts yesterday, she’d gotten into an altercation with a man parking his vehicle in Dillan’s parking lot for the bar that was next door.
Dillan had come out and asked him to move, he’d refused, and so Carolina had stepped in.
When he still hadn’t moved, Carolina had called her father, who had then come over with his police cruiser and shut the bar down for being overly crowded. Which had not only pissed the owner off, but the man that had refused to move his car.
Of course, as he was leaving, Carolina had snipped at him and the guy held a grudge.
He’d also waited for her to leave a little bit down the road, and had then followed her home, waited until it was late and she would be asleep, before entering her home.
It was all tied to her, not me, but still, after experiencing all that was the terror of seeing her at gunpoint, I’d started to revert back to ‘maybe we should take a break’ again.
Which, granted, Carolina had immediately seen.
Which led us to now, Carolina asking for clarification from the mayor, Luke, and Bruno.
Which left me wondering what, exactly, I was supposed to do.
“If you’re so worried about my safety,” Carolina said, “I’ll go stay with my parents for a while.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s… you can stay with me. I live in Cop Row. You should be safe there.”
Lynn’s eyes came to me, assessing and considerate.
“What about the other guy?” Carolina asked then. “Why was he there?”
That I wanted to know, too. But Juris wouldn’t be talking for a while. Not with taking a stake to the throat.
“Opportunity, likely,” Bruno muttered. “Probably was watching you. Hoping for an in. The ambulance was stolen from a gas station around the time that the call went out.”
“Did he have anything identifying on him?” Carolina asked. “Maybe a key card or something? Did you check his phone? Sometimes they send the key card to the phones now. He doesn’t live here. He’s got to be staying somewhere. Maybe you’ll find something in his belongings that’ll tell you why he’s here. Other than the obvious of wanting to kill a president’s son.”
I liked my girl.
So smart.
“As a matter of fact.” Someone came into the room then. “I just found this.”
Carolina’s father.
“Whatcha got?” I asked curiously.
“His phone that has plenty of shit on it,” he said. “And a hotel’s address in the recent searches on Google.”
Lynn sat forward.
“Do you need a team?” Lynn asked, looking at Luke.
It was now five in the morning.
I had six stitches in my back, and I was officially off shift as of twenty minutes ago.
If they had to call the SWAT team in on Christmas morning, shit was going to hit the fan.
“No,” Luke said. “I think that with a small team, we can get it done. Michael, you got anything planned?”
Michael looked at his watch. “I have about two hours left until I have to be home and opening presents. Nikki will literally lose her shit if I’m not there.”
“Then we best get this done in an hour, just to be sure. Wouldn’t want your woman pissed at you for no reason,” Luke drawled.
I stood up, too.
Carolina tugged on my hand, and I looked down into her eyes.
“I’m going to go ahead to