just behind him, swamped by his broad shoulders. They both wore grave expressions when I nudged the door to the loft wider for them to see it.
Bethany gasped. Maverick frowned.
“Hernandez said he's on his way,” I said. “I'm so sorry. I feel like this is my fault somehow.”
Bethany put a reassuring hand on my shoulder with a smile. “I'm just glad you're safe, Serafina. Things can be replaced. We have insurance for a reason. We tend to use it quite a bit these days,” she added drily, with a smile aimed at Maverick.
Maverick's jaw remained tight as he stepped into the room. The troubled expression didn't clear from Bethany's face. She wore her hair down, but styled, elegantly at odds with her simple yoga pants and t-shirt today. Normally, I saw her as the high-end real estate agent, not this casual version.
Ellie already leaned against the doorway, her forehead grooved into a frown. She hadn't come inside, but she hadn't left me alone after I ran downstairs and asked her to call Maverick. Whoever had done this did it in the middle of the day, during the twenty minutes when Ellie was on a quick lunch break and the shop closed for a bit. They must have been watching and waiting, but Ellie hadn't seen anyone loitering.
For this level of destruction, they had been fast.
“Wow.” Maverick whistled low as he stepped farther into the room. I'd already done a slow walk around. A gentle tour where I hadn't touched anything and attempted to comprehend exactly what happened. Thanks to all my travels, I didn't feel particularly attached to any sort of belonging. All of this furniture had been mostly new, not yet mine. The thought that I didn't care about the stuff crossed my mind. The invasion of privacy was disturbing, but not truly terrifying. The thought of this happening at Ben's house, however, made me sick to my stomach.
The message there was clear: this wasn't my home. Moving on was the right thing, no matter how painful.
Even if Ben's house felt more like home than here.
“Was anything taken?” Maverick asked.
“Not that I can tell. I don't keep any cash here, and my wallet was with me in my backpack, thank heavens. There really isn't much that I own, so I don't have a lot she could steal.”
“She?” Bethany asked.
I pulled in a deep breath. “I think I know who did it,” I admitted reluctantly, the pull and tug of guilt fresh with each word. “Amber, my brother's ex-girlfriend.”
His drug dealer, I thought, but didn't add.
Maverick strode past the kitchen, glass grinding under his shoes. Bethany hung back, near us, as flashing blue and red lights came into the parking lot below. She let out a sigh of relief.
“Jayson is here,” she murmured.
“Why do you think Amber did it?” Maverick asked as he surveyed some scratches on the cupboard doors.
“She's upset that we've taken my brother away. Says he owes her money. She probably came here looking for cash or something. Then trashed it to get her revenge. She and I haven't exactly gotten along,” I said quietly.
Bethany squeezed my arm, and her lack of judgment was a deep balm on my heart. “There are security cameras outside,” she said. “We'll get an eye on them soon. This may not even be her, but an isolated incident. It's not your fault.”
“Thanks, Bethany.”
The next hour came in a whirl. Ellie slipped back downstairs to run the shop, but Maverick and Ellie remained with me until Jayson had finished his report. By the time we'd cleaned up the glass on the floor and assessed the damages, with photos, for their insurance report, evening crept in.
Bethany paused in the doorway. “We need to go pick our son up,” she said, “but I'm still worried about you. Are you going to be okay here tonight?”
Amber at large didn't reassure me, but I nodded anyway. None of the windows had broken, Maverick had done a quick lock replacement downstairs while I filled paperwork out, and the town lay quiet outside. At her core, Amber was a coward. I'd be shocked if she came back when I was here. That didn't give me comfort at all, of course, but I couldn't let Bethany know that.
“I'll be fine. I'll keep everything locked.”
Her expression darkened further. “Maverick told me about you and Ben. I'm sorry. Men are total apes sometimes. I hope he comes around. This would have been the perfect time for him to step in.”
I sucked