Walker worked out hard and he worked out long then he returned home late, giving Lexie plenty of time to do her thing.
He parked the Cruiser by the Snake in the garage. Then he took the stairs, braced for what he would find.
But when he got to the top of the stairs, it was all there. The pitchers, the snow globe, the frames, the crock with the spoons in, the fruit bowl, the KitchenAid, the toss pillows.
Fuck, she didn’t show.
Fuck!
He needed her shit out.
Now he had to call a still seriously pissed off Tate.
Or stop acting like a f**king idiot and continue perpetrating exactly the junior high school bullshit Tate called it and phone his soon-to-be ex-wife.
He dropped his workout bag by the stairs, reminding himself to sort it. There was no Lexie to take it away and deal with it. Not anymore.
He headed upstairs and hit their room then something made him stop dead.
His head turned and he saw the frame that held the picture of them at The Rooster was gone. He felt his chest compress and his gut tighten as he walked to the closet.
Her clothes were gone.
He retraced his steps down the stairs and went right, to the guest bedroom.
Cleaned out.
He moved to the office.
Her computer gone. The frames gone. Her print gone.
He moved to the other bedroom.
Void of everything.
He walked back up the stairs and to the closet, looking down; he saw the safe was closed. He moved to it, crouched in front of it and opened it.
Money and jewelry still there.
“Fuck,” he whispered to the safe. Then he slammed the door shut using all his strength, it flew back open, hit the back of its hinges and swung shut again.
He surged to his feet and barked, “Fuck!”
He prowled back downstairs to his workout bag, bent to it, dug through it and found his phone. He straightened as his thumb moved on the keys, taking him to her number.
He clenched his teeth as it rang.
He got voicemail. No surprise.
“This is Lexie. Busy right now, leave a message.”
He clenched his teeth harder at the sound of her voice.
Then he heard the beep. “Don’t be stupid. Come back, get your cash and diamonds. You need me gone, I’ll be gone. Just get them.”
Then he flipped his phone shut.
Then he stood by his bag and stared at the snow globe in the kitchen windowsill and his eyes lifted.