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.“You’re not safe here.Is there anywhere you can go until we catch this guy?”“We?”She had a point.Her protection was Cedar Key’s responsibility.But he had made it his, too.She shook her head.“Anywhere I go, he’s going to find me.Cedar Key’s not that big.”“Then you need twenty-four-hour police surveillance.”“With three full-time and three part-time officers, I don’t think that’s going to happen.But I’m sure they won’t mind driving by and keeping an eye on my place.Hunter and Bobby are already doing that.So is Chief Sandlin.” Judging from the lack of confidence in her tone, the occasional drive-by wasn’t giving her the security she longed for.“What about in between patrols?”“I’ll be sleeping with the Glock.”“Do you know how to use it?”“No, but I was hoping you’d teach me.”Her words triggered that familiar tightening in the chest that hit him every time he thought about handling a weapon.“Shooting lessons are a great idea.But there are people who can teach you who are more qualified than I am.”She stared at him, jaw slack in disbelief.“More qualified than a cop?”Before he could respond, Hunter’s voice came from the top of the stairs.“Allison? You’d better come and look at this.”Blake followed Allison into the foyer and up the stairs.Maybe Hunter had figured out how the intruder had gained access.Even though Allison had changed out the old window latches, the creep had gotten in anyway.Whether she wanted him to or not, he wasn’t leaving until he had checked every lock in the place.And changed any he wasn’t happy with.Hunter led them into the guest room.On the far wall, a French door and window looked out onto a balcony.The window was open.Allison gasped.“But how.” She let the thought trail off.“The window was locked.I’m sure of it.”Hunter crossed the room and bent to retrieve some objects from the floor.“You’re right.In fact, the lock is still latched.It’s just not attached to the window.”He showed them what he held.A completely functional lock and four small screws lay in one latex-covered palm.“The screws are obviously too short to go through the latch and into the wood.You’ll probably find some outlet covers with missing screws.”Blake frowned.“When he was inside ransacking the house, do you think he swapped out screws so it would look like it was secure, but wasn’t?”Hunter nodded.“That’s exactly what I think.Then all he had to do was shimmy up one of the balcony posts, remove the screen and lift the window.He was in with hardly a sound.”Allison shook her head, shock still etched into her features.“I looked at all the latches in the house.If they were the new style, I knew they were secure and didn’t even check.”“Well,” Hunter began, “you were half right.These are good, solid locks.Unfortunately, if they’re not securely attached to the window, they’re worthless.”Blake walked through the upstairs, checking outlets.As expected, four covers were missing screws, two in the guest room, one in the bathroom and one in Allison’s bedroom.The longer screws had disappeared.Hunter turned to Allison.“It’s a long shot, but since he may have handled this previously, I’m going to see if I can lift any prints from the latch itself.Otherwise, I’ll spare you the pleasure of the messy black powder.”“I appreciate that.”“Then we need to get that reattached.I’d like to check the other locks, too, just to make sure they’re secure.”“I wasn’t going to leave without seeing to that myself.” Blake cast a teasing glance at Allison.“Unless she throws me out.”Allison held up both hands in surrender.“Check to your heart’s content.It’ll only make me feel better.” She crossed her arms in front of her and looked up at Hunter.“Any luck deciphering what I gave you?”One brow lifted in question.“Yeah, he knows.Bobby mentioned it, and he overheard.”Hunter cast him a conspiratorial glance.“I’m a pretty good judge of character.I think you can trust him.”Blake smiled.It was good having Hunter in his corner.His word seemed to carry a lot of weight with Allison.Since Hunter thought he was okay, Allison thought he was okay.And for some reason, that mattered.Hunter heaved a sigh.“I haven’t figured anything out yet.I’ve shown it to the other officers.Some ideas have been tossed around, but nothing we could really go with.”Allison looked up at Blake, and one side of her mouth cocked up.“How good are you at puzzles?”“I’d say I’m as good as the next person.”“Then follow me.”She turned and padded down the stairs, her robe flowing out behind her, a pool of ivory silk.As Hunter headed out to retrieve his fingerprint kit, Allison swung open the double doors to the den.Inside was total chaos.She obviously hadn’t gotten there yet.She crossed the room to pull a sheet out of the printer, sidestepping the papers and file folders slung about.After scrawling three lines, she handed him the page.“What do you make of this?”He skimmed the lines.“I thought you said you didn’t know the numbers.”“You asked if I had made a copy of the paper or written down the numbers.I said no, which was the truth.I didn’t write them down until just now.”“You’re sneaky.”“No, I’m not.” She flashed him a sassy grin.“You just don’t ask the right questions.”“I’ll be sure to make them more pointed in the future.”He lowered his gaze to the page he held.R45 87, G45 165, R2.55 282.Finally, he looked back up at Allison.“Not a clue.This is going to take some thought.Can I have this?”Allison nodded.“Just be careful.Someone wants that awfully bad.”Yeah, bad enough to hold a knife to her throat.“I’m going to make sure the house is secure, but you really need an alarm system.”“I thought about it after the first break-in.”“Good.The sooner you get it installed, the better.And a good guard dog wouldn’t hurt.But I suppose that’s out of the question [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]