Hank shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ve got to get to work. You’ll be all right here?” His gaze moved from Avery to Micah, who was now following his son up the porch steps. “Do you want me to bring Halston home later today, when he’s ready? You know I work near the clinic.”
Avery bit the inside of her cheek, thinking. She could feel the line blurring between amicable exes and something more. She couldn’t let him take care of picking up Halston. “No,” she said, coming back over to him. “I should pick him up; the vet probably has instructions for me. And you’ve done plenty already. You must be tired. I’m sorry you’ve got to go to work instead of back home to bed.” She frowned. She shouldn’t have mentioned going to bed. That was one part of their relationship that had always been pretty great.
He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. Get Micah or his son to stay here tonight, will you? Or maybe you should just stay with me.”
“Oh.” She had a panicked moment as she realized she hadn’t thought about being here alone tonight. At the same time, her cheeks burned as she thought of a sleepover with Hank. She couldn’t go down this road again; she’d done a lot of work since they’d ended things. She was over him. Wasn’t she?
“Or someone,” Hank said. “You shouldn’t be alone.”
Well, she’d certainly misread that. “I’ll make sure someone stays with me. You’re right. Um . . . thank you, seriously. For everything.”
In the house, Avery skipped the pancakes for the time being and headed for the office. Whoa. She stopped short in the hall. While she’d been at the hospital, a full crime scene investigation had taken place. Yellow police tape was strung across the doorway. A small pool of blood had collected on the hardwood in the hall, where the intruder had fallen after she’d hit him. A yellow plastic number marker sat beside the blood, another one next to the wrought-iron gazelle on the floor ten feet or so away, below a large dent in the wall. She peered into the office and then gingerly ducked under the yellow tape and took a few slow steps inside. More yellow number markers were scattered around the office. The sheer curtain had been dragged through the window and was caught in jagged sections inside the frame, eerily billowing up and down in the breeze. The closet door stood open against the lilac bushes her mother so loved outside the window. Rows of scratches from the dog were visible on the door and floor inside. The sight made her cringe; he’d been frantic to get out and protect her. She turned and saw the gilt-edged mirror on the wall in place and intact.
She exhaled and closed her eyes, relieved. She grabbed a tissue from an end table and used it to peek behind the mirror, finding the safe still locked and untouched. The thief hadn’t found the keys, thank goodness. Of course he’d never think to look in the odd places they were stowed. She knew she shouldn’t be in here, beyond the crime scene tape. But it was her house, and this was her business. She had one more thing to check and then she’d go. Careful to avoid going anywhere near the debris or yellow markers, she moved through to her parents’ desks, almost afraid to look. When she did, her heart sank. Every drawer was pulled at least partially out, papers, notebooks, pens, and other items lying around the desks, and the deep, lockable drawer on the right side of her father’s desk had been pried open, the wood splintered around the lock. The folders and her mother’s little boxes inside were gone.
“It looks like the desks have been cleared out.” A deep voice spoke from the doorway, and Avery jumped a mile, spinning around. “Don’t do that!”
It was Art Smith—sheesh, he’d scared her. “I was hoping I interrupted him before he got to the files.” Her tone sounded as frustrated as she felt. The detective had never gotten back to her after she’d texted him, asking him to let her know if the mirror and her father’s large maple desk had been tampered with. She ducked under the yellow tape and moved along the wall to avoid the blood in the hallway. “What do I do about that? About all of this? Can I start cleaning everything up?”
“Yes, my forensics team has finished in here. I’m hoping the blood sample will tell us something, but he’ll have to already be in the system for that to pan out.” He pulled a card from his breast pocket and handed it to her. “This is a cleaning crew people sometimes use after an incident like this. It’s up to you. Homeowner’s insurance will usually cover the cost; make sure you include that in your claim.”
Avery sighed. “I hadn’t even thought of that. I’ve got my work cut out for me today. They went through the kitchen too, I saw. I haven’t walked through the rest of the house yet. God. I can’t believe they took every single file we had on the Emperor’s Twins medallion. And a couple of my mom’s organizing boxes; I don’t even know what was in them.” She was so aggravated.
“The rest of the house looked fine to us. And the kitchen didn’t seem to have much damage, just a couple drawers and cupboards opened and papers pulled out before the perp made his way through the house and found your office. I thought I’d let you see for yourself what was taken. I’m sorry about the files. You said there are some things behind the mirror too though, right?”
“Yes,” she said. “The safe was still locked when I checked.”
Noah appeared from the dining room. “Is it all right if I get into the garage to cut the wood for your window, Avery? Dad and I already got the measurements. It’s going to rain soon.”
“Yes! Please, Noah, that’d be great.” She turned back to Art. “My colleague’s son. They brought breakfast, if you’d like some, Detective.”
“Art. Please. I’ve eaten, thanks. I just came by to check and make sure you and the dog are all right. I see they got you squared away.” He motioned to her bandages. “How’s Halston? My partner was a little worried; she didn’t know what the outcome was after dropping him off at the clinic.”
“He’s still at the vet, sleeping off the anesthesia from surgery. He’ll get to come home later today. They had to set the leg with pins and put a cast on.” She winced, thinking about it. “When you catch the guy who did this, I hope you’ll charge him with abuse for what he did to our dog on top of the break-in.”
The detective nodded once. “That’s my plan. Speaking of catching him, how would you feel about giving a description to a sketch artist to supplement the statement you gave last night?”
Avery’s eyes widened. “I could try. I’m afraid I only saw him for a second. You might be better off getting my aunt and sister to describe him. It only makes sense it was the same guy.”
“Our composite artist will benefit from all three of your descriptions. Let me grab her, and she can start with yours for now.”
The detective went back outside and returned with the artist. Avery was surprised he’d brought her with him, but he explained that the sooner the victim gave a description, the more accurate it typically was. She didn’t like him referring to her as the victim. But she supposed that’s exactly what she was.
Avery sat with the artist, doing her best to recall details of what she’d seen, from the first moment he’d made eye contact across the room to when she’d been halfway out the window and seen him get up. It was harder than it looked on television. Dark hair; very dark eyes, almost black; a knit cap pulled low over his ears. No identifying marks such as tattoos, a mole, scars; the man had been covered except for his face and hands. When the woman turned her sketch pad toward Avery, it was as she’d expected: the vague figure of a dark-haired man in a cap. She hoped Tilly and Midge would have more to offer when Art put the artist in touch with them later today via video chat, well after Tilly’s audition. She made the artist promise to hold off until after she’d had a chance to talk to them herself first.
Art passed on one more piece of information before he left. He rested one hand on top of the open car door while the artist put her things in the back seat. “Listen, Avery. I dug around a little this morning for anything I could find about your collector Renell.”
“Oh! What did you find?” Is he real? she wanted to ask, but it sounded so dumb. Nevertheless, she held her br
eath, hoping, wishing, she might be right about Renell and her father.
“Well, you’re right. There’s definitely something odd about him. I pulled phone records and a credit check on that name. Of course he’s not the only Oliver Renell, but I’ve got him pegged, based on him being in New York this past week. Your guy has almost no credit history since 2013. Prior to that it gets hard to track. No cell phone records either. It gets weirder. I can’t find any residence connected to him. No history of paid utility bills. No credit cards.”
Avery’s stared at him, rapt. “What does all of that mean?”
“Generally, it means he doesn’t want to be found. He’s using cash for everything. He must have a burner cell phone that he discards every few weeks. Without having any bank account information, I have no clue where he gets his cash. I do know I’m tracking the right guy, because Renell purchased a couple flights using cash. The FAA won’t let anyone fly without proper identification on record, even though he used cash. So Renell did fly to Munich around the time he told your curator he came into possession of the jewel. And I have him arriving back in the city at LaGuardia two days prior to submitting the jewel to MOA.”
“Do you know what he looks like?” Avery blurted the question out before she could think about it. “Okay, I know this is crazy. But how do you know for certain that Renell isn’t an alias? A pseudonym for William Ayers? My dad.”
Art Smith drew back a bit, giving Avery an assessing look. “How would that be possible? I’m sorry. I’m sure you’re hoping that might miraculously be the case. But how?”
“I don’t know,” she said, disappointed. What had she expected? For Art to say her dad was alive and living at Beckworth Suites?
“I wish I could tell you that Oliver Renell was your father. I’m sorry.”
She nodded. “Yeah. It was a crazy idea.”
That afternoon, against Micah’s advice to act sooner, Avery called Aunt Midge. She’d gotten a call from Tilly a little while ago that she’d let go to voice mail. She went outside and sat on the front porch to get away from her cleaning efforts on the bloodstained floor while Micah and Noah worked on getting kitchen cupboards and drawers back together. Four PM Avery’s time was one PM West Coast time. By now, Tilly should know if she’d made it through the first round of auditions, and there’d be a little downtime before the prospective student showcase. Avery was positive her little sister had done well.
She was proven right. Tilly answered Midge’s phone, her face on the video-chat screen lit up the way it always was on Christmas morning. “I did it, A! Oh my God, it was so fun! You wouldn’t believe that stage; I’ve never seen one that huge. The instructors and vocal director weren’t scary at all—everyone was super nice. I screwed up my first line, and they even let me start over. We had to wait for results—we were going to call you as soon as we knew, but you beat us to it!”
Avery smiled widely into her phone. “I knew it! I’m not surprised at all! Congratulations, Tilly, you deserve it.”
“I know! I mean, thank you!” She laughed at her faux pas. “I’ll send you the live-stream link, but you should be able to find it in search too. They still have to review my transcripts and essay and all that, but I am so excited!” Tilly bounced a little on the screen, making Avery laugh.
“Good! You should be!”
“Auntie said Wilder was so worried about you last night when he dropped you off. Everything’s all good? Put Halston on—I want to give him a video smooch.”
Avery’s stomach dropped. “Uh. Is Auntie around? I need to—”
“Yeah, yeah, she’s here; let me boop my puppy’s nose and I’ll give her the phone, okay? I need to take another shower before tonight; I spilled salsa on my dress, and it got in my hair.”
Neither of them was especially coordinated around food, especially when they were nervous. “No! Not your black gown?” She knew she was delaying the inevitable.
“No, the blue dress I wore for auditions. Dude, is he outside or something? Here, talk to Auntie and let me talk to Halston when you’re done. Gotta go.” The view on Avery’s phone screen tilted to the white ceiling of the hotel room before Aunt Midge picked it up.
Midge put her face a couple inches away and peered into Avery’s eyes. “Your sister is bouncing off the walls.”
Avery pulled the phone away, stretching her arm out. “Auntie, just hold the phone normally. I can see you fine.”
“Ah. That’s right. These silly things,” Midge said, fussing with the phone. It finally went still, and her face came on-screen. She appeared to be sitting at the table in their suite. She’d propped the phone up on something. “She’s showering, and then we’ve got to get some food in her before the showcase. I’ve never seen her so keyed up. It’s fabulous, Avery; she’s thrilled. Your parents would be so proud.”
“Yes, they would.” Ugh. Just rip off the Band-Aid, Avery. “Auntie, I’m going to tell you something, but I need you not to freak out. It’s all under control. Someone broke into the house last night.” Midge’s face had gone pale on Avery’s screen. She barreled forward. “I called the police, and they came right away, and they’re working on finding the person who did it. I think it was probably the guy who came to the door yesterday, saying I’d sent him.”
It took a moment before Aunt Midge spoke. “You’re all right?”
Avery nodded vigorously. “I’m totally fine.” She was suddenly mindful of the white bandage on her forearm and arched her elbow slightly, making sure to keep her arm off-camera. Midge would be home soon enough, and she’d deal with that little white lie then. “The house is mostly okay too; whoever that man was wanted information on the Emperor’s Twins medallion. Nothing else was taken. I’ve just got some cleanup to do, and Micah and Noah came to help.” Should she mention the office window? She might be able to get that replaced before Midge and Tilly got back Friday.
“Let me hang up and call the airline. We’ll get a flight home as soon as Tilly’s done with the showcase tonight.”
“No!” She’d been afraid of this. There was no reason they needed to rush home. “Auntie, Tilly has dreamed about this audition and trip for so long. Let her have it. Please. I swear to you, everything will be okay here. The detective that worked on my parents’ case is handling this, and he’s great. Micah and Noah will stay here with me tonight, and I’ll call a friend to come stay tomorrow night, and then you’ll be home. And the police are going to have cars drive by and check in every so often, too, until they catch the guy.” She’d thrown in the thing about Micah staying on impulse, so now she’d have to ask him, and she had no clue what friend she’d thought she was going to ask for tomorrow; she’d figure it out. But Halston. The dog was front and center in her mind. She had to tell her aunt.
Midge was silent, her expression drawn and pensive. She turned and looked over her shoulder as Avery heard Tilly call out from the shower—something about a tour the next day.
“What’d Tilly say?” Avery tilted her head, wishing she’d heard.
Aunt Midge closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. “She’s asking if Zac Efron’s house is on the Hollywood tour we’ve booked for tomorrow. As if I know.” She mustered a tiny smile. “Avery, I’m not comfortable staying here knowing you’re in danger.”
“I’m not. I’m really not. The break-in was never about hurting me; it was to get the files they wanted, and they got them. It’s over. But, um, there’s something . . . Auntie, Halston was super brave; he ran right toward the commotion last night. And . . . he got hurt.” She frowned and looked down. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop him. He’s okay,” she said quickly, seeing her aunt put a hand over her mouth. “He’s going to be fine, the vet said. But he’s got a broken leg. He’ll have a cast.”
Aunt Midge was visibly choked up. She didn’t speak.
“Auntie,” Avery said softly. “I’m so sorry. I did get him out of the house and away from the guy. He was such a good dog; he listened and followed me out. The vet seemed
very confident he’d be just fine. I know how much you love him. I’m sorry.”
“I love all of you,” Midge said firmly. “Of course I love that dog. He’s been with me through thick and thin. All right, my dear, I’ll compromise. I won’t change our flight yet. But you have to keep me updated. If anything at all changes—with you, the house, Halston—we’re coming home. And stop apologizing,” she added. “None of this was in your control. It sounds like Halston did his job.”
“Yes he did. I’m staying home from work until you’re back Friday, so he won’t be alone here. So don’t worry about him, all right?” Now she had two things to discuss with Micah. Though she didn’t see how it could be helped; she couldn’t leave the dog alone in the house with a cast and pins in his leg.
“No.” Midge shook her head. “No. You’ve got to get this thing wrapped up, one way or another. Go to work. I’ll call the dog sitter and get her to stay at the house during the day while you’re gone. I’ll have her there by eight tomorrow morning. Listen.” She looked over her shoulder again. “Your sister is shouting now about plans after the showcase tonight. I’d better go. Love you. Keep me updated,” she stressed, before hanging up.
Avery came in from the porch to the delicious aroma of Micah’s famous stew. She was so thankful to have him—it was almost as good as having her parents here. He and Noah had reassembled the kitchen, repaired the couple drawer fronts that had gotten damaged, and somehow made her bright, inviting kitchen even cleaner than when she’d left it yesterday.
As it turned out, they’d come prepared to stay overnight. Noah had nailed the board up over the broken window, and the glass company would be out after work tomorrow to put the new one in. Avery had taken care of calling her homeowner’s insurance and making the claim, she’d gotten the locksmith out earlier today to install new locks throughout the house, the kitchen and office looked great, and she’d thrown a rug over the repeatedly scrubbed and treated bloodstain on the hardwood floor outside the office doorway. By the time Aunt Midge came home, nothing would really be amiss except for Halston in a cast and the broken bottom drawer of William’s desk. She’d pushed getting into the safe to the end of the day, anxious to see what was left of the possible trail to her parents’ work on the medallion, but it was after midnight before she finally sat down on the couch. Her eyelids snapped open again an hour later and she stumbled up to bed, secure in the knowledge that all was safe with new locks and Micah and Noah in the house.
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