“Nice place you have here,” he said to Copper.
“Thanks. I haven’t changed much since I inherited it. Makes me feel like my grandparents are still here.” His thoughtful nod made her think he really understood the sentiment.
“I looked around,” Tres said. “If they had the back locks open, they did a great job. There’s barely a scratch.”
“They were unlocked,” Dos said. “If I’d been a minute later . . .”
“You weren’t so let’s drop that line of thought,” Copper said. “Do I have permission to go inside, sir?” she asked Dos.
“Give me the keys and let us check it out first.”
“Do you know how to say overkill? Once they knew I was gone why would they be careful? If they came back they would have just busted in like they did at my business.”
“Humor me,” he said, his sarcastic grin irritating her.
Copper dropped the keys in his outstretched hand. Leaning against the truck she watched him draw his gun as he walked to the door. He couldn’t really believe someone would still be in there, even on the far out chance they came back. Something she didn’t believe for a minute.
She watched as he slipped in the key. His slow movements were nerve wracking. Her shoulder muscles tightened and she leaned forward a little as he pushed the door open.
“Holy shit.”
Copper bolted toward the house at the words. Dos caught her at the door.
“Slow down,” he said holding her from shoulder to waist.
His arm felt like the shoulder harness in her car when she slammed on the brakes. “Don’t tell me to slow down. It’s my home.”
She stared as far in as she could from the doorway. What met her gaze shocked her. Everything had looked so normal from the outside. The curtains were in place, no broken glass, or broken door. It was so unlike the other burglary.
“Unfortunately, it’s also a crime scene,” he said softly. “Tres is calling it in.”
Her heart was racing a mile a minute. What the hell was happening to her life? She wanted to scream, cry, and punch something all at the same time. Totally unconstructive, but she was an Irish redhead after all. She had a right, a duty even, to be mad.
Copper girl; calm yourself down. Nothing to do about it now. Crying won’t fix it. Let’s make some cookies instead.
Her grandmother’s sensible voice played through her mind causing her to sniffle. Copper could almost taste the soft, warm, sugar cookies. Her heart-rate slowed. She took a deep breath.
“You okay?”
Nodding she released the breath. Gram was right, crying and anger wouldn’t fix anything. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Can I help by trying to see if anything is missing? I don’t do idle well.”
“Tres?” Dos asked and Copper watched Tres waiting for his answer.
He nodded. “Be careful. Don’t touch, move or step on anything. Just look and let me know if there’s anything obviously missing.”
Copper glanced up at Dos who still hadn’t released her. Not that she wanted to complain, his strength and concern helped to steady her. When he met her gaze she thought she glimpsed a hint of reluctance.
“I’ll be okay, really,” she told him just before he was pushed closer to her. Looking down she saw Kismet trying to push his way in. “No, baby, you have to stay outside.”
Copper watched Dos make a motion with his hand and the dog sat. She couldn’t believe how attuned they were to each other. Reaching down she picked up his leash and tied it around the porch railing. “Be good,” she said and gave him a hug.
Turning back she stepped further into the house. Now she understood their comment. The burglars had done a thorough job.
The cushions from her sofa and chairs were thrown on the floor. Drawers from the desk she worked at were pulled out, the contents scattered and drawers dropped on the floor. “I can tell you now my laptop is missing.”
“They probably figured you downloaded the digitals to it. Anything else?” Dos asked.
“Nothing I can say right off.” She turned and walked toward the kitchen careful to avoid anything on the floor.
The refrigerator door stood open, all the food thrown onto the floor. The freezer and her cabinets had received the same treatment. “Why would anyone toss my refrigerator?”
“You’d be surprised at the places people hide things.”
Copper couldn’t imagine having anything worth working that hard to hide. She continued down the hallway not wanting to contemplate cleaning up the powdery, wet, gooey mess on the kitchen floor.
Passing her bedroom her anger returned. The mattress and box-spring were tilted awkwardly and all the bedding torn off. Her clothes and everything else from her drawers and closet were thrown everywhere. What bothered her most, though, was seeing the contents of her memory box tossed and trampled on the floor. She stooped to pick up a picture, but Dos stopped her.
“You can’t touch it yet,” he said, his voice apologetic.
Looking up she saw the apology reached his eyes as well. Before she could think about it something clicked in her head. Pictures. She bolted to the other room.
“No, please, no.”
“Copper, what’s wrong?” Dos called as he followed her.
The chemicals for developing pictures were broken and dripping from shelves onto the floor. She ignored the obvious damage they were doing because she was intent on locating something else. “They’re gone.”
“What’s gone?” Dos and Tres both asked from behind her.
Copper wanted to bolt across the room to see if they were just knocked to the floor. Instead, not wanting to ruin possible evidence she carefully picked her way to the shelf where she stored all her negatives. A knot of pain built around her heart when she didn’t find them. “Three locked fire boxes. I kept all my negatives in them.”
“You lock up negatives of dog pictures?” Dos asked.
“I put all my negatives in the fire boxes. That way if the house burned down, hopefully, I would still have the negatives so all my family pictures wouldn’t be gone. They date back to before my mom died,” she said turning to face him.
Dos felt like someone punched him in the stomach, as pain etched her beautiful face and tears filled her eyes. He could only imagine what she felt. Him and his brothers had kept projects they’d been working on with their father when he died. They had never finished them, just left them the way they were. He still had a box with the derby car they’d been making. He had refused to finish it and race, afraid the sense of his father’s touch would be erased. God, he still missed him.
Picking his way across the room, he cupped her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
She offered a sad smile as tears cascaded down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she said, brushing at the tears.
“Nothing for you to be sorry about, we understand,” he said. He just hoped she had extra hard copies of the pictures most important to her. He doubted the guys that took them would return all her old negatives.
“If you keep being nice, I might never stop crying,” she said leaning against him.
“Take all the time you need.” His arm wrapped around her as his gaze met his brother’s from across the room. Yeah, they understood. And they would definitely find this son-of-a-bitch. Dos stroked Copper’s back while she sniffled trying to get herself under control. After a minute or two she pushed out of his embrace. The emptiness that replaced her warmth felt like a physical pain. He shook his head for even noticing such a thing.
“Guess this confirms your theory on what they’re after,” she said interrupting his thoughts.
“What theory is that?” his brother asked.
“I think she inadvertently photographed someone that didn’t want their picture taken. She was clicking away at the dog rescue benefit night before last. We looked at the digitals she took last night and didn’t notice anyone who stood out.”
“I take it she had another camera?”
“Yes, I have a 35mm. I took dupli
cates and more with that one.”
“Where are they?”
“We have to get them developed today, after we see Gina,” Dos told him as Kismet barked just before a car door slammed.
They all rushed down the hallway to check it out. Finding the CSI team pulling equipment from the trunk of their car while Kismet continued to serenade them, Dos released a nervous breath. Copper stepped outside to calm the dog.
“I guess we should touch base with Gina then look into getting the pictures developed,” he said to Tres.
“Take them to Dan’s 35 on 1st,” Tres said.
“I prefer to develop them myself. I’ll pick up some supplies and come back here when you guys are finished, or use Dos’ bathroom, but thanks,” Copper said through the screen door.
Dos wondered what the big deal was, but didn’t argue. It was probably the only thing she felt she could control and needed to. He could understand that feeling. He turned his attention back to Tres after Copper stepped off the porch with Kismet in tow.
“Thanks for taking care of this,” he said, then glanced over his shoulder. “Last night I told her it was probably someone just after the pictures, but I’m not sure. There’s an awful lot of rage here. They didn’t have to do all this damage to look for pictures. Someone wanted to upset her. I just don’t know why yet.”
“I agree it seems a bit over the top if they were looking for pictures. I’ll keep my mind open for other possibilities. I already let Gina know about this. Call me if you find anything on the film.”
Dos walked outside and followed Copper to her SUV. “Let’s drop him off at my house then head into town.”
She untied the leash and nodded. “Okay, but we’ll follow you up.”
“Why?” Dos asked stopping at the bottom of the porch steps.
“You don’t need to chauffeur me around.”
“We’ve already been through this. There’s no need to take two vehicles.”
“I have other things to do,” she said, walking around him to her SUV. “I need to order inventory at the shop and set up my portable table until I can get a new one for the shop, so I can take my appointments next week. Buying a new computer, developing equipment and supplies, not to mention cleaning up my house, should add up to a pretty full day. I’m sure you have better things to do than follow me from place to place.”
Dos ignored the dismissal. “First off, you’re not taking any appointments until this is over.”
“Boy,” she said glaring at him. “It’s obvious my father hasn’t told you about me. If he had you would know better than to tell me I can’t do something.”
Dos watched as she turned and stomped toward her SUV with Kismet. He caught up to her in two painful strides. Wrapping his fingers around her upper arm enough to stop her progress, he turned her to face him. Green flames flashed in her eyes. Tough, she was not making herself a target on his watch.
“You are not going anywhere alone. Don’t even bother arguing. You have something these people want. You’re not safe until we find them. And don’t tell me you’re trained because you were in the military. You worked in a medical setting. You didn’t deal with people like this. You’re not prepared.”
“I have a gun,” she said. “And Kismet.”
“This marshmallow? He’s a great dog, but not protection,” Dos said, stalling while he tried to wrap his mind around her holding a gun on someone. It never quite came into focus. “Have you ever pointed your gun at anyone?”
The green flames leapt in her eyes again before they narrowed. “Yes, as a matter of fact I have. And I know just what it feels like to pull the damned trigger.”
Dos released his hold on her and removed his hat to plow his hand through his hair, stalling while he pushed down the images of her shooting someone. “What happened?” The words were out before he thought it through. Did he really want to know? When she looked away he got a bad feeling.
“We were at a nearby village to offer help after an attack there. While I was helping one of the doctors finish stitching up a bullet hole in a young boy, one of the insurgents returned. He started yelling something in a language I didn’t understand. He had an automatic rifle pressed against the chest of one of our patients. When he changed to English, telling us we would all die, he started to lift the rifle. I grabbed my pistol on the bed next to the child and ended it. The few shots he got off as he fell to the ground went into the ceiling.”
Dos stood frozen in place. His experience over there gave him plenty of images similar to what she spoke of. He had no trouble imagining what she saw as she told the story. Why hadn’t the Colonel told him about this? With these assaults she could have post traumatic stress episodes.
“Did you talk to someone about it?” He couldn’t believe the doctors there would expect someone of her soft-hearted temperament to be able to deal with an event like that without counseling.
“Talk? We were in the middle of a war zone. Someone took the body away and we finished taking care of the civilians. I did what I was trained to do. I didn’t tell you so you would get all protective on me again. I told you so you can get it through your thick head that I am capable of protecting myself.”
He couldn’t believe her. Guys he’d served with had seen less and needed counseling. Who the hell did she think she was, a machine? “You need to talk to someone. You haven’t dealt with--"
“Really? You’re going to tell me how to deal with traumatic issues? You, who won’t tell your very caring family half of what you went through? I’m fine, I have dealt with it. I also still have a gun and I promise to start carrying it with me until this is over. So, you can jump on your white stallion and ride off to protect some little innocent somewhere, but you are not going to keep me from doing what I need to do.”
He heard Kerrigan pride in her words. He even believed her. He just couldn’t let go of the need to watch over her. Thought keeping people close was too dangerous for them? What the hell was he doing? He didn’t have an answer, but he knew he couldn’t let her take off on her own.
Scrubbing his hair back again he replaced his hat and held her still sparking gaze. “Well, since I haven’t ridden a white stallion in a long while, and probably wouldn’t know a sweet little innocent if one hit me over the head,” he said, while thinking except you, he offered a middle ground.
“Look, I know I can be overbearing sometimes.”
“Ya think?”
Man she didn’t give an inch when she was riled. He fought down the urge to smile knowing it wouldn’t go over well. “Consider who I’ve spent the majority of my last ten years with. Your father isn’t exactly a playful puppy kind of guy. I’ve learned from the best. But I’ll try to rein in my protective instincts. You know no matter what you tell the Colonel he’s going to expect me to keep an eye on you. If I have to do it from a separate vehicle, I will. Crossing him isn’t something I’m willing to do. That said, I know I’m not the best company, but is it really that bad having me around?”
He watched her closely as she digested his words. It didn’t take but a moment for her eyes to soften and the stiffness in her shoulders to release. Thank God for having sisters to teach him how to get around the female psyche, at least as much as any man could learn.
“No, but I have things --" her cell phone rang interrupting her.
Dos listened without shame. The bastards had been in her house, it wasn’t a stretch to think they could find her phone number. If they were calling to threaten her, he wanted to know.
“I forgot. Tell her I’m sorry, but I can’t make it today. We’ll have to reschedule sometime next week. Okay, thanks.” She shoved the phone in her pocket and opened her car door.
“Reschedule what for next week?”
“Shallow Creek Nursing Home, I had an appointment there this morning. I spaced it with all that’s been happening.”
“An appointment for what? I thought you said your grandparents had passed on.” He allowed her to put the dog in the vehicle bu
t wouldn’t let her get in until she answered him.
“I did, they have. I thought I told you; I go there every other week and give free massages to residents. Anyway, if I can, I want to get back here today and fix the darkroom so we can get the film developed. So, I’ll reschedule the nursing home sometime later in the week.”
“I liked Tres’ idea for developing the film. As to rescheduling things, you’re going to have to put that on hold until we get these people.”
“First of all, it’s my film, I’ll develop it. Second, hiding isn’t in my nature. I’ll take precautions, but my life is not going on hold.” She lifted his hand from blocking her entry to the car. “I’ll agree to leave Kismet at your house for the day. I’ll go to the station and take care of whatever paperwork. Then I’m going to the office and setting it up so I’ll be ready for clients on Monday.
“From there I need to pick up supplies for the darkroom. When Tres calls to say I can get back in my house, I’ll come back, fix the darkroom and develop the pictures. If that’s a no go, then I’ll need to use your bathroom so we can get them developed today.”
Dos leaned down before closing the door. “I told you, you’re not going anywhere alone.”
“Then you’ll have to follow or ride with me. I am doing these things whether you like it or not. My portable table and everything I need is in back. I’m not moving it and you don’t need to.”
God, he hated it when people pointed out his sorry physical state. Unfortunately, today she was right. “Fine.”
He walked around the back of the SUV as she started the engine. Dos waved to his brother talking to one of the CSI personnel. The raised eyebrow that joined his return wave told Dos his brother knew he was in worse shape than he’d let on. Too bad, he’d talk to him later and explain he was humoring Copper.
Climbing in the passenger seat he couldn’t hide his relief that the seat was pushed back. Copper obviously noticed.
“Kismet usually sits there,” she said. “His face would be through the windshield if I didn’t push the seat back all the way.”
Her Master Defender (The Masters Men Series) Page 10