Lead Me Home (Fight for Me #3)(8)

That was what Nikki was. Felt myself itching to lean forward and glean some of it. To swim in her calm and her belief.

They said sunshine chases away the dark. I swore, all it did was deepen mine. Amplify why I couldn’t take her. Have her.

I was a bastard.

A sinner.

God knew what I was responsible for.

He also knew what I’d be willing to do—vengeance a greed I carried in the palm of my hands.

But that girl? She was a sin I’d never again commit.

Seth and his partner stepped around us, their guns drawn as Seth nudged the broken door open with the toe of his boot.

They edged in, quick to scour before Seth was back in the doorway. “Whoever was here is gone.”

“Thank God,” Nikki whispered, releasing a huge breath.

Relief.

Wasn’t even sure that I felt it.

The only thing it meant was the person who’d done this was still running the streets.

“I need you two to hang out for a bit while we take some pictures and dust for prints.”

He swung his gaze to Nikki. “If you’re up for it, afterward I’d like you to come inside to see if you see anything missing. I have to warn you, the place is torn up. It’s not pretty.”

Nikki crossed her arms over her chest. Hugging herself.

My sight snagged on the dragonfly tattoo on the inside of her right wrist. Every time I saw it, it felt like my guts were being shredded.

The way she wore her ghosts the same way I wore mine.

“It never was,” she attempted like it was going to lighten the mood.

I wasn’t fucking laughing.

The second Seth disappeared, I spun back around.

This girl was so fucking pretty it hurt to look at her. I bit back all those old feelings I couldn’t feel. “I need you to go through every single person who might have done this to you.”

She sucked her lip into her mouth. “I can’t think of anyone.”

I wondered if she knew I could see straight through her.

“Don’t do this, Nikki. Don’t protect someone who doesn’t deserve protecting. What is it you’re trying to hide?”

Seth popped his head back through the door, interrupting all the demands I wanted to make. “We’re ready for you.”

“Thank you,” she said, sidestepping me and entering her apartment.

I followed right behind.

Nikki started moving through the place, cringing, clearly worrying as she took in the tornado that had ripped through her home.

A storm.

That was exactly what it felt like had hit.

It was the same feeling that had been gathering strength for a while.

Rising and lifting.

The nightmares I couldn’t escape coming more often and more intense than ever.

That gut-deep intuition that something was coming.

Something wicked.

I paced her crummy little apartment, yanking at my hair, feeling like I might go out of my damned mind.

Seth was finishing getting her statement where they’d ended up in her bedroom while I stewed and raged in the living room.

I could hear her voice floating from her room. “There was this box my grandma just left me. She said there were some mementoes and keepsakes in there that she wanted me to go through and share with my sister. I only picked it up a couple of days ago. I hadn’t had the chance to go through it yet. It was right up there . . . at the top of my closet.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah. It was definitely there.”

“You don’t know what was inside it?” Seth asked.

I peeked down the short hall, watching him scribble something in his notebook.

“No. But it had a little lock. It probably looked like the only thing in the whole place that was of any value. Whoever it was is going to be sorely disappointed when they crack it open and find it’s probably nothing but a bunch of pictures I painted my grandma when I was a little girl. The only other thing I can see is missing is a silver ring I’d left next to my bathroom sink.”

Yeah, someone was going to be sorely, sorely disappointed.

Surely, they didn’t have the first clue that coming in here and messing with Nikki meant they were fucking with me.

Sometimes lessons had to be learned the hard way. I was going to be all-too happy to teach it.

The three of them moved back out into the living room, Seth talking while they did. “My guess is this is another case of punk kids running the streets and causing trouble.”

Seth said it almost casually.

“They probably took off running when your neighbor came out to see what the commotion was. It happens more than I would like to admit. They’re looking for anything easy to unload for a little cash, and if they don’t find anything, they don’t think twice about ruining people’s belongings, out of spite or fun, I’m not sure. Either way, it sucks that you have to deal with the aftermath.”

She nodded but looked unconvinced.

“Are you sure you can’t think of anyone who would have done this?” he asked for the third time.

Nikki’s gaze dropped to the floor, off to the side as she ran her hands over her arms and gnawed at that plump bottom lip.

She wasn’t saying something. I knew it. Knew it.

She accused me of not knowing her.

What bullshit.