“I won’t touch anything,” she argued. “Let me at least look to see if anything is missing.”

The officers exchanged a look. “You’ll have to wait until the detective says it’s all right. I don’t want any evidence disturbed before the detective takes a look. He should be here within an hour.” The older one grinned. “They hate getting called out at this time of night. But from what you’ve said, we need to take precautions.”

Gianna wanted to cry. Pressing for an investigation had promptly gotten her locked out of her own home. She’d been aching for the safe haven. Her home symbolized comfort. The place where she and Violet could catch their breath and let down their guard.

The haven had been ripped away and she felt adrift.

The chaos in the forest might have followed them home.

Where can I keep Violet safe?

“What’s it look like inside?” she asked. “Is stuff broken? Is it trashed?” She held her breath, hoping they’d tell her that it appeared some kids had broken in to drink and break things.

Please tell me it doesn’t look targeted.

“I noticed there’s a computer monitor in an office, but the tower is missing,” stated the younger officer.

Violet moaned. “That has my school stuff on it.”

“And there’re a lot of files piled on the floor near a filing cabinet in the same room. Did you leave it like that?”

Gianna shook her head, unable to speak. The intruders had left the extremely expensive computer monitor but stolen the hard drive containing her personal information. Not random. She mentally reviewed what parts of her life had been neatly filed in the cabinet and now had been examined by a stranger.

Tax forms. Mortgage information. Health insurance.

“Outside of that room I thought everything looked very neat,” said the other officer. “For a break-in, it’s one of the cleanest I’ve seen.”

Not teenagers. Who’s doing this to us?

“Kitchen was neat, the bedrooms didn’t look disturbed,” he continued. “The closet in the master bedroom was open, but it’s a walk-in.”

Her heart stopped. She always kept that door closed.

“You’re gonna want to protect against identity theft. That’s the big thing these days,” said the younger one earnestly.

She nodded numbly, feeling that this was larger than simple identity theft.

“I can’t get any clothes?” Violet asked.

“Not tonight. Are you going to hang around and wait? I hate to say it, but sometimes the investigators can take forever to get here. You don’t have to stay. Can you two go to a hotel or a friend’s for the night?” he asked kindly.

Not without my credit cards.

“They can stay at my place tonight,” said Michael. “I’ll call Jamie. We have more than enough room.”

“I don’t want—” Gianna started.

“You’re not imposing. End of discussion.”

She met Chris’s gaze, and he nodded at her.

It’s just for one night. And I’ll feel calmer with more people around Violet.

Once he saw Michael and Jamie’s home, Chris finally relaxed. He’d been on high alert for too long and he could feel it in every cell of his body.

“I’ll run you home once she’s settled,” Michael said quietly to Chris as he pulled the SUV into the driveway of the little house. Michael had moved into Jamie’s place soon after they’d become a couple. Chris and Brian had lived with them for several weeks before finding a house close by, and they had dinner with them at least twice a week. Essentially it was Chris’s second home.

Jamie stepped out of the front door as they came up the front walkway. She kissed Michael and moved to hug Chris.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” she whispered in his ear.

“Hey, little sis,” said Chris.

“What?” Violet’s voice sounded right behind him. “I thought Michael—wait a minute. Who are the siblings here?”

Chris turned and saw the confusion on Violet’s face as she studied the three of them. “Biologically, Jamie is not my sister,” he explained. “I’ll let Jamie tell you the whole story later. She does it best.”

Michael gave a small smile as he addressed Gianna. “Chris doesn’t like to talk about himself.”

“I figured that out.”

Jamie hustled the women into the house and down a long hallway to her guest room. Chris heard her launch into the abbreviated version of their past. He knew Jamie would skim over the darker aspects of his story, but anyone who spent a little time on the Internet would easily discover the horrors he and the other children had suffered at the hands of the Ghostman. Suddenly he wanted to be the one to explain his past to Gianna. He wanted to sanitize the information, assure her that he was still a normal, functioning human being.

Normal? Him?

Would she see him differently if she heard the truth?

“Hey.”

Chris turned at Michael’s voice, realizing he’d been staring down the hall long after the women had vanished, regrets and fears overtaking his thoughts.

“How much do you know about her?” his brother asked.

Chris recognized Michael’s full-on investigator voice. “She’s going to start at the medical examiner’s office soon. They haven’t lived here long.”

“That’s it? You spent all that time with her and that’s what you know?” Michael narrowed his brows.