“That was you?” he asked, peering at her. “Huh, that was you! You said you were having a bad day.”

 “That was the last day I worked at that job. I was in hospital housekeeping. I came here immediately after that. That was nice of you—the flowers.”

 “I was visiting a coworker who had checked out. I wasn’t going to take the flowers to her house. I saw that as problematic.” Then he grinned.

 “You two know each other?” Riley asked.

 “We never met, actually,” Emma said. “We both happened to be waiting outside of the ER and I looked like I felt—at the end of the line.”

 “I told her to take the flowers or they were going in the trash,” Logan said. “Just a spontaneous gesture. I could have left them with the nurses but...” He shrugged.

 Emma looked at Riley. “It’s all right with me if he stays. It’s going to take about one minute.” Emma took a breath. “I did something today that was against policy. In our last house, the man was beating his wife and I know I’m supposed to call you or Nick or Makenna with issues, but I called the police.”

 “Oh, my Jesus,” Riley said. “Sit down, Emma.”

 “I’m sorry, I know our policy is not to see the client’s personal stuff but I just couldn’t look the other way.”

 “Emma, that wasn’t personal, that was assault. Against the law! That’s not the stuff you’re supposed to pretend not to see. That Reverend Douglas likes to wear his wife’s lingerie is what we don’t see, not crimes.”

 “Reverend Douglas wears his wife’s lingerie?” Emma and Logan said at the same time.

 “I didn’t say that,” Riley said. “I wish you had called me, but not because I’d ignore something like that. Because I’d file the complaint, drive out to the scene and wait with you for the police and hopefully Mr. and Mrs. Andrews would blame me and not you. Hopefully they’d forget you had anything to do with it.”

 “That wasn’t going to happen,” Emma said. “I was listening at the door to see if I could hear her crying for help and he opened the door suddenly. I fell on him. Splat! The mean little squirt.” She huffed a little. “I wish he’d taken a hand to me!”

 “Was she badly hurt?” Riley asked.

 “I don’t know how badly but they took her to the hospital in an ambulance, and that took some convincing. I have a feeling they’ve been there before. He might’ve broken her arm. And he tried to strangle her.”

 “Oh, my God!” Riley said. “Okay, listen, Emma—this isn’t the first time we’ve faced an abusive situation. When we enter their homes and clean their personal space, we enter their lives in ways even they don’t comprehend. If you ever suspect abuse or unlawful behavior, please don’t hesitate to say something to me. Or if you’re not able to reach me, call Makenna or Nick. We’ve been doing this longer than you have.”

 “I just couldn’t wait,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

 “No need to apologize,” Riley said. “I would have done the same thing. You did fine. I just like to take my employees out of the equation when possible, if possible. They’ll discontinue our service, there’s no question—we saw too much. Good riddance.” Riley smiled. “And I heard about your call on the Christensen home—smart move.”

 “I was afraid to breathe,” Emma said.

 “I can’t wait to hear what that’s about,” Logan said.

 “Go ahead. Tell him,” Riley said.

 She looked confused for a moment. Tell him what? “Well, in a previous life I had some experience working with decorators and I recognized the Christmas ornaments and decorations in one of the homes were very expensive. And very fragile. Even the most careful housecleaner can upset an ornament—these were balls from Wedgwood, from jewelers, crystal from high-end stores like Tiffany’s and Waterford.”

 “What’s expensive?” he asked.

 “One Waterford ball—couple of hundred. A couple of Tiffany reindeer statuettes, fifteen hundred. A Swarovski wreath. Everything was high-end.”

 “Wow,” he said. “You must have had a lot of experience handling that stuff.”

 “A little,” she said. “I didn’t want me or my team getting stuck with a big bill just for dusting.”

 “Mrs. Christensen has decided to have her decorator come in and make sure all her priceless decorations are shiny clean. We’re going to leave that stuff alone,” Riley said. “Thanks for stopping by to explain, Emma. I’ll follow through.”

 “Thank you,” Emma said, noting the meeting was over. She stood. And so did Logan.

 Logan reached in his pocket and fished out a card. “If you ever have a problem or need some advice on police matters, don’t hesitate. Use the cell—I’m in the field a lot. I’m only in the office a few hours a day.”

 “You’re a police officer?” she asked.

 “Yep. And if I don’t know the answer to your question, I can get it. I worked some battery domestic and assault as a patrol officer and I have friends in those specialized units. We’re not a huge department.”

 “Well, thank you, Mr. Danner...”

 “Just Logan, Emma.”

 “I appreciate that,” she said. She looked at Riley. “Hopefully the rest of the week is a little less exciting.”

 “Things always get a little wacky during holidays. Have a good week.”

 “Thanks,” Emma said.