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“Alright, Kendall, thanks.”

“Oh,” she kind of shouted when I made to leave, stopping me. “I called Kendra. She said to give her a few days and she’ll call me with a date and time for you to meet.”

I cracked a tiny smile and bobbed my head to show my appreciation. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

I parked in Charlotte’s driveway about thirty minutes later, feeling my smile flatten and my brows crumple with confusion when I spotted Chief’s car, and a random one I didn’t recognize, parked on either side of Charlotte’s vehicle.

Fearing the worst, I immediately got out and damn near busted Charlotte’s vase along the way, but thankfully I was able to catch it despite some of the water spilling out and landing on the driveway.

My heart sped like a freight train the faster I hurried toward the door.

And then I looked up, spotting Chief walking out with a displeased expression engraved through every fine wrinkle on his face.

“Chief,” I nervously greeted him. “What’s going on?”

“Ah, Phoenix.” Although he seemed legitimately surprised to see me, it didn’t stop him from offering me a polite smile and stepping forward to shake my hand. “What brings you here this evening?”

“Our new case. I told Charlotte I’d be stopping by. Forgive me for asking, but why are you here? Is everything okay with Charlotte?”

Chief bellowed out a gruff sigh and shook his head. “It appears her ex-husband gave her quite a scare earlier today.”

“What? He was here?”

“Afraid so,” he confirmed, which had me swallowing as a result of my own anger. “Karl pulled a fast one and sent one of his colleagues to keep guard over his location.”

“So, what happens now? He violated the restraining order.”

“Charlotte doesn’t want us to arrest him. According to her, Karl was well over a hundred feet away during their encounter. So—technically speaking—he didn’t violate the restraining order.”

I took a step back then and shot him an incredulous sneer.

He couldn’t have been serious.

But all Chief could do was throw up his hands and heave out a regretful sigh, stunning me further.

“I don’t agree with it either, but it’s out of my hands. There’s nothing I can physically do at the moment.”

“But what about Karl?”

“I’ll be keeping watch over his tracker and phone records throughout the remainder of his suspension. Captain Burgess has agreed to help out, too. Unless Karl gains any more stupid ideas, that’s the best we can do at this point.”

“And Charlotte?” I wondered.

Chief sighed and tiredly scrubbed his hands down his face. “I offered to post two units outside for her protection, but of course, Charlotte refused. Peter is in there trying to talk some sense in her now. It might not be a bad idea to get in there and offer the man some support.”

“I understand, Boss. I’ll see what I can do.”

Chief patted me twice on the shoulder and as he turned, taking his leave, I approached the front door and knocked twice, just to veer back a few steps when the door vehemently swung open, and Peter came storming out with Charlotte hot on his heels.

Clearly, neither of them noticed I was there.

Or maybe they did and had chosen not to acknowledge me.

“What’s it going to take for you to fucking listen to me?”

Peter was enraged, glaring ruthlessly at Charlotte, who was daggering him in the doorway with her arms folded tightly to her chest.

“Does someone have to die or get hurt in order for you to see how dangerous he is?”