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“Smart ass.” After sliding the window back into place, I join him, silently closing the door behind me. “I didn’t know you wanted to check every possible entry point before we picked one.”

“I didn’t know you wanted to try to squeeze your ass through the tiniest fucking window on the place.” Luca scans the room around us. “This isn’t looking promising, man.” He inhales. “On the plus side, it doesn’t smell like days-old death in here, so if Trevor’s inside, it’s recent.”

I blink a few times, adjusting to the extra-dark interior of the home. Once my eyes find their focus, I see what Luca’s talking about.

The place is trashed, likely ransacked by the same people who cut the power. “Seems like whoever was here came looking for something.”

“Seems like.” Luca walks deeper into the home, peering from room to room. “Wonder what they were after.”

I shake my head. “Audrey said there was some incriminating stuff on Trevor’s personal computer, so maybe whoever’s involved found out about it and didn’t want it to be used against them.”

It’s possible the collection of evidence was there because Trevor realized they were planning to use him as their scapegoat and was trying to cover his ass in case he was arrested.

People doing bad things don’t love finding out someone plans to throw them under the bus to save their own skin.

And they hate being beat at their own game.

If that’s the case, Trevor might never be seen or heard from again.

Which means I won’t get to kill him.

And Audrey’s beloved dog might be gone for good.

But I’m not giving up yet. “Let’s check the whole house.

Make sure Trevor’s not here and see if we can find anything that might tell us who has him or if he left of his own free will before someone came in and tore the place apart.

” I lean to peer down the hall leading from the kitchen.

"And keep a lookout for anything related to a dog.”

“Got it.” Luca falls into step behind me as I begin systematically working my way through the first floor.

Every room looks about the same. Drawers have been emptied.

Furniture is upended and destroyed. Paintings are pulled off the walls and cast aside.

It makes for a chaotic task, but also makes it easy to cover our own tracks.

We finish the first floor without finding any sign of Trevor or Audrey’s dog, so we move to the second level.

I’m starting to give up hope when we reach the final room.

It’s the owner’s suite. The bedroom where Audrey once slept.

It’s impossible for me to imagine her in this place.

Envision her in this world. She doesn’t fit.

The only place she belongs is with me.

“I think we’re out of luck.” Luca holsters his weapon, hands on his hips as he looks around. “There’s nothing here.”

I’m just about ready to agree with him when I notice a slight color variation on the carpet.

Pulling out my LED stick light, I flick it on the lowest setting, doing my best not to let the beam touch anything that could reflect outside.

When I shit it over the spot I thought I saw, the added glow makes the difference even more obvious.

“Damn.” Luca comes to stand beside me, staring at the large circle of blood dried into the fibers of the textured floor covering. “Looks like Trevor probably didn’t leave here on his own.”

“Looks like.” I flick off my light, tucking it back into place. “I didn’t see a dog crate, did you?”

“There’s nothing for a dog in this house. I checked just about everywhere, and there’s no food, no crate, no leash.” Luca shakes his head. “I get why they’d take Trevor, but why would they take the dog?”

“It’s a pretty fucking cute dog.” Audrey has tons of pictures of it, and not only is it cute and carriable, it also seems like it has a good temperament. “Even the biggest pieces of shit can like dogs.”

And now I have to figure out which piece of shit has Audrey’s beloved pet.

It’s become a fucking quest, and I’m even more determined to succeed than ever.

Especially since it seems like I’m not going to have the gratification of being the one to put Trevor Hawthorne the fucking Third out of everyone’s misery.

“We should get going.” Luca scans the room one last time. “I don’t like the look of this. And I wouldn’t be surprised if whoever’s responsible comes back for a second go at finding what they’re looking for.”

“Agreed. They wanted whatever it is pretty fucking badly.”

There’s a possibility they already have it since I haven’t seen a single computer, tablet, or phone while we’ve been here, so there’s a possibility they already have it. But that doesn’t mean they won’t return.

Luca leads on our way out, taking us down the stairs and through the same door we entered. It’s silent outside, so we’re able to return to the car and drive away without crossing the path of another living soul.

Once we’re in the car, I dial Darion’s number. The PI was supposed to call me if anything unusual happened at Trevor’s house. I’d sure as hell classify the power being cut and the place being ransacked as unusual.

I wait as it rings. And rings. And rings. When it goes to voicemail, I leave him a clipped message to call me back.

Then I call Pierce, letting him know what we discovered. He fills me in on what he told Luca earlier about sending Zeke and part of the team our way tomorrow. To my surprise, he also explains he’ll be flying into Tennessee in the next few days.

I hang up the call, turning to Luca. “Sounds like Pierce wants to talk to Butch in person.”

Luca’s shitty mood from earlier comes back full force. “I’d like to have a little in-person talk with Butch myself.”

I sigh, because I didn’t want to get into this tonight. Not when it’s so fresh. “Were you really that into Becca, or were you just into the idea of finding someone?”

Luca’s jaw sets, his brows dropping low. “You don’t know what it’s like to have no one, Maddox. I know you and your family aren’t close, but they’re still there. They still exist.”

Luca’s never been big when it comes to sharing about his life, so I’m surprised by his sudden openness.

“You’re right. I don’t.” And I can’t really imagine it. But I can imagine trying to force something with the wrong person. “Do you just want anyone, or do you want the right one?” I try to keep my delivery non-accusatory. “Because there’s a big fucking difference.”

Luca’s lips press together, his hand on the wheel gripping tight. “I don’t know that the difference is as big as you think it is.”

I don’t think the difference is as small as he wants to believe it is, but I don’t point that out. “I guess everybody has different needs.”

Luca goes quiet, and the rest of the drive passes in silence.

We pull into the hotel, and I make my way up to the room Audrey and I share.

I quietly let myself in, assuming Audrey is likely asleep.

And I’m right. She’s curled up on the bed, blonde hair splayed across the pillow, looking cute as hell.

Unfortunately, she’s not alone.

Becca’s sprawled across my side of the bed, her small body taking up more space than I could ever hope to.

She’s still got her glasses on, but they’ve shifted around and now sit crooked across her face.

A pair of Audrey’s new pajamas hang from her frame with the waistband of the pants rolled up a few times to accommodate her much shorter stature.

Both women are totally passed out, and there’s no fucking way I’m going to wake either of them up. Based on the two empty bottles of wine on the nightstand, I’m not sure I could even if I wanted to.

Instead, I collect the spare pillow and blanket from the closet and settle into the armchair tucked in the corner, kicking my feet up on the ottoman.

I left Trevor’s house thinking tonight was a total fucking loss. I didn’t get to kill him. I didn’t find Audrey’s dog. But listening to the soft sound of Audrey breathing and Becca’s occasional snores, a smile works across my face.

Audrey’s been alone for so long. Kept everyone at arm’s length because she didn’t want to endanger them.

But tonight, she got to hang out with a friend.

Someone she doesn’t have to worry about tainting.

Someone who understands exactly what she’s going through.

Someone I suspect might be just as good of a friend to Audrey as Audrey would be to her.

She might not kill for her, but I know firsthand Becca will assault a man with a full bottle of laundry detergent without batting an eye.