“You have a place to stay until that lock gets fixed?” Big Cop asks.

“I…I don’t know. My landlord is out of town.”

I put my arm across her shoulders. “She’ll be fine. I’ll take care of it.”

“Here’s my card.” Small Cop scribbles something on it and hands it to Cora. “That’s the case number. The report will be available in a few days. Call us again if you have any more trouble.”

“Will do,” I say.

Big Cop’s gaze roams the room for a moment, then he follows the other officer out.

“I can see if I can rig the door to stay closed.” I examine the frame. It’s trashed. Someone kicked the door in. Hard.

“There’s a shed on the back of the new garage. There’ll be some tools in there.” She pulls her key ring from her pocket and selects a key. “Here’s the key.”

She’s eerily calm. Neither of us have to say it to know who did this and why.

“Are you okay?”

She nods.

“Why don’t you come with me to find those tools?”

“No, I have to clean up.”

“Cora.” I take her arm, keeping her from bending down to pick something up. “You don’t have to do this right now.”

“I don’t have anywhere else to stay and I can’t stay here with it like this.”

“We’re not staying here tonight.”

“Where else am I going to go?” I. Not we.

“We’ll get a hotel room or something.”

Her laugh is harsh and bitter. “I can’t afford a hotel room. I have to pay to get the door fixed. I don’t have a job right now, remember?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t tell me not to worry about it. Wouldn’t you worry about it?”

Yeah, yeah, I would. “I don’t mean it like that. Hey, you’ve got me. Let me help you.”

She looks me over, then pulls her arm free. “I’ve got to get this place cleaned up.” She rights a chair, her hands shaky, her lip trembling. “Why don’t you go get those tools?”

She wants to get rid of me. It’s not going to be that easy. But I let it go for now. “I’ll be right back.”

I head out to go around to the back of the building. I get two steps out the door and I hear her breath hitch on a sob. It tears through me, stopping me in my tracks. She didn’t want me to see her lose it. I want to punch something. Or someone. That asshole who did this to her. What was he looking for? Did he find it or will he be back?

She lets out a low moan and sniffs. My hands curl into fists. I want to go back inside, but I know that’s the last thing she wants right now. Some time goes by and then I hear her moving around the apartment. I continue on to the shed and unlock it. There’s some wood I can use to temporarily fix the door frame, but the lock is probably shot. She’ll need a new one. Tomorrow. Tonight I’ll rig it so that no one can get in and I’ll take her somewhere. I don’t know where. Somewhere safe.

By the time I get back, Cora’s cleared some floor space. I get to work on the door, doing my best to temporarily repair what I can. It’s full dark when I finish and Cora is sweeping up the broken pieces of her things, which look like confetti scattered across the tile.

“Pack some clothes,” I tell her. “We’re not staying here tonight.”

She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“My friend Mike’s down in Mexico for a couple weeks. I know where the key is to his place. We’ll stay there for a few days until all this gets sorted out.”

“We can’t just break in.”

“We’re not. I called him when I was in the shed. He’s cool with it. Come on. Let’s get out of here. I’m sure the cat wants out of the car.”

“All right.”

She packs more for the cat than she does for herself, and then we’re in the car and I’m giving her directions to my friend’s place.

“It’s on Coronado Island?” She gives me a worried glance.

“Yeah.”

“Are you serious?”

“No, I’m making you drive across the bridge for no reason.”

“Smartass.”

We pull up to the house and she just stares at it. It’s a nice house. Okay, it’s more than a nice house. It’s a mini-mansion on the beach.

“You have a friend who lives here?” She sounds like she doesn’t believe me.

“Yup.” I climb out of the car and look for the brick. Ah, there. I push on it and out slides another brick farther down with a dent carved into it just big enough for a key. I retrieve it and show it to her. “See.” I unlock the door and flip the lights on, then reset the alarm.

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” I take her bag and head down the hall.

She follows with the cat carrier. “Are you sure it’s okay to have Oliver here? This doesn’t look like a house for pets.”

“He has three cats that are being boarded while he’s out of town. Relax. He knows about your cat. It’s cool,” I say again to reassure her. I open a door off the hall. “You can put him in here.” It’s like a feline Disneyland with a bunch of those tiered, carpeted cat climbers and trails built into the walls. “There’s already a litter box.” I point to a house-looking thing in the corner. “And automated food and water machines. He’ll be fine.”

She sets the carrier down and opens the door. The cat steps out carefully, sniffing.

“See,” I say. “Come on.”

We back out of the room. She follows me down the hall to the spare room, her eyes wide.

I open the bedroom door and give her a moment to soak it in. This side of the house faces the beach. The moon is big and low, reflecting off the water. The rhythmic roar of the waves is a little louder in this room.

“There’s only this bedroom and the master,” I tell her. “You can have it. I’ll sleep on the couch in the living room.”

“No.” She grabs my arm. “I don’t feel like being alone.”

“Okay.” It feels wrong to be glad about this turn of events.

“Are you sure it’s okay for us to stay here?”

“Totally okay.”

She goes to the window. “It’s so dark out there.”

I move in behind her and put my arms around her. “There’s a full moon.”

“It would be even darker without it.”

“Are you afraid of the dark, Bluebird?”

“No, of course not. I’m just not used to looking out the window and not seeing another house or a street.”

“There are none of those on the ocean.”

“What if I’d been there when he broke in?”

“I think he waited until he knew you wouldn’t be home. He was looking for something. But what?”

“I don’t know. All of my files are at the agency.” She turns in my arms. “What if he breaks in there next?”

“The place is alarmed. Dad would know it the minute he did.” Which reminds me…“I should call my dad and let him know what happened at your place.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah, okay. Are you hungry? I think there might be some—”

Bringing my head down to hers, she cuts me off with a kiss. For a second I’m too shocked to move, and then it’s like we picked up where we left off in the car. The full length of her presses against me. Her hands are all over me, under my shirt, over my shirt, on my ass. I struggle to hold back. The last thing she needs is me ripping at her clothes. But she’s grinding against me and I forget why I should go slowly. I work a hand into her shirt to unhook her bra.

I’m practically fucking her mouth with mine. She’s making these little moaning sounds that drive me insane. I finally work the last hook of her bra and her breasts tumble into my hands. More than a handful. Rolling her nipples between my fingers, I lick my way across her jaw to her ear. She puts a hand on my dick and my eyes nearly roll back into my head.

“I want you,” I whisper, and bite her earlobe.

She has both hands on the front of my pants now, working the button. She struggles for a second and I’m about to help her when she finally frees the button and goes for the zipper. She pushes at my pants. I’d help her, but I’ve got my hands full of her tits. She moves her head to the side, exposing her neck. I take advantage, nipping my way down.

“Oh.” Her surprise jolts me out of my haze and I realize she’s checking out my dick.