He continued to inspect the kitchen rather than the bathroom. Last he inspected what must have been a guest room and then the master bedroom. A breeze showed him that someone had broken a window. Glass lay scattered on the floor.
The scent changed in the bedroom. Drawers had been pulled open exposing bras and panties dangling out of it. Viper knew how organized Callie was with her library. She was immaculate and orderly. There was no way she would have kept her personal space like this. The shocked and disgusted expression on her face confirmed it.
Anger filled Viper. This male dared to touch her things and violate her personal space. The Drakonian experienced lust while lying on Callie’s bed. His seed was there, staining the sheets. A growl emitted from deep inside, from not only his inner dragon but from himself. He gripped the sheets, yanking them off just as Callie came inside.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
“There was an intruder, male, and he touched your things.”
She glanced over and noticed the broken window. “Touched? What did he touch?”
“Your personal things and he…used your sheets.”
He watched as the color drained from her beautiful face as what he said sank in. “Oh my God, I feel sick.” She covered her mouth with her hand and rushed for the bathroom connected to her bedroom.
“I’ll throw these away,” he called out.
“No! I have to call the sheriff. He might want to take it as evidence along with fingerprints. Make sure not to touch anything else.”
Viper frowned. Drakonians didn’t have fingerprints, but he couldn’t tell her that. He also didn’t want to involve the human sheriff, but there wasn’t anything he could do. Callie was already on the phone reporting the incident. He dropped the sheets on the floor and pulled out his own cell phone, texting Reichardt, letting him know what was happening. Reichardt responded.
We will send enforcers out to hunt the rogue. Cooperate with the sheriff.
He growled at the thought of another human he had to deal with. His mood did not improve as he realized not one, but two, males from the human authorities arrived. Callie made the introductions.
“Thank you for coming, Sheriff. Do you know Viper from the King R Ranch?”
The older male shook his head. “I don’t believe we have met before. I’m Sheriff Marv Jenkins, this is Deputy Sheriff Dawson.”
“I’m Viper from the King R Ranch.” He shook Sheriff Jenkins’s hand then stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the deputy’s outstretched arm. Dawson snapped his arm back, glaring at him. Viper held back from laughing in his face. Next time the deputy will know to not be such an ass to Valorie, Markus’s mate.
“What are you doing here?” Dawson asked suspiciously.
“I brought a box of donated books.”
“Where are these books?”
“Downstairs banquet room.”
“When did you arrive? Did anyone else see you?” Dawson asked question after question. Callie narrowed her eyes at the deputy. Viper needed to keep an eye on her so she wouldn’t pummel the shit out of the ass.
“Viper was with me the entire time. He didn’t do this.”
“He could have a friend helping him.”
Callie looked at the older male. “Sheriff, the guy broke the window in my bedroom and touched my things. Viper didn’t do this.”
“Let us look around, then we’ll get your official statement.”
Viper glared down at Dawson, pitiful looking male. What did Valorie ever see in him? Thankfully, she came to her senses and mated Markus, a worthy warrior.
“I’m so sorry about that, Viper. Deputy Dawson can be a bit of an ass. He’s only gotten worse after things went bad with Val.”
“Valorie has a better male now.”
“I tell her that whenever I talk to her. I envy her sometimes.”
He frowned and felt immediately jealous. “You wish to have Markus as your male?”
“No. I just meant that I envy how in love she is and how she has someone who truly got her.”
“You do not have a male,” he stated, not asking. He didn’t scent another male in the apartment.
“No, not for a while now.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “I’ve been busy trying to keep the library open. I had a fiancé once, but when I came back to help my uncle after my aunt died, that relationship ended.”
“The male let you go?”
“Yep.”
“Stupid male.”
The sheriff and his deputy came back into the living room. “We’re ready to take both your statements.”
Chapter 5
“Stupid male.”
Viper’s words kept playing in Callie’s mind over and over. Did he mean it? Did he think her ex was an idiot for letting her go? It filled her with giddiness that he might feel that way. She would have asked him, but the sheriff and his deputy questioned them for what seemed like hours. When Sheriff Dawson finished, the man would start all over asking the same things. It was ridiculous. By now the perpetrator was long gone. Sometimes it didn’t pay to live in a small hometown.
To Viper’s credit, he answered every question patiently but in short, crisp answers. That was just his style, she realized. A curious thing though, when the sheriff asked him to come by the station to sign his statement, Viper said he would have to have his employer with him before doing so. It was just so odd. Dawson tried to argue over it, but Sheriff Jenkins seemed okay.
“Aren’t you going to
