The two stared at each other in surprise, then looked at each of the grandparents, but there wasn’t a whole lot anybody could say. The grandparents were convinced.
And Jessica was half convinced herself.
It was a wonderful visit with his grandparents; they had cleaned everything up and had spent another couple hours outside. Greyson had a second beer, happy that tonight he didn’t have to drive, though, considering his size, he’d be totally okay with a couple beers anyway, what with the tons of food and the hours between each beer. By the time Danny was looking more than sleepy and ready to go home, all of them still full from dinner, Greyson and Jessica said good night and got into the car.
“Are you okay to drive?” Greyson asked.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just a little tired, but that’s okay.” As they drove home, she said warmly, “Your grandparents are wonderful.”
“They are pretty special,” he said. “I think, in a way, I was a little angry with them for moving over here, maybe because it seemed like they were moving away from me. But now, of course, I’m in a position to move here too. So maybe things have to happen the way they’re meant to be.”
“I think so,” she said. “Besides, if you hadn’t come to see them, I wouldn’t have met you. You’d probably be somewhere else, looking for some other dog.”
“True enough,” he said. He looked to see Kona had crashed on the back seat. “Speaking of dogs, she was really good tonight.”
“Honestly, nobody would know by looking at her or her behavior that she was anything other than a great family pet,” she said. “And, if you take her away, I think I’ll really miss her.”
“I thought you weren’t much of a dog person.”
“Only because I haven’t had much experience with dogs,” she corrected. “And that’s a very different story.”
“It is, isn’t it?” When they drove up to the house, he got right out, clicked the leash on Kona, and said, “Just sit here for a moment, will you?”
She looked at him and frowned.
He gave her a lopsided grin. “I just want to take a look outside to make sure everything is okay.”
Understanding crossed her face. “I suppose you want me to lock the car doors then, right?”
“Absolutely,” he said, and, with that, he and Kona took off.
She watched him go around the garage and into the backyard. When she saw him again, he was opening the front door and motioning for her to come in. After parking the car, she got out, unbuckled the car seat, and moving gently, carried a sleeping Danny inside the house. “I gather all is well?”
“No,” he said, his voice hard. “It’s not, but I don’t want to leave you in the car any longer. I’m taking you up to your room, and I’ll leave you in there while I make some phone calls.” He didn’t give her a chance to take off her shoes or drop her bag; he just ushered her and Danny straight upstairs. Kona was with him in the bedroom as he did a quick but very thorough search under the bed, in the closets, etc. “Stay in here, please. I’ll explain as soon as I can.” He put Kona at the doorway, firmly saying, “Guard.” Immediately Kona’s whole demeanor changed, and she looked like she was suddenly on duty.
Jessica looked at Greyson, looked at Kona, then said, “You’re scaring me.”
“And you need to be scared,” he said, “but please stay here for the moment. I’ll be right back.”
Taking a very slow, deep breath, absolutely panicked at what possibly could have gone wrong, she sat down on the bed, next to Danny. Once Greyson was assured that she was fine and wouldn’t come undone, he took off.
Chapter 17
Jessica sat on the bed for a long moment, scared to take anything off or to get too comfortable, just in case they had to bolt, make a run for safety. Finally she heard him coming back up the stairs two at a time. She waited for him, fear evident in her eyes. “And?”
“The house is empty,” he said, “but it wasn’t earlier. Lights were on that shouldn’t have been on, and I left a little trap in the glass doors to see if anybody came in that way,” he said. “And somebody did.”
“The glass doors,” she said. “Weren’t they locked?”
“They were,” he said, “and the lock is now broken.”
She sagged against the headboard and just stared at him, wordless.
“But I’ve tied it together for tonight. Tomorrow I’ll fix it with a new dead bolt.” He smiled, walked over, bent down, and dropped a kiss on her temple and on Danny’s as well. “I’ve made some calls,” he said. “I’ll check the security camera from your neighbor’s systems to see if we know who and what.”
“You can tap into their security cameras?”
Greyson smiled at her. “I can. If he has them turned on, then we might find something.”
“Can you do that hacking up here?”
“Yes. I can do my hacking up here.”
She watched as he raced downstairs to get his laptop, and, when he returned, he sat in the small chair she kept in her room, put his feet up on the bed, and proceeded to check out the laptop. When he made an odd sound, she got up off the bed, still wearing her jeans and T-shirt and shoes, and took a look.
“That’s Jensen,” she said, her voice faint, as she watched the man in the camera slide through her neighbor’s backyard, heading to hers. “Oh, my God, it really is him.”
Greyson nodded. “That’s what I was afraid of. On the other hand, now that we know, we have ammunition.”
“No,” she said. “This is just terrible.”
“Why is that?”
She didn’t really know what to say. “It just seems so far-fetched,” she said. “Impossible.”
“Nope,” he said. “I’ve hacked
