Fisher holstered his service weapon. “Is anything missing?”
“I don’t know. I don’t see anything right off hand. The electronics are still here.”
“Whoever broke in didn’t come for electronics,” Ty pointed out. “Where did you have the collar stored?”
She led them to a back bedroom and opened the closet. “Since I started getting creeped out, I put everything in this…” She trailed off, rising to her toes and running both hands along a shelf. “The box is gone. Everything I still had was in there.”
“And yet nothing looks disturbed,” Ty observed. “Almost like somebody knew exactly where it was.”
Fisher rocked back on his heels. “Did you tell anyone where you were keeping the stuff?”
“No. Almost nobody knows about the problem at all.”
Ty didn’t like it. Last night they hadn’t found a tracker on her phone or car or anywhere in her things. But if the perpetrator was close enough to lay hands on the dog, he could have removed it. It’s what he would’ve done.
“Maybe there are cameras. Bugs. Something that would’ve told our perp where to look.”
“Cameras!” Paisley crossed both arms tight over her middle, her cheeks going pale. She was just getting one hit after another.
Wishing he’d kept the idea to himself, Ty curved his hands around her shoulders, aware of Fisher’s speculative gaze. “It’s just another avenue to check. Why don’t you go on and start packing?”
“Yeah, okay.”
They waited until Paisley had made her way down the hall.
“She’s going back to Eden’s Ridge?”
He knew what Fisher was asking. Much as he wanted to stake his claim, he needed to be a cop here first. “She’s got friends there. Let’s search the place.”
An hour and a half later, Fisher screwed the last air vent cover back in place. “Nothing. Hopefully that’ll put Paisley more at ease.”
“Maybe. But if someone broke in to take the evidence, it wouldn’t be hard to pull any surveillance equipment as well.” He’d have preferred to do an electronic sweep rather than a manual one, but he didn’t have access to that kind of equipment now, and in all likelihood, their stalker wouldn’t have access to the kind that would be easy to hide.
“Come on. Do you really think that’s what happened?”
“You have a better theory?”
Fisher shot a glance toward the front of the house, where Paisley had disappeared, and dropped his voice. “I’m just saying, it’s awfully convenient that I tell her I can’t do anything with what I’ve got so far, and we suddenly have a big jump from mailing shit to dropping off a package in person, to alleged breaking and entering, to someone following her. Why the escalation?”
“You’re suggesting she’s making this up?” If that’s where this guy’s head was, no wonder there’d been no progress on her case.
“I don’t want to think that. I really don’t. I like her. She’s a sweetheart. But I know she’s frustrated as hell with the lack of progress, and I’ve gotta look at the facts in front of me: The alarm didn’t go off. The scratches on the back door could just be from regular use. And Duke wasn’t actually hurt, right? All we’ve got is her word that the collar came from here.”
Bristling on Paisley’s behalf, Ty drew on the control he’d learned as a soldier. “She’s not lying to try to spark more action out of the police.”
“Like I said, I don’t want to think that. But Occam’s Razor, man. What you’re suggesting just seems like a lot of cloak and dagger shit that’s more like something out of a book or movie when, up to now, the whole situation has looked like a simple case of an over-obsessed fan.”
“The simplest explanation isn’t always the right one. I was with her when she saw that collar. She was legit terrified someone had gotten to her dog.”
“How do you know she’s not a stellar actress?”
“Because I’ve known her for more than twenty years. She wasn’t faking. I don’t know what’s going on or why, but I’m not discounting any possibility yet.”
“Fair point. Please don’t assume I’m not taking this seriously. I am. Have from the start. But you have to admit, there’s not a lot to go on.”
“No.” And if this had been anyone else, he might have shared the same concerns. But this was Paisley. “What about the mugger?”
“Unrelated, as far as we could tell. It was months before she started getting packages. And why would some guy start with an attack on her person, then switch to something so low-key as random packages? Doesn’t fit.”
Ty nodded in acknowledgment. “I’d appreciate if you’d send me copies of your file. Maybe a fresh set of eyes will help.”
“Of course. Whatever I can do to help. And I’ll make sure to have patrols continue in the area. Though with the damned back door not hooked in, I don’t know how helpful that will be.”
More than done with Fisher, Ty straightened. “I’ll take care of it.” He’d be plugging a number of other holes in her security before they left town.
“Good. I’ll feel better knowing she’s got a properly secured house. I’ll send that file as soon as I get back to the station.”
“Appreciate it.”
After Fisher left, Ty went in search of Paisley. She sat in her office, hugging a pillow and staring at nothing.
“Paisley?”
“What if someone’s been watching me all this time, Ty? When I thought I was alone? Do you have any idea how disturbing that is?”
“We didn’t find any evidence of that or anything else.” He felt bad enough for mentioning the possibility to her. He sure as hell wasn’t offering up his theory that there might have been something that had been removed.
“I’m not sure it makes a difference either way, at this point. My home, my sanctuary, has been violated. I don’t know how to get over that.”
“With time and answers. Meanwhile, you’ll be safe with me.” He’d make sure of it. “How’s the packing coming?”
She lifted haunted eyes to his. “I’m basically done. It’s all in the
