Lily had grinned widely, barely containing her fist pump, then rolled her eyes and declared, “Geez, Mom. It’s okay to kiss him in front of us!”
“Are you gonna share a bedroom like moms and dads?” Charlie had asked.
This question caused Ben’s heart to pound as he’d looked toward a wide-eyed Violet, who’d opened and closed her mouth several times before finally muttering, “Uh… well, Charlie…. uh…”
The little boy had continued to swing his legs, a hopeful gleam in his eye. “’Cause I thought we could use that other room as a guest room if Grandma and Grandpa want to come to visit. Or maybe it could be a cool game room.”
Ben had slumped back, noting Violet’s posture mirrored his. While they had not greatly increased their PDAs nor had they overtly moved into the same bedroom, they had relaxed, knowing the kids were on board.
Since then, he would slip into the main bedroom after the others were asleep, and he and Violet made love as quietly as they could, sparking more desire than he ever thought possible.
Now, he headed downstairs to check on his babcia, finding her asleep as well. Bounder whimpered lightly, and he discovered the dog lying flat, his nose pointed directly to the sliding glass door. With the security light turned off, he could not see beyond the deck. “Something out there, boy?”
His phone vibrated an alert. Picking it up, he checked, seeing the alarm on the front door of Violet’s house had been activated. Fucker used the front door, right on the street! Since his security lights and the dog had alerted them in the past to the backyard intruder, it seemed whoever was determined to get to something on Violet’s property was now staying out of their view by breaking in through the front.
Pulling up the camera feed on his laptop, he watched as a man moved through Violet’s living room and dining room and into the kitchen. His heart kicked up a beat as his fingers curled into fists. If I hadn’t moved Violet and the kids into this house they would have been upstairs while that fucker was just below them!
While watching, Ben looked to his phone where he’d stored Steven’s number. With a few punches of keys, he connected. “Steven? It’s Ben Popovich. There’s a man in Violet’s house. I’ve got him on camera. He’s heading to the kitchen.”
“Fucking hell. All right, I’m on my way. I should be there in about fifteen minutes, but I’m calling in a unit. They’ll come in quietly. You stay put… keep monitoring on the camera.”
Disconnecting, Ben watched for a moment, the man’s movements inexplicable as he walked directly to the oven. He pulled on first one side and then another, scooting the oven forward, inch by inch. He kept halting the progress, twisting his head as though listening. He thinks they’re upstairs asleep. The fucker went in thinking they were there!
Rage colored Ben’s world red and he slid his feet into shoes by the back door before racing into the basement, past the boxes and old items that needed to be discarded, coming to the door that led to the outside stairs that would keep his presence hidden.
He slipped along the side of the house and down the sidewalk to the back of Violet’s house, easily clearing the fence near her trash cans. Crouching in the deep shadows, he watched the screen on his phone again.
The man inside continued to work on the oven until it was pulled out enough that he could slip behind the appliance. He unplugged it from the wall and pulled something from his pocket.
It was difficult to see from the angle of his camera, but Ben watched as it appeared the man unscrewed something from the wall. Ben remembered when his grandfather worked on their kitchen renovation. Most of the old townhouses had at least one fireplace, often more than one. It was either in the living room or the kitchen, being where the family would cook when the houses were built in the mid-to-late 1800s. Many renovations had covered up the outdated fireplaces, but his grandfather loved the look of the exposed brick. He had enclosed the open portion at the bottom, but the brick chimney going up the wall was behind the oven. It was so much a part of the room’s décor, Ben never thought about it being a fireplace anymore.
Glancing back to the phone screen showing the camera angle in Violet’s kitchen where the man was working, it dawned on him… Violet’s kitchen fireplace had been completely covered, but if someone knew it was there and had access to getting into the panel, they could easily hide something inside. He dialed Steven again.
“I’m on my way, Popovich!”
“There’s a hidden access panel in the old kitchen fireplace that’s been covered up during past renovations,” he whispered. “I’m watching. The fucker has pulled out something from inside and has walked to the back door.”
“I’ve got a unit almost there,” Steven reported. “They’re approaching the front.”
“Tell them to get to the back, but not to shoot. I’m there now.”
“Popovi—”
He disconnected and crouched low just as the man exited Violet’s back door, the bag in his hand. The man would have no way out of the yard but to walk right past Ben hiding in the shadows. Legs coiled like springs, Ben was ready. This would be fuckin’ easy, but he had to tamp down his anger. If there was one thing he’d learned as a SEAL, keeping calm was essential even on the simplest mission.
Breathing in total silence, he lifted his hands, ready as soon as the man came closer. Suddenly, a blinding light shone in the darkness, and Ben’s gaze shot to the back of his house where the kitchen light had turned on. There, standing at the sliding door in plain sight, was Violet, her face close to the glass as she peered out, her hand resting on Bounder’s head as the large dog stood peering out as well.
Seeing her there and exposed kicked his steady heartbeat into a wild, erratic staccato. A movement to his side jolted him from his stance as the man still in the dark faced Violet, then turned to run toward Ben.
Launching forward, Ben tackled the man, rolling as their bodies hit the ground until the man ended up underneath him. The satchel flew from the man’s hand, bouncing over the grass, but it went unheeded by Ben, whose pent-up anger soared as he held the man to the ground. “Come on, fucker. Fight me.” He battled the desire to pound his fist into the man’s face, but the man underneath him was thin and shaking, not resisting at all.
The sound of running footsteps sounded in his ears and he looked up to see Steven flanked by a group of policemen rounding the back corner of Violet’s house. “Here! I’ve got him!” Looking toward the image of Violet still standing in the doorway, he shouted, “Turn on the security lights!”
Suddenly, the area was flooded with bright lights, illuminating every corner of the yards. As the police approached with weapons drawn, he called out to Steven, “I’ve got him on camera getting something from behind the stove in the old, covered-up fireplace. It’s over there.”
The police hauled the man to his feet, and with the lights blasting down on them, it was easy to see he was Robert Blaine.
Ben leaned forward until he was nose-to-nose with Robert, his fury with this man still overwhelming. “I want to know why you were taking pictures of my kids.”
Steven stepped closer to Ben, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Steady,” he said before turning to Robert, reading him his rights.