“I’ll take the front. You want to head around back, in case someone is still in there?” Mike asked.
“You got it.”
They got out of the car and drew their weapons. They used their training to case the perimeter of the house and slowly approach. Taylor disappeared around back and Mike stepped onto the porch, hearing the old wooden planks creak.
He cursed under his breath.
He slowly turned the front doorknob and it released. The person who broke in probably left through the front door.
He walked inside and could see Taylor making his way in from the back porch.
“All clear,” he called out as Mike checked the living room, the kitchen, and then the bedroom.
“All clear.”
But the bedroom wasn’t neat and tidy like Marlena left it. Instead her clothes were scattered everywhere, the glass on the dresser mirror broken, and a note was left on the bed.
“I’m coming for you,” it said in red.
“This is Taylor, I need the sheriff and Detective Morgan to come out to Marlena Courts’s place, pronto,” Taylor said into his radio, and Mike felt sick to his stomach.
He looked around knowing that Peter, the man who tried to kill his woman, was in here. She would be a mess if she came home to this.
“Shit, I have to call Danny and Jack and tell them not to bring Marlena here. She gets off in thirty minutes. She can’t see this. She’ll lose it,” Mike said.
“You’re right. She’ll be a mess. This is a total violation of her personal space. What a fucking creep. We have to find him. No woman is safe with a guy like this around,” Taylor said.
Mike made the call and quickly explained to Danny what happened then he hung up the phone.
“Everyone needs to step up their protection over the women,” Mike whispered as he looked around, being sure not to touch anything.
“No problems there. We’ve got Marlena’s friends covered. If this guy got this close into town, he could get his hands on Marlena’s friends or people she’s close to,” Taylor said then pulled out his personal phone and texted someone.
“Texting your brothers about Mercedes?” Mike asked as they heard the cars pulling up outside.
“You betcha, and she isn’t going to take it well, believe me.”
Mike chuckled.
“You guys should take it as an opportunity to make a move. You know you’re interested in her,” Mike said.
“Yeah, well, it’s going to take some time. There are things to work out, first.”
“What’s going on?” the sheriff asked as he walked through the open front door.
“Looks like a break-in. The asshole is in town. He left a note,” Mike said.
“Shit. Did you call your brothers?” the sheriff asked Mike.
“Danny is with Marlena at the diner.”
“You have a forensics team on hand?” Detective Morgan asked as he entered the cottage.
“We get help from the state police five miles out of town.”
“Call it in. We need all the concrete evidence we can get against this guy to prove he’s a criminal and intent on doing harm to Marlena. I need fingerprints, hair follicles, something concrete.”
“How about this?” The sheriff asked as he pointed to the floor on the other side of the bed. Mike walked around as well as Detective Morgan.