“Were these windows ever fitted with security sensors?”
“No. The prickly bushes outside are so close to the house, I didn’t think a criminal would ever wade into them to get inside. They’d get sliced up.”
Zach held back the thick curtain, and Kim waved dust out of her face. Then she saw what Zach was referring to. The beautiful stained-glass panes had been removed, leaving the window wedged open by six-inch blocks, waiting for whomever to return and finish the job of breaking into her house. They’d obviously wanted the expensive glass, because it was gone, but they wanted access, too. This was no smash and grab crime. This was methodical and thought out. There was no mistaking it. She was being targeted.
Her heart raced out of fear and stupidity. “Oh, my God. I didn’t know.” She reached out to snatch the blocks, and Zach caught her hand. Roughness met pampered softness.
“Get them out,” she ordered. Panic hit her in the chest. “There was always a moment when I thought I was overreacting. I thought, they’re not following me, are they? The attack on me was random. But this…this was meant for me. To get me.”
“Kim, it’s not the time to lose your head. If you needed confirmation, well, here’s more proof. We’re leaving the blocks in. We want him to think he’s getting away with something. The truth is that the two incidents aren’t related. There are two groups or people targeting you.”
“What? How do you know?” As badly as she wanted to leave the room, Zach knew more than the chief of police or his deputies had told her in all her conversations with them.
“Anyone who leaves something on your gate can’t get in. The note was intended to intimidate you. They want to show you their power, but they’re showing their limitations. The person who got into this window could have gotten into the house, but something stopped them.”
Fearful but curious, Kim had to ask all the questions racing through her mind. “Fear or something else?” She voiced her hope rather than her fear.
“Time and greed. He wants the glass, too,” he said, feeding a fear so deep inside her she wanted to run. But nothing, not death or threats, had made her run in the past. She wouldn’t run now.
“So they’re still after me?”
“I believe whoever did this will try again. No one leaves a window open and doesn’t return. They probably realized this glass is worth a lot of money, and they got sidetracked. They want it all. This is personal and potentially the most dangerous. I’m not quite sure yet.”
“What are they doing with the glass? Keeping it as a trophy?”
Zach pursed his lips and shook his head confidently. He worked a piece free and slipped it into a plastic evidence bag. “No. The value is too high and too many are gone. They’re selling it. It’s heavy, so he could only carry a few at a time without being noticed. He’s playing the law of averages. He’ll be back, but he didn’t count on you having better security. We will get this bastard. This one may have a smudge of blood on it.”
“How soon will we know?” she asked, excited for the first time that day.
“A day or two.” Zach remained hopeful. “How much was this glass?”
“They were ordered in bulk, but six hundred a piece. There about.”
Zach grunted. “Stealing one is a felony. And he got six.”
“Maybe he won’t be back.”
“Baby, you’re a judge. He’s gone undetected and he got away. This is an easy score for him. There are bragging rights for him right about now. He’ll be back. There are two groups. I’m convinced of that.”
Kim didn’t know whether to believe Zach anymore. He’d been in her life for a few hours and she was so full of anxiety, she wasn’t sure she trusted even her own judgment anymore. “I went from nobody believing me to having not one but two groups targeting me.”
“Life’s a bitch, ain’t it?” Zach said, not looking at her, studying her alarm control panel. “You’re just too close to it and you’re the victim. I don’t expect you to see things the way I do. No, wait.” He smiled at her. “Yes, I do.”
He disarmed her with that quick smile in the face of all this serious talk about her life. The thing was, she did believe him. And now, she was more afraid than ever.
“Why didn’t the chief of police believe me?”
“Because he sent his best people to protect you, and if they investigated and said you were out of danger, then he would take their word over yours.”
“What about Clark’s arm and that attempted kidnapping? Surely that can’t be swept under the rug?”
“No, it can’t. I’ll have my people follow up on that. I’ll have answers for you, Kim. You never told me who has keys to your house.”
His quick shift in conversation was a tactic used in trials to redirect witnesses, but Kim wasn’t that easily distracted. She couldn’t look away from the blocks wedging the window open. Who would do this?
It was well past nine, and the sun was finally fading for the evening, but a few rays still managed to reflect off the beautiful stained glass. Kim’s heart ached for the mother who had neglected to love her. Zach was still waiting and Kim turned away from the glass to find his questioning gaze on her. “Lieutenant Jerome from the marshals has a key to the house. Clark, of course, and Flora, my housekeeper. Giuseppe, the grocery delivery man, and Paul, my next-door neighbor.” She reached out again and Zach guided her away from the window. She finally met his gaze, unable to look away. “People are really trying to hurt me.”
She was stuck, like a truck in the red Georgia clay after a hard rain. She wanted to ask Zach who would do this, but she couldn’t. He didn’t know any more than she.
“Five keys, huh? Why not leave a key in the mailbox with a note?” He tromped all over her already bruised feelings.
“I have no appreciation for sarcasm.”
“I was kidding.”
“No, you weren’t.”
“You’re right. You’re a judge, and you should have used better judgment. You’ve practically waved a flag at the satellites in space and said, ‘notify all attackers, I’m waiting to be a victim.’ How many doors open with that key that everyone has?”
Kim didn’t really want to answer because he was right, of course. And since they had the key, they had the alarm code, too. It crossed her mind that she’d doled out her house key like French fries, and lots of keys could have been made. But why would those people betray her?
She braced for the onslaught of words her reply would bring. “All of the doors open with the same key.” She knew he heard her barely audible words. She’d conceivably invited the perpetrator into her home.
“This house is how old?” he asked, saying nothing further, scrutinizing the glass on the window leading to the second floor.
“Ninety years old. It’s been renovated twice. In the forties, and then a year ago. I have a bit of a defense for myself, Zach. When I’m home, I try to live a normal life. I didn’t know I’d made myself so vulnerable.”
“I don’t really blame you, Kim. Your security team should be fired for not knowing about this. Then again, who knows when this happened? But this is how innocent people die.”
“I’ve never had any trouble, and I’ve lived here for quite some time.”
“You grew up in this house,” he stated. How did he know? He’d only been in her house a few hours.
She thought about lying, but it would be useless. “How did you know?”
“The picture over the fireplace. I recognize the window