Hope Flames: Hope Book 1 by Jaci Burton Read Free Book Online Page B

said. “I don’t know what kind of drugs you keep on hand, but they didn’t take everything.”
    “I was on the phone with my sister when I heard the crash and barking. I thought Daisy and Annie had been playing rough and had toppled something over.”
    “Whoever broke in likely didn’t expect to find a dog in here. They made a grab for whatever they could and ran out. Otherwise they’d have cleaned you out.”
    Two more officers came in. Luke nodded and introduced them to her. She gave them her best effort at a smile, while Luke filled them in on what happened and told them they’d need to sweep for fingerprints and other evidence. They left the room, and so did Luke and Emma.
    “Come on. You look like you need to sit down.”
    “I have to clean this up. And replace the door and the lock. And call my insurance company.” She looked up at Luke. “How did he get in?”
    “Picked the lock on the back door. The crash you heard was after he smashed through the locked door on the drug cabinet.”
    She inhaled and let out a shaky sigh.
    “Do you have an alarm?”
    “Yes. I deactivated it when I came in to work tonight.”
    “I’m surprised they broke in, knowing someone was here. Normally they wouldn’t hit a business if someone was inside.”
    “I parked across the street because of the road-repavingproject they’re doing this weekend. The parking lot is blocked.”
    “That’s right. I didn’t even notice your car wasn’t out front. So he wouldn’t have known someone was in here.”
    Now that the adrenaline rush was over, her head had started to pound.
    “You want something to drink?”
    She nodded. “Water. My throat is dry.” She looked in her small refrigerator in her office, but it was empty. She made a mental note to restock it, if she could even remember. Her thoughts were scattered.
    “I’ll go get you something. Boomer, stay.”
    Boomer sat with her. She took a minute to call her insurance company to report the break-in. She told them the police were there right now. They said they’d send someone out in the morning to look things over and file a report.
    Luke came back a few minutes later with a bottle of water. He unscrewed the cap and handed it to her. “Raided your main fridge.”
    “Thanks.” She grabbed a couple of acetaminophens from the drawer in her desk and popped those with the water.
    “I’ve got the guys taking photos, and the crime-scene van just arrived to dust for prints. Chances are it was someone looking for a quick drug score.”
    “We keep painkillers here and anesthesia drugs.”
    He nodded. “I know. We see that a lot. Some of the medical and dental clinics have reported break-ins over the past couple of months.”
    “Great. Just great.”
    He took a notepad and pen out of his pocket. “You want to tell me everything that happened again? Anything you saw or heard.”
    Emma dragged her fingers through her hair and recounted everything that had happened from the time she came to work to the time she saw Luke.
    “Thanks, Emma. That’s helpful.”
    “I don’t see how anything I just told you could help. I didn’t see him. I could have gone out there when I heard thecrash. Maybe I would have seen him and could have given you a description.”
    He frowned. “That would have been stupid. What would you have done? Yelled at him? You don’t know what kind of person that was. High or desperate, and he could have had a weapon. Criminals are unpredictable. You did the right thing staying in here and calling it in. Now we’ll do our job and try to catch him.”
    “I just hate being a victim.” Again.
    “You’re not a victim. You did everything right.” He came over and crouched down in front of her, his warm eyes sincere. “You took care of your own life. Some people are stupid. You aren’t. You were very brave tonight.”
    He was trying to make her feel better. And he was taking care of her. In her past, someone would have called her stupid, would have blamed