There was almost a permanent glare on Robert's face as he towered over me. But I stared into his glowering eyes—even as intimidating as they were. Every now and then, his gaze shifted to the ceiling. Then, the staircase. As if he wanted to run upstairs to check on his kids. I'd have told him to do so if I wasn't so afraid to speak. He probably wouldn't let me out of his sights anyway.

Robert huffed sternly, losing his patience, "Well?"

"Someone was snooping around your house!" I blurted.

One of his eyebrows darted up. "Someone other than you?"

"Yes," I shook my head, correcting myself, "I mean I wasn't trying to snoop through your house. But I panicked. The police officers were taking too long to check. That's all, I swear!"

"You called the police?" he asked slowly.

"Not exactly. I told the officers sitting outside my house."

"What did you tell them?"

I shrugged. "That I saw someone snooping around outside from my bedroom window."

"Convenient of there to be officers outside your house at this time," he muttered and folded his arms, his glare easing up just a little bit. "I've noticed they don't ever leave. Is your family in trouble or something, kid?"

I couldn't tell if I was mishearing the accusatory tone latched onto his words. He wasn't particularly set on hiding it. I guess, in this situation, I had no right to be upset even if there was. Still, he made it sound like we brought trouble to the neighborhood when we were here first. And here I was trying to keep him safe. Sheesh, he could cut me some slack.

It wasn't my place to tell Robert that we were involved in the same exact case. Nor was it my place to tell him my brother was the detective on the case. Not that it was his business. But after tonight, I was sure he'd find out on his own. Then we'd have bigger things to discuss.

I cleared my throat, shrugging again. "It's sort of . . . complicated."

He opened his mouth but a light ding rang through the house. That sounded like a doorbell; potentially his front door. My eyes lit up. Did the officer finally arrive? About damn time. What took them so long? We could've been dead by now.

Robert narrowed his eyes and sighed. "Hold that thought, kid."

"That might be the officer they sent to check on you," I yelled after him.

"Noted," he responded, his voice gruff.

As he neared the front area, a thought dawned on me. Shit, would Robert press charges? He knew I wasn't here to harm him though. Or so, that's the case I pleaded. But did he believe me? Oh crap. I couldn't afford that kind of trouble. Screw me, I did not think this one through.

Robert was cautious in approaching the front door. He slowly reached for the knob, handling it with care. That's when I realized the hammer was still in his hands.

"Who is it?" He kept his voice leveled.

"This is Officer Phillips from the Lake Bellinor police department. We received a warning that there may be a possible intruder lurking about your property." Officer Phillips? Both her name and her voice weren't foreign to me.

Robert turned to look at me, then back at the door. He waited a moment before laying the hammer down on the coffee table beside the door. He proceeded to unlock it and swing it open, revealing Officer Phillips. But to both of our surprise, she wasn't the only one standing there.

"Shit," I swore after a failed attempt to hide myself. Logan elbowed Christian's arm, gesturing for him to look my way. Fucking snitch. Christian's widened eyes narrowed at me the second he registered me standing towards the back of the house. Seriously? Of all the people I could run into tonight? If I had the energy to bang my head against the wall, I would.

"Hey, I recognize you. I believe we've met before, detectives," Robert greeted them, oblivious to the can of worms I'd opened.

Regardless, Christian remained professional. He cleared his throat and responded, "Yes, at the funeral. That kid isn't the intruder, is he?" Christian made sure I saw his teeth grinding together. I pressed my lips together, avoiding eye contact.

"No. The kid was just a concerned neighbor who stopped by to check up on me. Apparently, he's the one who notified you guys about the intruder," Robert answered with no hesitation. My relieved sigh was the most audible sound in the room. Thank goodness he didn't rat me out.

"Yeah! I'm the one who asked Delaney and Baring to send you guys!" I said.

"Tsk, tsk. You should be at home, Tyler," Officer Phillips finally spoke up. Just then, a minor ruckus down the street echoed within Robert's house. "Sounds like they discovered you're missing. I'll head over there and see what's going on." She excused herself.

Logan chimed in, pointing to a vacant spot on the stairs, "Tyler, you can have a seat over there. We need to ask both of you some questions. Starting with you, Mr. Watson. But we need a few minutes to do a sweep of the perimeter first to make sure you're all in the clear."

"Not a problem," Robert responded. "I'd like to check on my kids first if that's okay. They're upstairs sleeping."

"Of course," said Logan, nodding.

"Don't go anywhere," Christian mouthed to me.

I sent him a discreet thumbs up, making my way to the stairs. Robert was up the stairs in no time. Meanwhile, Christian and Logan left the house as promised. A few minutes passed before Robert came back down. He didn't sit but he made himself comfortable against the wall.

"You know those detectives?"

"What makes you say that?" I deflected Robert's question.

"The tall one was glaring at you."

So, he noticed. Was there a point in lying?

"He's my older brother." I sighed.

Robert's muscles tensed. But he said nothing. Robert seemed like a smart man. Surely, he was piecing the connection together.

"No signs of forced entry," Logan announced when they returned.

"Did you hear or see anything weird?" Christian turned to Robert.

"I thought I heard someone making noise down here," Robert answered, kicking off the wall.

"Anything else felt off to you tonight? Maybe you saw someone sitting outside your house today. Even if they were just passing by a couple of times," Logan said.

"Come to think of it, I have a Ring doorbell. But I haven't gotten any notifications or anything like that all night. And an alarm goes off when someone trespasses my house. . ." Robert's eyes fixed on me. He was just now realizing two people managed to sneak onto his property without his knowledge. That meant the intruder possibly disarmed his Ring alarm.

"And we heard someone leave," I added.

"You heard someone leave?" Christian frowned.

"That's right, we were standing in the kitchen when the front door closed. . ." Robert said.

Christian and Logan looked at each other.

Robert spoke up again, "Let me show you where I heard the noises."

"While you're at it, is it okay if we take a look at this Ring doorbell system?" Logan asked, following behind Robert into the kitchen.

"Sure thing." Robert was cooperative.

That left Christian and I alone in the opposite room.

"Want to explain to me what the hell you're doing here? That sounded like your mother freaking out down the street. You didn't even tell her you were leaving? You just snuck out? How many times have we been over this, Tyler?" Christian hissed, a scowl taking over his face.

"I swear, Christian. I thought he was in danger!"

"Ever thought he could be the danger?"

"That did cross my mind too. . ." I chuckled nervously.

"Sometimes you frustrate me in ways I didn't even think were possible—" My gaze dropped to the floor. Boot scuffs? They weren't the most visible. But they were faint enough to leave a mark. I squatted and touched the scuffs.

"Are you even listening to me?" Christian fumed.

Darkness engulfed me. Christian's voice was an echo in the back of my head. The clock ticking in Robert's living room hung heaviest in the air. Something—a person—blended into the pitch-black room I found myself looking into. Their damn near silent breathing eased into my ears, mingling with the soft breaths coming from the twin beds outside a door.

Something heavy was in the intruder's hands.

Where were they? They had to be in Robert's house. But where? It was clear they were in a room. I figured it was the children's room. But it felt like I was enclosed in a box, and I was looking out through the crack of a door. Maybe a closet? The children's closet.

I'd almost gasped.

What the hell were they doing in Robert's children's room? They couldn't have wanted to harm his children, right? I relaxed a little when I heard another set of footsteps outside their room. They were hiding from whoever was in the hallway, I presumed. The person in the hallway continued walking until their footsteps faded far away; likely down the stairs.

"What the fuck, kid?" What? That was the moment I ran into Robert. Unbeknownst to us, both of our voices drew more attention to our location. The kitchen.

It'd seem this was the perfect opportunity for the culprit to escape. They eased out of the closet, then out the children's room, being sure to close the door as quietly as they could. The most shocking part of watching them leave was they'd been watching us the whole time. The moment their feet hit the last step, they stopped and stood there for several seconds.

Until they finally had enough and left. Then, we heard the front door close.

"He was in danger," I whispered, as soon as the vision let me out.

Christian's rambling stopped. "What did you see?"

"A guy was hiding in Robert's kid's room closet. He had a weapon."

"Did you get a good look at this weapon?"

"Not really. It was too dark. Might be my stalker though, as I thought."

Christian scratched his head, then halted. "Tyler, how'd you get in?"

I frowned. "Through the window."

"An open window?"

"Yeah. Pretty sure that's how the first guy got in."

"We thought Yasmine was the next target but maybe we were wrong. If you didn't follow the intruder in, we might not be here for an attempted break-in but a murder."

"You think so?" I bit my bottom lip.

"That's what my gut is telling me," Christian murmured, sighing.

Before I could respond, static blared from the police radio attached to Christian's hip. Words, numbers, and other things I didn't quite understand could be made out. Just then, Logan and Robert were back in the room. Robert couldn't take his eyes off of Christian and I. I guess we looked more like brothers standing and talking beside each other like this.

"What's going on?" Logan looked down at his radio. Though I didn't understand the message the first time, the words that followed after Logan's question were clearest.

"Unidentified female's body was reported at this address. . ." Static again. "2152 Geneva Street. . ." More static. "Suspected homicide. . ." That was all it took for all four of us to freeze. Christian and Logan were rushing out the door before we knew it.