Tia waited anxiously for Seth to return to the house. When it took longer than she thought it should, she went from room to room, looking for a window that might give her a view of what was going on and finally found one in the music room. If she stood on a chair, she could see the back of Seth’s head and shoulders: greenery blocked everything else except part of the police officer who was with him, a shorter gentleman with gray hair and a stockier build.

Sadly, she couldn’t see well enough to be able to figure out what was going on. But she kept her eyes pinned to the scene. Would Seth bring him in? Would she need to corroborate the story of what happened with Kouretas?

She assumed the answer to that question was yes when she saw Seth reluctantly let the officer through the gate.

She wished she could cover her scars but refrained, because it would make the situation plain. Once the officer saw the damage to her face, maybe he could understand why there might be someone out to snap a picture for the tabloids and how that person might push Seth to the point of breaking a camera.

The sound of the door opening and closing echoed up to her. “Tia?” Seth called. “Can you come down for a moment?”

Quickly pulling her hair into a ponytail, so the officer could get a good look despite her insecurities, she took a deep breath and walked down to the entryway, where both men were waiting for her.

“Tia, this is Officer Crocker,” Seth said. “Ray Kouretas has filed a complaint over what happened yesterday when he blocked our driveway.”

“Nice to meet you,” Tia said.

The officer’s expression grew sympathetic when he saw her damaged cheek. “I’m sorry to hear about your accident,” he said. Fortunately, he sounded sincere.

“Thank you.”

“Would you mind telling me what happened when you encountered Mr. Kouretas at the gate yesterday?”

“Not at all.” She told him how they’d come home to find that they couldn’t get back onto the property, how Seth had asked Kouretas to leave but Kouretas refused, and how Seth had knocked the camera from his hands when Kouretas pulled it out and started snapping pictures, anyway.

“That doesn’t sound like much of an assault,” he said.

“Like I told you, I didn’t touch him, just the camera,” Seth said.

“Is that true?” Officer Crocker asked Tia.

“Absolutely,” she replied.

He nodded. “Mr. Kouretas made it sound much worse, but I can’t imagine anything will come of it, although he could always try to make a case in civil court.”