Pulling the sweater off the rack, I pressed it to my face. I could still smell the scent of gardenias that came from her favorite perfume. It was a scent that had comforted me throughout the years. Tears filled my eyes. It was too much. It was all too much.

I took the sweater into the bedroom and laid down on the bed, wrapping it around me. I felt exhausted, emotionally spent. I closed my eyes, and as the darkness enveloped me, I let myself think her arms were wrapped around me, the way they'd been when I was a little girl.

It was the only thing I would allow myself to think. Everything else had to wait…

CHAPTER FIVE

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a dog barking. For a second, I didn't know where I was. Panic ran through me, but as the furniture in the room came into focus, I remembered everything that had happened. I rolled over in bed as the dog's barking got more frantic. I wondered where his owner was. I scrambled out of bed to look out the window. Then I heard a loud crash outside.

A moment later, I saw a figure running off to the side of the house.

My heart pounded fast as I raced down the stairs to grab my phone, which I'd stupidly left downstairs. I grabbed it on my way to the front door. I peered through the window next to the door, but I couldn't see anyone, and the dog had settled down.

Then I heard another door open, and Kade walked toward the sidewalk. He was barefoot and bare-chested, wearing a pair of black sweats. I opened the front door and saw a potted plant turned over on its side, broken into several pieces.

Kade turned around and spied me in the doorway. "Are you all right?" he asked as he returned to the house. "I wasn't sure if you had stayed here or gone to a hotel."

"I stayed. I fell asleep." My gaze moved to the pot. "Someone was on the porch, maybe trying to get into the house."

His lips drew into a grim line. "They made a hell of a lot of noise doing it," he muttered, running a hand through his messy hair, his eyes tired. "But they didn't get in."

"No," I said, my heart still racing. "The dog next door started barking. Maybe that scared them off."

"That's what woke me up."

"Me, too." I met his gaze. "This has to be connected to my mother, right?"

"It seems likely," he muttered.

"I should call the police."

He went downstairs to close his door, then came back up the steps and into the main house.

I called 911 and told the dispatcher that someone had tried to break into my house, and it could be connected to an earlier shooting. She said she'd send an officer out to check the property.