That was the first thing Luke thought when he saw her standing outside of her apartment, talking to Kincaid while a uniformed cop talked with an older man Luke assumed was her neighbor. The person inspecting the paint on her door must be some kind of forensics, because she was scraping some onto a slide, presumably for evidence. Kincaid had called Patrick on his way over to Olivia’s while Luke and the others had still been in Patrick’s office, which of course meant they all immediately left Stronghold to come over. Luke had no doubt Lexie had probably been busy texting everyone else on the way.

The noise the five of them made getting off the elevator had everyone in the hallway turning to see who they were. Olivia groaned at the sight of them, her expression drawn and tight with stress.

“Oh good grief, what do you people think you are, the Scooby-Doo Gang?” she asked, snapping the words out.

Neither Patrick nor Michael seemed upset at her antagonistic tone though. Probably because they could see the same things Luke could—her eyes were flat, her skin pale, and she was holding one arm across the front of her body so she could grip the opposite elbow. A defensive, protective stance. Not the usual open, wide spread stance she usually stood in.

“If I say yes, can I have a Scooby-snack?” Luke asked, jumping in quickly to make sure he was the first person to speak. Hoping to lighten her upset and unsure of how any of the others would respond.

She didn’t smile, but the flatness of her eyes warmed a little and he thought she might have almost smiled. “You are not nearly as cute as you think you are, cupcake.”

He scowled. “I don’t think I’m cute at all, Scarlet.”

“The two of you are too cute for words,” Lexie said, moving past him and heading straight for Olivia with arms outstretched. For a moment, he thought Olivia wouldn’t accept the hug, but she opened her arms as Lexie reached her and pulled the younger, smaller woman into her embrace. It took Luke a moment to realize Lexie needed the hug maybe even more than Olivia did, and—as always—Olivia made sure everyone else got what they needed.

Which was why he was going to focus on what she needed tonight.

“Is there any reason we’re still out in the hall?” he asked, coming forward to stand next to and slightly behind Olivia. She was still cuddling Lexie, who was practically clinging to her. Patrick placed his hand on the back of Lexie’s neck, his dark eyes looking over Olivia like he was trying to see inside of her.

“I just wanted to know if my neighbors knew anything,” she said, looking over to where the uniformed officer had just finished up his interview.