The Way My Heart Beats

Chapter 14

I guess I'll be making that phone call to the police sooner than I thought. "Damn it," I hiss. I pull out my phone to give Detective Woodrow a call.

"Woodrow." He says sleepily.

Pushing a hand through my hair I say, "Sorry to wake you, Mitch, but uh, my house has been broken into and trashed. Not to mention, I pinged the location of Clara's cell phone to my very suspicious neighbor's house."

I could hear a few grunts sounding like he was climbing out of bed. "Alright. I'm on my way." He says before hanging up.

I sit on the porch swing waiting for him to get here. His large SUV shows up pretty quickly since he lives on this side of the city. He stands at his car giving the area a quick once over looking for anything that might seem suspicious. The street lamp gives a soft glow to the porch as he spots me instantly on the swing once he gets close enough.

"Have you scoped the place out yet, evaluated the damage or did you actually wait on me?" He asks with his hands on his hip.

Standing up waving my arm at the door, "It's all yours. I haven't touched a thing."

Turning the knob, he pushes the door open and takes in the mess. "Huh. Well, this is a pig sty, Holland. Don't you ever clean up after yourself?" He smirks at me.

"Yeah, right!" I step in through the door behind him. The couch is ripped, nothing is left on the walls or in the cabinets, holes are in the wall, cabinet doors ripped from their hinges, you can't see the floor; it looks like a tornado came through here. I don't know if they were looking for something or just trying to piss me off, but the latter was accomplished. I am pissed.

"Do you have any ideas who this could be?" Mitch asks, making his way through the mess.

"The ex-husband would be my guess, but my guess is as good as yours. I haven't a clue."

I hear footsteps on the porch when Mitch says, "I called in the team to check for fingerprints and all that jazz."

Catching up with him, he examines the rest of the house. Not much was touched back here besides mattresses torn apart. I am thankful nothing happened to my grandparent's things. Everything else could be replaced.

He stops which causes me to nearly run into him. He turns to me asking, "How are you holding up?" Rubbing a hand through my hair I nervously stick my hands in my pockets. I'm not used to being asked that question. "I'm alright. Just wanna find Clara and get the son of a bitch who took her." Slapping a hand on my shoulder he reassures me. "Yeah. Grant, we will get her back to ya, alright? You know I take this seriously, and I won't stop until she's safe with you." I give him an easy nod rolling my lips through my teeth to hold in the emotion.

"You got somewhere you can stay until this is all taken care of?" He asks, pointing at the mess my house is in.

"My parents live close to Davenport by the border. I really can't go that far. I'll be good. I'll get a hotel or something." I shrug my shoulders, unsure.

"Alright, well go ahead and get outta here. My guys will get what they need and get out so insurance can take a look. Go get some rest. I'll get with you tomorrow." He gives me a slap on the back, and I step onto the porch into the early morning air. The sky is beginning to get lighter. I take a deep breath of the fresh air, and walk to my truck. Starting it up and hearing the rumble I glance over across the street and see a figure standing on the porch.