She moved to the bedroom and found more of the same. The emergency cash she’d hidden in an old jacket pocket was still where she’d left it. Her favorite earrings were on the nightstand beside the bed. Maybe the burglar had been scared off before he could pocket any of her valuables.
Or maybe she’d accidentally shut the bathroom door, and she was getting worked up over nothing.
Feeling ridiculous, she blew out a breath and turned to leave the room. She strode past the bed, toward the old wooden dresser she’d bought at the nearby thrift store, and—
Fiona froze in her tracks. Her focus narrowed on the jewelry box on top of the dresser, and the hairs along the back of her neck stood on end.
“Everything all right?”
The sound of Joe’s voice behind her nearly had her jumping out of her skin.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She turned to face him, and having him near made her feel safe. “It’s okay. I’m just a little skittish. I’ve never had my home broken into.”
Empathy softened his eyes. “Is anything missing?”
“Not that I noticed, but…” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “Someone messed with my jewelry box.”
Joe gave her a look. “Messed with it how?”
Fiona paused a moment to think of a way to explain it without sounding totally paranoid. “See how both of the drawers are fully closed?”
He nodded.
“I never shut the bottom one all the way. It broke years ago, and I glued it back together, but it’s been a pain ever since. So now I just let it stick out a little.”
Joe’s dark eyebrows drew down. “Are you sure that’s what you did tonight?”
“Positive.”
“Have you looked inside to see what’s missing?”
“Not yet. I noticed it right before you came in. Do you think I should touch it?” She eyed the box. “I mean, what if the burglar’s fingerprints are on it?”
Joe reached into his pocket and took out one of those multi-tool pocketknife things that men seemed to like so much. He extended the small knife and used it to slide both drawers open.
It didn’t take long for Fiona to inspect the box’s contents. She frowned. “I don’t get it. Nothing’s missing as far as I can tell. Why break in and not take anything?”
In a way, she found it oddly insulting that none of her stuff was worth stealing.
Joe craned his neck to peer into the box. “Is your jewelry real or costume?”
“A little bit of both.” Oddly enough, her favorite pieces, the ones she wore the most, were costume. “What do you think it means?”
“It’s hard to say. People break into homes for all sorts of reasons. Some need money; others do it for the thrill. Sometimes, they have an axe to grind with whoever lives inside. Is it possible that your ex was involved? He was in the vicinity when the break-in occurred.”
She paused to ponder the possibility, and then shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong; Dennis is a jerk. A controlling, mean-spirited jerk. But he’s also a cop who takes his job pretty seriously. I can’t see him doing something like this.”
Joe shrugged. “You never know when it comes to exes. Breakups do strange things to people.”
Fiona caught her bottom lip between her teeth again. “Should I call the police?”
“It’s up to you. Considering there aren’t any signs of forced entry and nothing’s missing, there’s only so much law enforcement can do. On the other hand, it wouldn’t hurt to document the incident, just in case something comes of it later.”
The only evidence of a break-in was an oddly closed jewelry box drawer and an animal locked in the bathroom. The apartment hadn’t been ransacked, and nothing had been stolen. The police would probably assume she was a crazy cat lady in need of attention.
Still, she couldn’t shake the inexorable sense of violation. She felt vulnerable in her own home. It churned in her gut like broken glass, and she had no idea when or if the sensation would abate. What if the burglar returned in the middle of the night while she was sound asleep? Or worse, when she was naked in the shower, alone and completely defenseless?
