An officer opened the door and climbed out, weapon drawn, gaze darting.
And then Demi spied Charles’s truck pulling up beside the officer.
Demi opened the front door and everyone froze as she stepped outside.
* * *
Charles saw his new nanny standing in the doorway and thought his heart would stop. When Owen had called to tell him Demi had dialed 9-1-1 because he had an intruder at his house, his only thought had been to get home and make sure everyone was safe. He couldn’t help the terrifying thought that he’d find Demi murdered in his house. Just like Olivia, his former nanny who’d been found dead on the rocks at the base of the lighthouse that was on his property. But Demi wasn’t dead. She was standing in front of him, safe and sound.
“Are you all right? The children?” He rushed to her, the limp he’d acquired while serving in Iraq not slowing him one bit. He took in every detail of her appearance. She looked scared and couldn’t hide the fine tremor he could see in her hands but, at first glance, she didn’t appear hurt.
Her frightened green eyes blinked wide behind her lenses. Her honey-blond hair lay in disarray as though she’d run her hands through it several times. His heartbeat didn’t slow.
She nodded. “I’m fine. The children are fine, too. They never woke up.”
Owen approached, followed by Charles’s other brother, Deputy Chief of Police Ryan Fitzgerald. Charles introduced them and Ryan asked, “Did you get a look at him?”
Demi shook her head. “I peeked through the blinds, but never saw anyone. He was mostly near the garage door. I did hear some popping sounds, though, and the motion lights never came on.”
Owen spoke to the officer next to him. “The garage is around the side of the house. Check it out, will you?”
“Sure.” The man’s badge read Mike Hughes.
Officer Hughes took off around the side as another patrol car pulled up. Charles groaned when he realized it was his baby sister, Keira, and her partner. Looks like the entire family had gotten the word. But Keira would be the worst. Even though she was the younger sibling, she’d want to mother him. Since Olivia’s death and the suspicion that had shadowed his every move, Keira’s mothering had turned to smothering.
She climbed from the vehicle, concern etched on her pretty features. “Charles? I was just getting ready to go off duty when I heard the address over the radio. What’s going on?”
“We’re just about to get to that,” Owen said.
“Tell me what I can do to help,” Keira offered. “Do I need to stay with the kids?”
“No,” Charles assured her. “Demi said they never woke up. They’re still sleeping.”
Keira ignored him and headed for the front door obviously needing to make sure of that for herself.
Officer Hughes appeared around the corner, a flashlight held at his side. To Demi, he said, “The popping sounds you heard were the lights being broken.” To Owen, he jerked his head toward the garage. “I think you need to come see this. And you might want to bring a camera—and another flashlight.”
Charles looked at Demi. She said, “I’ll stay here out of the way.”
He nodded and followed his two brothers and the officer around to the side where his garage was.
As he got a good look at it, he gasped.
In bold red letters, someone had spray painted across the landscape of his garage door.
MURDERER!
TWO
Demi took Officer Hughes up on his offer to listen for the kids. She and Keira followed everyone around to the side of the house to see what all the excitement was about.
She saw the garage door and flinched as though she’d been slapped. Her heart shuddered in pain for the man staring in disbelief at the vandalism. Who would do something like that? Demi hadn’t known Charles very long, just long enough to be interviewed and accept the job. She’d heard the rumors. Been privy to the whispers as she walked through town. People wondered how she could work for a suspected murderer. But after meeting Charles, Demi knew in her gut that he hadn’t murdered anyone. If she thought he was capable of that, she wouldn’t be working for him.
Owen stared at the vile accusation and looked ready to snap someone in two. The set of Keira’s jaw said she was right there with Owen.
“What’s going on here?”
Demi turned to see Aiden Fitzgerald, chief of police and head of the Fitzgerald family, stride toward his children. She recognized him from the family photo Charles had sitting on his mantel.
“Dad?” Charles frowned. “You didn’t have to come out here.”
“When I hear someone’s trying to break in my son’s house, I do.” He looked at the garage door and Demi thought she saw him pale when Keira turned her light in his direction. “Someone decided to play dirty tonight, I see.”
It wasn’t hard to pick up on the fine thread of steel lacing his words.
Charles shook his head. “They egged my house last month and just a couple weeks ago I found all of my tires slashed.” He sighed and shrugged. “Don’t stress about it, Dad. Until you catch whoever killed Olivia, this stuff is going to happen.”
Olivia Henry. Demi had heard the story straight from Charles’s mouth. A young woman had come over from Ireland several months ago and Charles had hired her as his nanny. When she’d been found dead on the cliffs at the base of the lighthouse, the town had been rocked.
And then the accusations and rumors had started about Charles’s involvement with Olivia.
He’d told Demi in no uncertain terms that there had been nothing between him and Olivia except an employer-employee relationship.
Demi believed him.
“Maybe so,” Owen stated, “but that doesn’t mean we’re just going to sit back and take it.”
Keira grunted. “I’m going to check on the kids again.”
She disappeared around the corner of the house and Charles simply watched her go.
Demi thought Charles looked weary, battle worn. Not beaten, or defeated, just tired. She ached for him. Wished she could somehow take his pain away. The lump in her throat surprised her. But she couldn’t help it. She cared.
She hadn’t counted on the spark of attraction that had arched between them when he’d interviewed her.
When Fiona, her landlady and Charles’s other sister, had suggested she apply for the nanny position, she’d mentioned he was having trouble finding help because he was a suspect in the murder of his previous nanny. Demi had at first refused. But Fiona had been adamant about her brother’s innocence and Demi had finally agreed.
And she’d been captivated by the hurting father accused of a murder he didn’t commit. After speaking with him, she had no doubts about his innocence or she wouldn’t be there.
Charles’s gaze landed on hers. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she reassured him.
Stepping to her side, he placed a hand under her elbow. “Come on. They’ll take care of all this. Let me take you home.” Right now, she depended upon Charles for most of her transportation to and from his home. She’d love to drive, but had no way of getting a driver’s license. Not without some way of identifying herself.
“After she gives a statement,” Owen said.
Demi said, “I’ve told you everything.”
“Go