“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Have you heard of this blue shield group before?”
A pause.
“No.”
“Does it resemble any private security company?”
“No.”
Then Ruiz asked, “Mr. Mercer, did anyone mention entering your house?”
“No.”
“Any mention of checking documents?”
“No.”
“Then keep your doors locked and cameras running.”
Evan thanked him.
After hanging up, he looked at Rachel.
“What?”
She pointed toward the street.
A black SUV was parked across from their house.
No markings.
No one inside.
Evan watched it for several minutes.
Then it drove away.
The investigation had begun.
But so had something else.
Fear.
Not the loud kind.
The quiet kind that changed the way you looked through a window.
The Brick
It happened on Sunday night.
At 10:41 p.m., Evan and Rachel were watching television when they heard a violent crash.
Glass exploded across the living room floor.
Rachel screamed.
Maya came running downstairs.
Evan dropped behind the sofa.
For several seconds nobody moved.
Then Maya whispered, “What was that?”
Evan looked toward the window.
A brick lay among the broken glass.
Wrapped around it was a sheet of paper.
Rachel grabbed Maya's arm.
“Don't touch it.”
Evan called 911.
The police arrived within minutes.
Officer Ruiz was among them.
He crouched beside the brick.
“Anyone hurt?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He looked at Evan.
“Don't touch anything.”
The room filled with flashing blue light.
Officers photographed the window.
The brick.
The paper.
The outside yard.
They searched the street.
Nothing.
No suspect.
No vehicle.
No witness.
But Maya's security camera had captured something.
Not the throw itself.
A person crossing the sidewalk twenty seconds before the impact.
Hood up.
Dark jacket.
Moving quickly.
Ruiz watched the footage twice.
“Can you send this to me?”
“Yes.”
The paper attached to the brick contained only five words.
LAST WARNING, MR. MERCER.
Rachel stared at it.
“This is insane.”
Ruiz's expression hardened.
“This is no longer an HOA dispute.”
He stood.
“I'm upgrading the report.”
“To what?”
“Threatening conduct and property damage.”
Evan looked at the broken window.
“Do you think it's connected?”
Ruiz didn't answer immediately.
“Someone has been sending fake enforcement notices to residents. Someone targeted your home. Now someone threw a brick through your window.”
He looked at Evan.
“I'd say that's worth considering.”
The police collected the paper and brick.
Before leaving, Ruiz asked Evan whether he had any enemies.
Evan almost laughed.
“No.”
“Business disputes?”
“Nothing serious.”
“Neighbors?”
Evan hesitated.
Ruiz noticed.
“Karen Whitaker?”
“I didn't say that.”
“You didn't have to.”
Evan told him about the calls.
Ruiz wrote everything down.