Precious Embrace (Embrace Series) by Dana Mason Page A

wait for her smile to fade before she answered. “Yes.”
    Mark laughed. “Sarah said she thought…why would I ever doubt my wife?” He chuckled again and said, “Okay, well, I guess he’s capable of watching out for you—try not to give him too much trouble.”
    “I guess you approve,” she said, not able to hold back her smile this time. She was relieved he didn’t sound hurt.
    “He’s a good guy, Ali. I wholeheartedly approve. How’s Micah, I bet that alarm scared the crap out of him.”
    “He’s not here. Mother took him for the night.” As she said this, she heard another familiar voice. She turned to see Brian Hammel talking in a circle with Shane and the uniformed officers. “Oh my God…how did Brian find out, did you call him too?”
    “Is Brian there—let me talk to him.”
    She held the phone out to Brian. “Here, it’s for you.”
    “Are you okay?” He asked hugging her before taking the phone.
    “Yes, I’m fine, you didn’t have come.”
    He looked her over, turning to see both sides of her face. A crease formed between his brows. “Of course I did—come on, Ali. Did you think I wouldn’t check on you after hearing your address over the scanner?”
    “Thanks, but I’m fine.”
    After handing Brian the phone, she looked around for Johnny. He was watching the conversation between Shane and Officer Reed. They were all examining the lock from the front door.
    “What’s going on?” she asked.
    “Ali, when was the last time you changed the locks?” Shane asked.
    “Mark changed them after Christmas when Carl moved out.”
    “Is that the same time you changed your passwords and security codes?” he asked.
    The expression on his face made her pulse kick up a notch. “Yes, we changed the locks and the codes the same day. Why?”
    “Beside you and Carl, who had a key to your house before the locks were changed?” Shane asked.
    “My mother and Mark…that’s all. Why?”
    “Are you sure?” Johnny asked.
    “Positive— why ?”
    “When was the last time you talked to your ex-husband?” Officer Reed asked as Brian walked up behind her.
    “What’s the story?” Brian asked.
    “Yeah—what is the story?” Ali said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’d like to know too.” 
    Officer Reed held up the deadbolt. “Someone tried to open the door with a key before breaking the lock.”
    “What the hell—” Brian snatched the lock and examined it.
    “According to Seth, someone entered a code into the system to disarm, but it was the wrong code.” Shane frowned. “An old code, Bri.”
    What?…Who would have an old code and try to use it? Okay, now she was officially freaked out.
    “An old code?” Brian’s eyes shifted to the ajar front door then back to Shane.
    “A few minutes later someone disarmed the system with the correct code,” Shane said.
    “That was me,” Johnny said.
    Brian looked at Johnny’s shirtless body, his eyes dropping to Johnny’s bare feet. He glanced at Ali, then back to Johnny. “You were here?”
    “Yeah…we were sound asleep when the alarm sounded.”
    Ali’s face lit on fire when all their eyes focused on her and Johnny. So much for privacy.
    Brian directed his next question to Ali. “Who came down the stairs first?”
    “Ali locked herself in the bedroom and I came down alone with her gun. I disarmed the system with the code she gave me. After shutting it down, I searched the downstairs. Nobody was in the house, but the front door was ajar.”
    Brian pursed his lips and looked at the broken lock again before meeting Ali’s eyes. “When was the last time you talked to Carl?”
    “Today. We dropped his stuff off at his parent’s house.”
    “The two of you together?”
    “Yes,” Ali said, her voice dropping to a whisper.
    “And before that…when was the last time?”
    “Two weeks before Christmas, the same day I told him to leave.” It was hard not feeling embarrassed, airing her dirty laundry in front of everyone—not