His jaw tightened.
“Ms. Brooks.”
Elena nodded.
“Lieutenant.”
Cole noticed the greeting.
Harris knew her name before anyone introduced them.
The lieutenant turned toward Cole.
“What happened?”
Cole started immediately.
“Possible trespass. Subject became combative during—”
Elena looked at him.
Cole corrected himself.
“Ms. Brooks became argumentative while we attempted to determine her right to be on the property.”
Harris looked around.
“Who called?”
Grant answered.
“Anonymous neighbor.”
“Name?”
Grant hesitated.
“Caller didn’t provide one.”
Harris’s eyebrows lifted.
“CAD number?”
None of the three officers answered.
Harris looked at Cole.
“You called this in?”
Cole shifted his weight.
“We were nearby.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Silence.
Harris picked up his radio.
“Dispatch, send me the original call attached to Unit Thirty-Two at Hawthorne Crest.”
A pause.
Then:
“Lieutenant, no dispatched service call is attached to Unit Thirty-Two at that location.”
Elena looked at Cole.
Grant and Reeves looked at him too.
Harris lowered his radio.
“You said there was a call.”
Cole’s face reddened.
“A resident flagged us down.”
“Which resident?”
“I didn’t get a name.”
“Where?”
Cole pointed vaguely toward the street.
“Out there.”
Harris stared.
“You were flagged down by someone who reported a trespasser in a backyard, but you didn’t get the caller’s name, didn’t identify the homeowner, and somehow that person disappeared?”
Cole said nothing.
Grant stepped in.
“We had reasonable concern.”
Harris turned toward him.
“Based on?”
Grant looked toward Elena.
“She admitted she doesn’t live here.”
Elena nearly laughed.
Harris stared at Grant as though waiting for the rest.
None came.
“You asked the homeowner?”
“We were getting to that.”
“You entered private property before speaking to the homeowner?”
Silence.
Then the sliding patio door opened.
Rachel Bennett stepped outside.
Her phone was in one hand and her work headset still hung around her neck.
She saw Elena wrapped in a towel.
Saw the officers.
Saw the red mark on Elena’s wrist.
Rachel’s entire expression changed.
“Elena?”
“I’m okay.”
Rachel hurried toward her.
“What happened?”
Cole stepped forward.
“Ma’am, are you the homeowner?”
Rachel stopped.
“Yes.”
“Do you know this woman?”
Rachel stared at him.
Then Elena.
Then back at Cole.
“Do I know my maid of honor?”
Nobody spoke.
Rachel’s eyes sharpened.
“Yes.”
She pointed toward Elena.
“She has a key to my house.”
Cole glanced at the others.
Rachel was not finished.
“She has my garage code.”
Another step.
“She has stayed here at least twenty times.”
Elena quietly corrected:
“Twenty-eight.”
Rachel glanced at her.
“Not helping.”
For the first time, Elena almost smiled.
Rachel turned toward Harris.
“Why were these officers touching her?”
“That is what I’m determining.”
Rachel looked at Elena.
“He grabbed you?”