Someone had gone through her things.
Goose bumps crawled over her skin and she dropped the bag and stepped back, staring at it as if it might suddenly grow jaws and teeth and bite her. She clutched the towel closer to her body. Had Ryker moved her stuff around when he’d brought her bags in? She didn’t understand why he would do that, but she needed to know.
Leaving the bag where it was, she hurried to the bedroom door, opened it and leaned out into the hall.
“Ryker?” she called, unsure if he was out of the shower himself. Then a little louder, “Ryker!”
His head appeared at the bottom of the stairs, his dark hair damp from the shower, his skin pinker than usual and shiny clean. “Hey, what’s up?” He caught sight of her only wearing the towel and his eyebrows lifted. “Did you decide you didn’t want to use that lock after all?”
She glared at him. “Stop thinking about sex and get up here. I need to ask you something.”
The smile fell from his mouth as he realized something was wrong and he took the stairs two at a time to come to stand in the hall in front of her. “What’s happened?”
Still holding the towel in one hand, she took his arm with the other and pulled him toward the bedroom. “I need to show you.”
In the bedroom, she stood over her bag. “Do you see how everything is all messed up, all the different items of clothing jumbled together, and the shoes pointing toward the top of the bag?”
He glanced at her as if she was crazy. “Uh … yeah, I guess.”
“Well, I never pack like that. My stuff is always folded and in the right order.”
His eyebrows pulled together as he studied the bag. “Couldn’t it have gotten messed up while I was carrying it and throwing it into the truck?”
She shook her head. “Not like that. Stuff can’t switch places, and I pack tightly enough so things don’t move around.” She focused her gaze on his. “Please, Ryker. I know what I’m talking about here. Someone has been through my things, I can feel it.” She hesitated, and then said, “Was it you?”
He shook his head. “No, of course not. I wouldn’t go through your stuff.”
“Someone has, and, if it wasn’t you, there’s only two people it could have been.”
He stared at her. “I’m going to guess Mikey is one. But who is the other?”
“Garrett.”
“You still think you saw him?”
“I don’t know. But I know someone has touched my things, and if it wasn’t you, and Mikey says it wasn’t him, then that only leaves one other option.”
“Okay, let’s go ask Mikey.”
“Just give me a minute. I need to put some clothes on.”
“Oh, sure.” He stood where he was, his arms folded across his chest.
She glared at him again. “In privacy!”
He repressed a smile, and turned to wait in the hall.
Jenna didn’t like being alone. It felt as if whoever had touched her things was still here, watching her. Quickly, she grabbed a set of underwear, a clean pair of jeans, and a baggy, v-neck t-shirt, and pulled them on. She tried not to think about whose hands might have fingered the material not so long ago.
Dressed, she went out into the hallway where Ryker waited. He took her by the hand, and together they headed downstairs and back into the living room where Mikey continued to play his games.
Ryker crouched in front of his still-sitting brother to bring them to an equal level. “Mikey, I have to ask you something very serious. Did you touch Jenna’s stuff while we were out?”
Mikey sat back in his chair as if Ryker had just punched him. His eyes widened, his face coloring puce with outrage. “No, of course I didn’t!”
Ryker tried again. “Please, Mikey. It’s okay if you did. It’s really important ’cause if someone has messed with Jenna’s stuff and it wasn’t you, then we really need to figure out who did it.”
“I didn’t touch the chick’s gear. I swear it!”
“Hey, if you were just being nosy, or looking for cash or something—”
“What the fuck, Ryker? You’re accusing me of stealing now?” His gaze turned to Jenna. “Or is it you putting these ideas in his head? Am I getting in the way of your little love nest and you figured you’d rather I was gone?” Mikey shoved Ryker out of the way and jumped to his feet. “Well, fine. I’m out of here.”
“Mikey, wait. If you say you didn’t touch her bags, we believe you.”
Mikey’s mouth thinned to a line and he folded his arms across his chest. “I said I didn’t.”
“Okay. Is there any way someone could have come into the house without you noticing?”