It was a rarity that Dax and his team ever messed up like this. They had been staking her place for weeks, learning her habits so they could find the most opportune time to help her live a little bit more 'minimally'. Everyone in this particular complex could stand to do that, but the Marcus family in particular could stand a little humbling. Even if she was a nurse, Dax decided that her charitable donations could be a little bit more substantial. He did not expect her to be home so soon.
They couldn't get in until after dark, so his window was already fairly limited, but hearing the door open sent him into panic mode. Unfortunately, he had no escape, since her apartment was on an upper floor he couldn't just go through a window. He'd needed five more minutes and he didn't have that. Instead, he could only stand dumbly in her room, hoping she went to take a shower so he could slip out unnoticed. The cat he had been so kindly ignoring this whole time ratted him out, though, and she spotted him around the corner. As soon as her voice raised he knew he was in trouble and it was time to de-escalate.
He held his hands up defensively to show he wasn't a threat. Or not much of one. He was bigger than her, but scaring her didn't do much good. Instead, he took a different approach--calming. Maybe he could be charming enough that she would overlook the fact that he'd broken into her apartment and a bunch of her jewelry and valuables were in the satchel at his side.
"Don't scream," he said gently. "I'm not here to hurt you. You know who I am, don't you?"