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“42 Cherrywood, apartment 453,” I say, my eyes finally drifting from the criminal to Sabrina, who’s watching me with a mix of horror and awe. “I’ll need someone to take him to the station. I’ll stay and take the victim’s statement. She’s pretty shaken.”
“Roger that,” comes the tinny response. “I’ll be there in five.”
While we wait for the captain to arrive, Lester thrashes beneath me, unable to accept defeat. Sabrina snaps out of her fear and scurries out of the room, giving the two of us a wide berth. I can’t say I blame her for not wanting to be in the same space as her attacker.
True to his word, the captain arrives within five minutes, roughly pulling Lester to his feet when he stops in front of us. I give the captain all the information I have, promising to get Sabrina’s statement to him as soon as possible. Then, when the two leave, I go to the living room where I find Sabrina staring blankly at the wall.
“I hate to be formal,” I say, sitting down next to her and giving her knee a reassuring touch, “but I need to take your statement. It’ll help us get Lester transferred to a higher security facility faster.”
She nods, not looking away from the wall. Then, when I get my notebook out, she starts talking. Just like I thought, Lester had come in through the balcony. When she heard the glass break, she tried to lock herself in her room, but he charged in before she could do anything. There was a bit of a scuffle, but Sabrina came out mostly unscathed, just a small cut on her wrist where the knife grazed her when she grabbed him to stop him from doing something even more severe.
“Then you showed up,” she says, finally locking eyes with me. “How’d you know?”
“I have good instincts,” I lie as I pocket the notepad. “Something told me I needed to come home.”
She hums, chewing on the inside of her cheek. Then, without warning, she shakes her head saying, “No.”
“What do you mean, ‘no?’” I ask, careful to keep my tone even for fear of betraying the truth.
“It’s like you always know when something happens here,” she murmurs, mostly to herself. To me, she repeats, “How did you know?”
At this point, lying isn’t going to get me anywhere. I have to be honest, to come clean about my dirty little secret.
“Your cameras,” I say.
“My… cameras?” she asks, turning to look directly at the one set up in the living room. “You don’t have the password.”
“I don’t,” I agree. “I had someone at the station hack into them for me so I could keep an eye on what was going on here while I was at work.”
Sabrina goes rigid beside me, and I’m completely unable to read her expression. Usually, she’s an open book, but now it’s like she’s a novel written in an entirely different language. It puts me on edge, but I don’t say anything else.
“How long?” she asks a few minutes later, breaking the uneasy silence. “How long were you watching me?”
She only knows about the cameras, but my obsession with her predates those by months. I’ve been drinking in every move she’s made since I saw her on TV. I found her address, her blog, and the few photos of herself she’s posted on social media. I learned her schedule, when she usually buys groceries, the days when she would cook too much food for herself and leave it out for the neighbor across the hall.
“I’ve had access to the cameras since we met,” I admit, hating that she shifts away from me. I don’t want there to be any lies between us, so I continue. “But I’ve been trying to protect you since I saw you give that interview a few months ago.”
Sabrina sucks in a harsh breath, and for a moment, I convince myself everything’s going to be fine. I did protect her, and I never pushed. Then, staring blankly at the wall, she opens her mouth and whispers, “Leave.”
I’m forced to accept my fate – the consequences of my own actions.
Guilt settles over me like a storm cloud as I drive back to the precinct. I’m able to ignore it once I get inside, focusing on getting her statement typed and delivered to my superiors. I’m tempted to open the cameras, but I know I can’t. I’ve invaded Sabrina’s privacy far too much. Besides, Lester is back in police custody. The least I can do now is accept that she doesn’t want anything to do with me.
I throw myself into work for the rest of the day, staying a few hours after the end of my shift in an effort to avoid Sabrina. When I get back to the building, her car is gone and all of the lights in her apartment are off. Without access to any cameras, I’m left wondering where she is and if she’s safe.
Chapter 6
Sabrina
Spending the night without Michael is hell.
I roll over in the spare bed at Bianca’s house. My best friend insisted I stay with her after I called and told her everything. Michael, Lester, and the invasion of my privacy. My paranoia is worse now, even though I know the man who kidnapped me and broke into my home is behind bars. He broke into my home. I was supposed to be safe there.
So much for that.
I’m not sure how long I spend tossing and turning. I’m too wired to sleep and there is so much going on in my head. Eventually, I get up and go to Bianca’s kitchen in search of a glass of water.
“You can’t sleep either, huh?” a voice comes from the living room of her open plan apartment, scaring me half to death as I jump out of my skin. “Oh, shit, sweetie I’m so sorry, I didn’t think…”
