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She stared at him, frowning.
“Leave it ajar. I don’t want to have to fiddle with the doorknob if I need to get to you quickly.”
“That’s…”
“Yeah, Zoe, I know,” he said quietly. “A huge invasion of your privacy. Uncomfortable to have your door open when a stranger is staying in the other room, also with the door open. I wish there was another way of handling it, but there just isn’t. I need to hear everything that happens in this apartment. Every creak of the floor. Feel every breeze that passes through my room. Now that I know the sound the elevator makes, I’ll be listening for that. It’ll be a lot easier if the bedroom door is open.
“I need to hear you, too,” he said, not meeting her eyes. He knew she’d hate allowing him the intimacy of listening to her sleeping. Hearing her snuffles. The sounds she made during dreams.
Shoving those thoughts out of his head, he said, “It’s highly unlikely that Davies would get into this building without using the elevator, although I assume there’s a staircase and you have access to it.” He waited, and she nodded.
“Off the kitchen,” she said in a low voice. “I’ll show you when we’re finished eating.”
Unable to stop himself, he reached for her hand. Squeezed it, then let her go. “I’m not trying to make you crazy, Zoe. This is a secure building, and I’m trying to cover all the bases.
“I’m not expecting him to break into your apartment anytime soon. But we have to prepare as if he might. As if Davies could come after you at any moment.”
Zoe stared at him, fear in her expression. Then she drew in a shuddering breath. “Yeah, Spence, I get it. You’re doing your job. Trying to keep me safe. So I’ll leave my bedroom door unlatched. Ajar. And you will, too.”
“I will,” he promised. He glanced at Zoe as she shoved the half-eaten pizza away. Of course she’d lost her appetite. “Let’s put the rest of the pizza in your refrigerator, then maybe you could show me where the door to the stairs is.”
She squared her shoulders. “Yeah, let’s do that.”
She grabbed both pizzas and carried them into the kitchen. Covered the boxes with plastic wrap, stacked them in her refrigerator, then put their plates and silverware into the dishwasher. “C’mon. I’ll show you the stairs.”
The door was in the far corner of her kitchen, covered by a poster from a Seattle art fair. “This is always locked?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded at the door. “If you open it, you’ll see three garbage containers on the landing. Trash, recycling and composting. The maintenance guys empty them twice a week.”
Spence opened the door, saw the three containers. Tested the lock. It was a decent lock, but he’d get a better one. God knows how many people had access to those keys.
He closed the door quietly. Checked to make sure the lock had latched. Zoe stared at him for a long moment, then took a deep, shuddering breath.
“Okay then. See you in the morning,” she said as she hurried away.
She disappeared in the direction of her room, and Spence wandered into the living room. She’d left a barely visible gap in her door.
Spence took a deep breath. He hated making Zoe feel so vulnerable. So… exposed. But he needed to hear the slightest sound she made. Once she was asleep, he’d nudge her door open a little more.
Throwing himself on the couch, he opened his briefcase and slid out his computer. Found an outlet to plug it in, then opened a Word document.
He recorded all he’d seen and noticed so far. Started a list of the ways and places Zoe was vulnerable. Ideas about how Davies might approach her. How to intercept him.
How to stop him from kidnapping Zoe.
