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“Go on up, ma’am,” the officer said. “The officer in charge will meet you in the hallway, outside of your apartment.”
“Thank you,” she said. She reached back and took Taz’s hand. She needed all the support that she could get. “Why would someone break into my apartment?” she asked, stepping into the elevator.
“I’m not sure, but we’ll figure this out,” Taz assured.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sure that when you asked to spend the night at my place, you didn’t imagine this happening. If you’d like to reschedule, I’d understand.”
“Not a chance, honey,” Taz said. “Let’s talk to the police and then, we can figure out everything else.” All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for days, but she wasn’t sure that she’d even be allowed to stay in her apartment tonight.
The elevator doors opened, and she stepped out into a scene of sheer chaos. “What the hell?” Taz growled. “How many cops did they send to investigate your break-in?” Kai counted at least eight, and she had to admit, it was a bit excessive.
“Excuse me,” the officer said, stopping her before she could walk into her apartment. “Are you Kai Washington?”
“I am,” she said. “This is my apartment.” She peeked in through the front door and gasped. The whole place was in shambles. “Oh my God,” she breathed.
“Yeah, whoever did this really tore your place apart. They also left behind a little note,” he said, pushing the door further open. Someone had written the words, “Lying Bitch” in red paint on her wall.
“Gabe,” she said. “This has to be Gabe.”
“Who’s is Gabe, ma’am?” the officer asked.
“A guy from one of my college classes. His name is Gabe Miller. We had a date tonight that didn’t go so well, and I’m betting that he did this,” she said.
“Were you able to get any prints?” Taz asked.
“And you are?” the officer asked.
“A friend from work,” Taz quickly said. Hearing him refer to her as just a friend from work stung, but she had just told the officer that she was on a date with Gabe tonight. If he admitted to being more than a friend, the officer might have more questions. Taz squeezed her hand in his own as if he could read her thoughts about what he had just said.
“How good of a friend are you?” the officer asked, looking to where their hands were joined. “Wait, let me guess—you’re the reason why the date between Miss Washington and Gabe Miller went south. I’m guessing he found out that the two of you were together and then he headed over here to do this. Am I warm?” he asked.
Kai wanted to tell him that he was dead on, but she also felt like he’d call her out for being a lying bitch, just as Gabe had. He certainly looked like he wanted to say something to that effect. Kai only nodded her head and the officer sighed.
“We didn’t get any prints. He must have been wearing gloves because the only prints we found were yours. We ran them and were able to match them to you because of your priors.”
“Priors?” Taz asked. She had spent a night in jail because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Actually, she had just turned nineteen and had gone out with a guy who wasn’t the best influence. He convinced her to go to a party with him and a few other friends, and when the party was busted by the cops, she was caught with one other underage girl. They were both drinking and because there were no other “adults” adults around, she was charged with corruption of a minor, since Kai was over the age of eighteen and the girl, she was caught with was just seventeen. They also charged her with providing alcohol to a minor, even though she herself wasn’t old enough to buy it. It didn’t matter because she was over eighteen and they were looking for someone to charge. That was pretty much rock bottom for her. She had to spend a night in jail until she could post bail for herself the next morning. And then, she had to appear in court and didn’t have the money for an attorney, so she had a court-appointed one who really tried her best. She got Kai’s charges reduced but she still had to pay a hefty fee and serve twenty hours of community service. It was humiliating, and she certainly learned her lesson. That’s when she decided to get herself together and as soon as she was finished with her community service and paying off her fine, she started working to save money for college. It was the kick in the ass she needed.
“I got into a bit of trouble when I was nineteen, so they’d have my fingerprints on file. I was arrested for underage drinking and corruption of a minor. They also got me for providing alcohol to a minor, even though I wasn’t old enough to purchase it. My lawyer got the corruption of a minor dropped, so all I had to do was pay a fine and serve community service.”
“Wow,” he said. “You’re kind of a badass.”
“Nope,” she breathed, “just a stupid one. I got myself together after that.” She turned back to the officer who was pretending not to listen to their conversation, but she could tell that he was. “If you don’t find any other fingerprints, what happens next?” she asked.
“Well, we’ll take your statement. You can look through once we’re finished sweeping the place, to see if anything is missing, and then we’ll file a report. But there’s not much else we can do without evidence.”
“Can’t you at least question the guy?” Taz asked.
“Not really,” the officer said. “I mean, if he’s smart enough not to leave fingerprints, then he’s probably smart enough to have some kind of alibi.” Kai knew that he was right. Gabe was smart and if he did this, he’d find a way to cover his ass.
“All clear, sir,” another officer said on his way out of Kai’s apartment.
“Thanks, guys. If you wouldn’t mind having a look around to see if you can spot anything missing, that would be great,” the officer said. “I’d also replace your locks and maybe think about getting some kind of security system.”
“Can I stay here tonight?” she asked.
“No,” Taz said. “You’ll stay at my place until we can figure out who did this.”
The officer nodded, “I’ll get your cell number on my way out so that I can reach you if we get any leads. But your friend is right, you shouldn’t stay here for a few nights until you can get those safety measures in place.”
