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“Nothing will take me away from you.” His hands massaged my body as they made their way into my hair. “You’re mine.”
“I like the sound of that,” I said just as my stomach growled. “I guess I’d also like the sound of breakfast. What would you like?” I sat up to get dressed, but he grabbed my arm and looked appalled.
“No, ma’am, you’re not going downstairs to makemebreakfast. You can tell me what you’d like to eat, and I’ll take care of it.” He was still naked when he got out of bed. The piercings glimmered in the spots of sunlight. He dressed before going to my dresser and picking a few things out.
“You can cook?” I asked, taking the outfit and slipping it on. It was a simple ensemble consisting of a sweater and leggings.
“I can do many things,” he explained, giving my nose a sweet tap. “But for you, I'll do everything.” He took my hand in his and opened the door. “I’ll make you food, and then we can shower and get going.” He started laughing and began to talk about this upcoming weekend. I lost my senses the next moment, when we got to the stairs, and I screamed.
Littering the wooden steps were dozens of Polaroids. Some were taken in dark settings; others looked like campus locations during the day. Broken glass was shattered on the steps along with white carnation petals that were stained red. Jai wrapped an arm around my waist and walked me back to the room. The message on the wall was still visible, only disappearing when he filled my view and closed the door.
I know your secrets, Bex. You can’t hide them from ME.
I hoped on everything in the universe that the red was paint and not someone’s blood. Jai’s fingers were moving on his phone screen before he brought it to his ear.
“Hey, it’s me. There’s a problem here at Bex’s again.” He waited a beat before continuing, “Yeah, I’ve been with her all night. It looks like someone broke in and trashed the place.” He leaned back against the wood frame as he listened to who I presumed was Detective Bishop. “There’s a message, too. We haven’t touched anything.” His jaw hardened as he listened. “Yes, sir. We’ll be here.”
“I need to call Mari and make sure she’s okay.” I stepped away and picked my phone up, taking it from the charger. My screen showed a few new text messages from her. Then this morning she sent another one.
Mari: Hey B, I’m alive. I’ll be back sometime around 8? lemme know if you want food x
I held up my phone. “Mari texted me that she’d be home at 8:00 a.m.”
“That’s fifteen minutes from now.” He raked a hand down his face.
“She’s going to lose her shit when she sees the house.”
Chapter 13
October 28, 2020
Detective Bishop
We arrived at the off-campus complex Bex had listed in her information. There weren’t many units, just four to this one building. By the descriptions I committed to memory, Jai’s motorcycle was present, as were Bexley’s and Mari’s cars. My hand was hovering above my gun as I scanned the area for men fitting the general descriptions we collected. The front door was open. I saw a flash of curls and a gray sweater.
“Hey, Mari, is that you? Are you okay?” I called out as I rounded the car and approached the apartment.
“It’s me,” Mari called as she came into view. She was crying and wiping her face with her sleeve. “Is she going to be okay, Detective Bishop? Truthfully?” I put my arm over her shoulders and led her out of the doorway as my officers cleared the scene for the investigative team.
“I don’t know anything right now. I promise you; I will do everything I can to stop this and make sure Bex isn’t hurt.” Mari was a strong young woman, but this was breaking her. “Where were you? You okay?”
“Yeah, I wasn’t here last night. I was with my sister.” She leaned against her car. “If I was here, I would’ve heard them. I could’ve stopped it.” Her brow set into a hard scowl as she looked back to the open apartment.
“Don’t go beating yourself up for not being here. You’d have been in just as much danger. She was with Jai last night, and that was probably the best decision she made. I think the offender is intimidated by him; it might have been what kept this just vandalism.” I opened my notebook and watched as the unit officers moved about with tags, markers, and bags.
“You have to keep him safe, too,” she demanded. Her look was pointed, and she wouldn’t let me slack off on that job. “He’s had enough people fail him. He’s not an asshole that deserves to be left behind in this mess.”
“I promise, he’s under my watch too.” I looked around to take in the scene. “Is there anything outside that’s out of the ordinary or misplaced to you?”
She huffed a laugh before responding. “You mean aside from the dozens of cops crawling over every inch?” Her sarcasm was welcomed at any time. I needed laughter and lightness. “Nothing was alarming when I pulled in. Bex had warned me, but no one was hanging out in the parking lot. I tried to keep a level head when I walked in.”
“What was the state of your door when you got home?”
“Uh, unlocked.”
“Is that odd for you two?” I clicked my pen and started writing.
“Yeah, she never leaves the door unlocked these days. It’s become a habit of hers to check often.” She kicked the gravel with her feet. “She had Jai come over because she got flowers and pictures. If he came over with that kind of alarm, then he’d have locked it again.”
