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“No.”
She toyed with her phone, pushed a few buttons and handed it to him. “I had a chance to get into Allen’s phone.”
“Wow. That was quick. Good job.”
“Thanks.” A smile flashed across her face. She eyed her phone again. “This is the text he received right before I went into the enclosure. He said he tripped and told me to stop while he tied his shoe, but I think he stopped and read this text instead.” She handed him the phone.
(UNKNOWN CALLER):IT’S DONE.
Jax read the words a couple of times. Had someone signaled to Allen that they’d rigged the guillotine door to let him know not to follow her? “Were there any other texts from the same number?”
“No. None prior to that. None after it. And it came from an unknown number.”
“Interesting. Most likely it’s a burner phone.”
“If Allen’s involved in this, he’s not the only one. He was communicating with someone.” She gathered her hair and swept it over one shoulder. “I’m beginning to feel paranoid. Like I said, I felt like I was being watched when I stopped in town earlier. How ridiculous is that?”
“Better to be paranoid than oblivious.” Jax pried his attention away from her silky, black hair streaked with silver moonlight to focus on the message on the phone. Her ringtone interrupted his attempt to concentrate, its rhythmic drumbeat signaling a call.
He handed it to Seyla, who answered, then covered her mouth with a hand. “What?! Did you see two cats? Are they okay? Thank you. O-Okay, I’ll be right there.” She hung up, turning to Jax with dazed, glassy eyes. “My apartment was burglarized.”
“What?” Before Jax could stop himself, his arms wrapped around her, drawing her near. He felt her own arms encircle his waist and lean into him. She smelled like coconut shampoo mixed with subtle, sweet perfume.
Was he holding her for her sake or his? But holding her close felt natural. Right. And it seemed to soothe her. “I’ll get Matt. We’ll go with you.” He released Seyla and opened the truck door.
Too late.
Matt stood on the front porch.
Staring right at them.
/////
Five minutes later, Seyla sat in the truck next to an unusually quiet Matt, who sat next to an even quieter Jax. They pulled into her apartment complex, alight with several sets of flashing redand blue police lights. The minute the truck stopped, she jumped from it to sprint up the walkway to her garden apartment.
A tall uniformed police officer stopped her from entering. With shaking fingers, she slid her driver’s license out of her purse. “This is my apartment. I’m Seyla Tierney.”
“Sorry, Ms. Tierney. Come on in. Like I said, we put your cats in the bathroom because of the glass and the open window. You should have them checked out, but we didn't observe any signs of injuries.”
The police officer entered the apartment behind her.
Seyla’s sandals clicked on the wood floor, the sound hollow, like her home now felt.
Expecting a mess, she blinked a few times. Everything appeared so…neat. Two empty spots where her laptop and iPad usually sat made the desk area even neater. Seyla pressed a fisted hand to her lips, then dropped it to her necklace.
Why hadn’t she opted for renter’s insurance?
Ledger and Peanut were alive, though. She had at least one thing she could be thankful for, despite what had happened. She’d ask Jessa to examine them tomorrow to verify they had no internal injuries.
Jax passed through the wide-open front door with Matt tailing him, escorted by another officer. “Are these men friends of yours, ma’am?” the officer asked.
“That’s my cousin and his best friend. They brought me home.”
The second officer disappeared, leaving them with the first one.
A flash of something behind Matt’s shoulder caught her eye. An over-sized, gleaming black truck crawled past with the window lowered. Ethan’s truck? Seyla leaned closer to Matt to get a better view of it, but it disappeared against the backdrop of the blinding lights to her right.
“Did you see something?” Matt rotated around on his crutches to look.
