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George had lost his wife three years ago, was still in decent health, and was trying to make the most of his life. His goal was to play in one of the concerts we put on with some of our most talented kids. When he got to that level—and I had no doubt he would—it would be epic to see the pure joy in his performance.
He was like a sponge, but we still had a way to go. It was a shame he hadn’t taken lessons when he was younger. “By the way, your lessons package is going to expire soon. If you want to continue, you need to see Trina at the front desk. Tell her to tack on the coupon.”
He smiled. “Will do.” George was on a pension, and though my salary wasn’t anything to write home about, I enjoyed helping where I could. And I got the feeling he was a bit lonely because he showed up like clockwork and was even early some days, just sitting in the waiting room, listening to other students practice. He reminded me of my grandfather, who’d passed ten years ago.
My mom texted as I gathered my things to head out. Still coming over?
On my way. Wouldn’t miss it.
It was my sister’s thirty-fifth birthday, and Mom had prepared her famous chocolate cake, something Annabeth requested every year. I would never pass up seeing my family, let alone anything homemade, not when I subsisted on simple meals to get me through the week. Sometimes Ellis and I ate together—pasta or pizza takeout and divvied up leftovers, which helped break up the monotony.
After we sang to my sister and dug into the cake and ice cream, we caught up on Annabeth’s new promotion at her bookkeeper job, and she told me about a new guy she’d gone on two dates with. But it was still early stages, and like me, Annabeth wasn’t in any hurry to be married or have kids, no matter how much Mom harped on us about grandbabies.
It was after eleven when I finally headed home. I had leftovers on the seat beside me and knew Ellis wouldn’t be able to resist if he was still awake. Leftover birthday cake? I texted, but by the time I turned onto my street, I hadn’t heard back. So either he had plans or had retired to bed early.
As I drove closer to our apartment building, my hands tensed on the steering wheel because of the blinding red and blue lights from several police cars parked at the curb.
What the hell?
Once out of my car in the parking lot, I got a horrible feeling in my gut. I walked toward the building super and the tenants standing on the lawn.
“What’s happening?”
“There was a break-in on the first floor,” one of the neighbors responded.
“It was Ellis’s apartment,” Leonard, the building super, said over his shoulder.
My stomach dropped. “Holy shit, is he okay?”
He nodded. “He was held at gunpoint while they robbed his place. He’s just finishing up with the police.”
No wonder he hadn’t responded to my earlier text. “How did they get in?”
Leonard winced. “The window.”
“Obviously, you need to do something about security,” I said in a stronger tone than I’d intended, but damn, why hadn’t he thought of that before?
He frowned. “I plan to.”
Satisfied with his reply, I jogged toward the entrance to speak to the officer stationed there. “I live in this building, but Ellis Bloom is also my best friend. Can I see him and offer him some support?”
I went inside to find a disheveled Ellis sitting on his couch. I’d never seen him look so weary and frightened, his knee moving a mile a minute, which wasn’t unusual for him because he always had excess energy to burn, but in this case, it registered as something different.
I approached him cautiously. “Ellis?”
He looked up, relief flashing in his eyes. “I…I can’t believe… I had the window open. They cut the screen. I just didn’t think…”
“Shh, it’s okay.” I squatted down in front of him. “No way you could’ve predicted this.”
The police had more questions for him and took photos of the window area where the two men had entered. Apparently, one of the thieves decided to jump back out the window so the stolen items could be passed outside to him. Ellis’s television, desktop computer, and his most treasured acoustic bass. Fuck. The ledge below the window was where Ellis kept his plants, and most of them were laying overturned on the floor. He wasn’t even trying to save them, which was also how I knew he was pretty shaken up.
Ellis had been woken out of a deep sleep, and as he’d stumbled into the room, one of the guys had held a gun on him, made him kneel on the floor, and threatened to shoot him. Holy fuck. They shouldn’t have been able to get far on foot, but there was a thicket of trees behind the property that led to the main road. Likely the reason they’d chosen our building. They must’ve had access to a getaway car.
