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Falling to my knees, I gasp for air then roll into a ball as his booted foot connects with my side. Watching them run out of my apartment. I don’t know how long I lay there but I eventually pull up enough energy to get to my feet and stumble toward the door.
“Freeze.”
My head lifts and I swallow as tears stream out of my eyes, seeing two uniformed police officers standing at the top landing in front of my apartment. “They’re gone,” I croak through the soreness of my throat, leaning into the door.
“You know which way they went?” one of the officers questions while taking a step toward me.
“No,” I say then shake my head when the words aren’t loud enough to be heard.
“I’ll stay with her. You go and check around and let me know if you find anything,” the cop before me says, putting his gun away as the other takes off back down the stairs. “Come on, honey,” he instructs gently as he takes my arm. He leads me over to my couch, where he helps me sit before getting down in front of me and pushing my hair away from my face. “You got some ice?”
“Peas,” I murmur, watching him get up and go to the kitchen, coming back a few seconds later with a bag of frozen peas in his hand. Taking it from him, I press it to my throat then to my face, blinking rapidly, trying to control the tears I feel filling my eyes.
“Would you like to call someone?”
How pathetic is it that my answer was, “Not really”? But that was the truth, wasn’t it? I have no one, no one I can depend on, no one I can count on when I need anything. My parents don’t even have a telephone I can call them on if there’s an emergency. Like now, I think bitterly. Then, my sister, seeing how she’s the reason I was in this mess. I knew that even if I were able to get ahold of her she wouldn’t be able to help me. Hell, she would probably run away when she found out the guys she stole from were looking for her. Wyatt is out of the question, since I broke up with him yesterday after realizing it was pointless to be in a relationship with someone who lives hundreds of miles away. My mind flashes to Sven, but I don’t want him to worry…or at least that’s what I’m telling myself right now. “No, I don’t want to call anyone.”
“I’m gonna call an ambulance and have them come look you over.”
“That’s not necessary,” I whisper through the soreness of my throat.
“Honey, I’d really like to make sure you don’t have a concussion.”
“I don’t think I do,” I tell him, dropping my eyes to his badge. “Officer Jenkins.”
“Not sure you would know that.” He smiles.
Sighing, I give up and mutter, “Fine,” and he smiles bigger then pats my knee. He puts his hand to his chest and leans down, telling dispatch to send an ambulance.
“Do you know who broke in?” he asks as soon as he gets the conformation that the ambulance is in route.
“No, they were looking for my sister.”
“Did they say what they wanted with her?” he asks, moving to sit next to me on the couch.
Shaking my head, I start to lie then squeeze my eyes closed and open them back up. “They said she stole money and they were going to pay her back.”
“I see.” He nods, and I fight the urge to defend her, even though I know she has gone too far this time.
“None of the neighbors heard anything, and I didn’t see anyone on the street,” the other officer says, walking through the open front door, followed by two paramedics who come directly to me. It doesn’t surprise me that no one heard anything. My two closest neighbors are older; one uses a hearing aid most of the time, and the other usually has the television on so high that he wouldn’t hear it if the world was coming to an end outside his door.
“As soon as they check her over, we’ll go over the details of what happened,” I hear Officer Jenkins say to his partner as the paramedics begin to examine me. When they’re done, they tell me to take some Advil for the pain, but assure me I will be fine. Officer Jenkins takes the seat next to me on the couch once more as the other officer, Lent, leads the paramedics to the door and closes it behind them, coming back a second later, grabbing one of the chairs from my dining room table, and sitting on it across from me.
“I already explained to Officer Lent that the men who broke in were looking for your sister,” Officer Jenkins says as he pulls out a pen from the pocket of his shirt. “Can you tell me anything else about them?”
Pressing my lips together, I try to remember any details about the two men, but my mind comes up empty. “It all happened so fast. They were both white, and dressed similar in black t-shirts, jeans, and boots, but I didn’t get a good look at either of them.”
“Do you know where your sister is?” Officer Lent asks, sitting forward and studying me.
“No, I filed a missing person report on her. I haven’t heard from her in two days,” I tell him, and his eyes scan my face and I know he sees I’m holding something back.
“What are you not telling us?” he asks gently, and that’s when the dam breaks and tears begin to fall silently from my eyes, down my cheeks, and onto my shirt.
“She has a drug problem. She was doing really well for a few weeks, and I thought this time she was going to stick with it and go into rehab, but she lost her way again, and now this happened.” Covering my face with my hands, I try to get myself back under control. Crying like a baby won’t solve anything right now, even though that is exactly what I want to do. Sitting up straight, I look between the two policemen and ask, “What do I need to do now?”
“There isn’t much we can
do at this time. We don’t exactly know who we’re looking for, and I doubt your sister is going to show up and tell us who she stole from,” Officer Lent says softly like he regrets his words.
“I’d really like you to stay somewhere else tonight,” Officer Jenkins says quietly after a moment, and my eyes go to him.
“I’ll go to a hotel. I wouldn’t be able to sleep here if I wanted to, not while knowing there is a possibility those guys might come back.”
“I don’t think they’ll come back tonight, but I’d rather you be safe somewhere else, at least for a few days. You also need to have your locks changed and a deadbolt put in before you do stay here. The guys who broke in were able to pick your lock easily, and to be honest, you’re a woman living alone. You should have some form of protection.”
“I’ll call a locksmith tomorrow and have them put in new locks,” I agree, instantly ignoring his ‘you’re a woman’ comment, ‘cause all that does is annoy me, even if he is right. But then again, there was a gun involved, and if not for that, I probably could have kicked butt…or at least that’s what I’m going to tell myself.
“Go get your stuff, honey, and we’ll follow you to the hotel,” he replies, looking as if he wants to say something else but thinking better of it. If this had been any other time, I would have taken an extra moment to appreciate how handsome he is. But now is not that time, so I get off the couch, walk back to my bedroom, pull out my large duffle bag from my closet, and stuff it full with enough clothes to last me a few days. Once I’m done, I drag it into the hall behind me.
“This is my card. If you think of anything or need anything, just give me a call,” Officer Jenkins says as he picks up my bag then turns his attention to Officer Lent. “I’m gonna take this down and phone into the station to let them know we’re following her to the hotel and getting her checked in.”
