Chapter 33
Sasha
Sasha”s head was spinning. While she had known some of that would happen, she had wagered they would need her passwords, she knew they would want to search her apartment, but she hadn’t thought they would take her computer and her phone. Her phone. She was sick to her stomach. Not that she had anything particularly damning on it, it was the principle of the whole thing.
She numbly followed Conner to his car, and they got in, making their way back to his house in silence. Her stomach was turning, and the bile was rising in her throat.
“Pull over.”
“What?” Conner asked, glancing over at her quickly.
“Pull over!” she said quickly.
He pulled off to the side and she opened the door and got sick. Conner rubbed her back and she tried to take any type of solace in his comfort, but she just couldn”t. This all felt so violating. Someone pouring through her online life and through her real life in her apartment made her skin crawl.
“Are you okay?” he asked for probably the twentieth time today and all she could do was nod, knowing full well she was lying. She was not okay. She washed her mouth out with her water and they made it the rest of the way to Conner”s house with his hand firmly on her knee.
“I’ll run in and grab the letter,” he said as he pulled in and left the engine running.
“I’m going to go brush my teeth,” she said as she got out of the car. Conner turned off the car and followed her in. She made her way to the guest bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She was still relatively put together on the outside which just made the inner turmoil she felt even stronger.
Making her way down to the kitchen, Conner was waiting for her with a look on his face that cut her to the quick. She didn”t know how or when it had happened, but the way he looked at her told her that he understood how hard all of this was for her. There was a reason she had run last time. Some people would assume since she put herself out there as an influencer that her life was an open book, but really having that public persona made her protect her privacy even more, and this was awful.
She gave him a small smile and he pulled her into a hug. She held onto him. He tightened the hug, and she took a shuddering breath.
“I’ll be right by your side,” he whispered in her ear as he stroked her hair.
Managing to pull herself away from the safety of his embrace, “Let”s do this.”
They both made their way back to his car and over to her apartment. When they arrived, there were already three cop cars there waiting for her to let them in. Her hands starting to get a little shaky. Conner got out of the car and quickly went around, helping her out. “I’m right here,” he whispered in her ear as they made their way over to three cops who were gathering outside of the door.
“You moved here with a stalker and are living in a building with no security?” was the first thing one of the police officers said to her.
“The lock wasn’t broken when I moved in,” she said softly as she made her way into the building. They climbed the stairs to her apartment and Detective Owen was outside of her door waiting for her.
“Is that the note?” he asked Conner, gesturing to the note in his hand. Conner nodded. ”Can we get that bagged for evidence?” Another officer came and got the note from Conner and slipped it into a Ziplock bag.
“Lead the way,” he said to her. Conner started to move in behind her. ”Just her and the crime scene investigators,” he reminded Conner. The look Conner gave him was a look she had seen on the ice. If she wanted to push this, she knew he would be by her side.
She stopped and put her hand on Conner”s chest. “It”s fine. I”ll be right out.” He closed his hand over hers, holding it there. The thump of his heart beneath her hand centered her.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
She nodded and turned to open the door.
“Okay, I’ll be right outside.” He squeezed her hand one last time. He finally let go of her hand a tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
After a deep breath, she turned. “Okay let’s do this,” she said as she let Detective Owen into her own apartment.
First it was just Detective Owen and another officer who followed her in. “Take a good look and let me know if anything is missing or out of place.”
As she walked into her apartment, it was a surreal feeling. She looked around the kitchen and the living room. Next, she went into the bedroom and her closet, it was the same as before. She didn”t notice anything out of place or missing, but there was still that feeling she had when she came to get her things.
“Notice anything?” the detective asked.
“No, but I have the feeling that I had last time I was here, like nothing has been touched but yet everything has been touched. I”m sure that doesn”t make sense.”
“No, that’s a very common feeling in these situations. Your feelings are totally normal.”
That wasn”t what she was expecting to hear, but it was reassuring. She made her way into the bathroom and looked at the shower curtain. The plastic liner had been ripped off the last three hooks.
“That wasn”t like that last time I was here.”
“You”re sure?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“And who else has been in your apartment since you moved in. We want to be able to rule out fingerprints,” he said, taking notes.
“Just Conner McPhee and Cash Hawthorn.”
“Have they been over often?”
“Conner’s been here a couple times. Cash only once and very briefly.”
“And that”s it?” He asked without looking up from his notebook.
”That”s it.”
“Okay, I am going to have a team of people come in and take fingerprints and find the camera. We know one was in your bedroom, but that is the only one you were messaged with, correct?”
She nodded.
“I think we are good to go here, Thank you for your time Ms. Maloof. I’m sorry you’re going through this, but hopefully we will catch him soon,” he said with a kind smile. “If you would head down to the station for further questioning.”
Once again, she just nodded and made it out to see Conner in an intense looking conversation with one of the officers outside of her apartment. When he spotted her coming out of the apartment, he gave her a small smile but turned back to the officer he was speaking with a small glare before turning back and making his way over to Sasha.
“How are you?” he asked, his eyes tight with concern.
“I’m okay,” she said again but this time she meant it just a little more. “What was that about?” she said, gesturing to the officers.
“Nothing to worry about,” he said as he opened her car door. “Are we going to the station?”
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh, and he pulled out of the parking lot.