Chapter 15
Cole didn’t realize how hard he’d run til he reached the staircase of Maeve’s apartment struggling for breath.
He bent and took a couple seconds to get some energy back.
Her apartment was in the rear of the building so he couldn’t see her door from the bottom of the staircase.
He couldn’t hear anything, but her music and he laughed a little at her choice.
But the reality is that because he could hear it so loud meant that the door was open, and she’d specifically said she locked the deadbolt.
He wanted to rush up there so bad but knew he should probably wait for the police. They reassured him they would arrive with no sirens because Cole thought the person could still be in the apartment. That fact simply scared the shit out of him. His only concern was Maeve.
When he couldn’t wait any longer, he started for the staircase and heard tires squealing on the pavement. He turned away from the staircase and raised his hands in the air so they wouldn’t assume he was the burglar.
“Are you Cole?”
“Yes, thanks for coming.”
“Did you go into the home?”
“I didn’t. I thought I should wait.”
“Excellent choice. If you could stand back by the car, we’ll approach. Did you see or hear anything?”
“Nothing but her music and I’m assuming because it’s so loud that her door is open.”
“And you said she bolted the door from the inside?”
“She did, then turned on her music and got in the shower. She is still in the bathroom with the door locked, hiding in the tub.”
“Okay, and her name is Maeve?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t want to wait by the car, he wanted to go up the staircase with them.
He heard the officer in the front whisper something into his radio then motioned for one of the others to go toward the back.
The steps were only on the front of the buildings for the upper apartments with a balcony looking out to the back yard, but the bottom level was all open.
The music stopped suddenly, and they heard something crash to the floor.
He could hear Maeve’s muffled scream in response and the officers ran up the stairs.
When they reached the door, one of the men announced himself and started to go through the door when someone burst out the door and jumped off the back of the balcony.
When he hit the ground, he knocked the other cop over and took off out toward the woods.
The officers came back down the stairs hollering into their radio and chased off in the same direction the burglar ran.
Cole booked it up the stairs looking for Maeve. He got to the bathroom and let her know it was him and to open the door. She fumbled with the lock and when the door swung open, she jumped into his arms crying.
“It’s okay Maeve, I’m here. Are you alright?” He set her feet back on the ground and wiped the tears from her face.
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Everything’s going to be okay. Let’s go sit down on the bed.”
“I don’t want to be here Cole, can we leave.”
“We need to get you dressed then we’ll go to my place, okay?”
She nodded and he wrapped an arm around her and walked back to her bedroom.
With her approval, and after checking the closet and other bedroom, he left her to dress and went to the living room.
He knew not to touch anything, but it was a mess.
Whoever had been in her house beat the hell out of the door to get it open.
He’d also busted all her cd’s and knocked everything from the top of the entertainment center.
He heard footsteps on the staircase and went to the door where he greeted a man in a suit that he knew to be Detective Wilson.
“Cole, nice to see you.” The man shook his hand. They’d crossed paths a few different times at fires.
“Thanks for coming Detective.”
“I heard the owner was here during the break-in?”
“She was, had locked herself in the bathroom.”
“She called you, first, right? How do you know her?”
“We actually just started dating and yes she called me, so I left the fire station right away and ran here.”
“Oh congratulations. Well, the officers caught the guy over on third street and they took him to the station. Now we need to piece everything together because she’s had some break-ins at her place of business as well, right?”
“Yes, the fire inspector has been working on the case. She’s had two so far but now we have new locks and doors, plus cameras thru the entire place.”
“Sounds too coincidental to not be related. We’ll need her to come down to the station for a line up. I know the records show she didn’t see anyone, but my guess is this is someone that knows her, and she might know as well.”
“She’s pretty shaken up, but I can get her there. I’m also going to get her away from this place for a while. She can stay with me.”
“Once they are done fingerprinting, do you have someone that can fix the door?”
“Yep, I have a buddy that fixed her shop so I’ll give him a call.”
“I think she’s been through enough, so I’ll just wait until you bring her down to question her. Make sure you come soon though.”
“Thanks Detective, we’ll be there as soon as my friend gets here.”
***
Maeve sat on her bed trying to fight off the tears.
She didn’t understand why all this was happening to her.
What had she done to deserve such a nightmare?
Some crazy person was actually in her house.
She felt violated. They’d invaded her personal, private space.
They’d tried to destroy her business, twice.
She didn’t want to know what was going to happen next.
She could hear Cole talking to someone in the living room but she didn’t’ even care.
She was glad he was taking care of whatever it was.
She just wanted to go to Cole’s house, crawl under the covers and never come out.
She grabbed a bag from her closet and packed it full. When he was ready, she wanted to leave.
“Hey sweetheart, you doing okay.”
“I’m ready to leave, can we go to your place?”
Cole went to Maeve and hugged her. He felt horrible having to tell her she needed to go to the police station for questioning and to see a line-up, just in case she recognized someone. They already had the perpetrator; they just weren’t telling them who it was.
“We can, but we need to make one stop first, okay?”
Great, why can’t anything ever be easy?
“Where?”
“The Detective wants to talk to you at the police station, but I promise I’ll be right there beside you the entire time, okay?”
“I don’t really want to. There’s not much to tell them except what I heard from the bathroom.”
“I know you don’t, but it’s just routine, they need to get your official statement since it’s your apartment. They also want you to sit in on viewing a line up.”
“Why would I have to do that, I never saw anyone?”
“They caught the person that broke into your apartment.”
“They did? But I didn’t see who it was Cole.” Why would they need her to look at people in a line up when she doesn’t know anything?”
“They are under the impression that this might be someone that you know and knows you. Don’t worry, no one will be able to see you, we’ll be standing behind a two-way glass so you can watch them, but we won’t be seen.”
“And you’ll be there with me?”
“I won’t leave your side.”
“I guess if I don’t have a choice, I just want this over with.”
He placed both of his warm hands on her face and kissed her so sweetly it made her cry.
“We’ll fix this, I promise.”