Chapter 7
“Calories don’t count when you’re on your period. You’re losing enough blood throughout the day to make up for the cake, pie, and cookies you just ate for breakfast.”
—It’s science
Iris
After thoroughly embarrassing myself in front of Hector a few days ago—with extra help from my coworkers and the evil snake—I was thankful for a busy day at work to help distract my mind.
All I had thought about the last few days was Hector.
Mostly my awkward moments, but also how good it had felt when he’d wrapped his arm around me when I’d stumbled near the snake.
I’d felt his hard body up against my back, his muscular arm wrapped around me—tight, but not too tight—and my whole body had shivered as his scent also surrounded me.
My body had reacted not only with the shivers racing through me but also my nipples hardening—thankfully with him behind me, he couldn’t see them.
But then he’d practically lifted me away and shoved me to the side as if merely holding me made him uncomfortable.
I wasn’t a skinny woman, so I’d had that reaction from a few other men before, but having Hector jerk away from me bothered me more.
Today was a prep day at work for the big event in two weeks with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, so that had helped to keep my mind off Hector—mostly.
Hours later, I had finally made it home. I had just pulled up to my apartment complex building and saw my elderly neighbor, Nancy, with her dog, Cocoa, walking down the sidewalk.
“Hi, Nancy. Hi, Cocoa,” I greeted as I got out of my car.
Cocoa immediately started barking at me and raced over on her tiny little Papillon legs to greet me.
“Oh, hello dear,” Nancy responded with a smile. “How has work been lately?”
I knew it was a simple question, but the truth was, I didn’t have an answer I felt like sharing.
I didn’t want to tell her all the details, though.
Partly because she was a sweet old lady and I didn’t want to worry her, and partly because I had just spent the past few days dealing with a crazy podcaster, embarrassing myself in front of the sexiest man I had ever met—multiple times—and also dealing with my mom and aunt calling to get the scoop about the incident at the lake.
“Busier than usual,” I told her, sticking with a truth, but not the whole truth kind of answer. “Got anything exciting planned for tonight?”
“Oh, not tonight,” she said, continuing at her slow but steady pace next to me while we walked over to our first-floor units. “Tomorrow is bingo with the ladies, and this weekend my son and his family are coming to pick me up and take me to lunch.”
“That’ll be fun,” I told her.
She had three sons, but only one lived nearby, so she mostly lived by herself, though she never seemed bothered by that. She had a revolving door of friends and family who always came to visit.
“If you’re not too tired, why don’t you come over tonight and crochet with me on the patio?” she offered. “I’ve got cookies. They’re fresh, homemade, and double-chocolate chip.”
I chuckled at her use of food to entice me to come over. “You had me at cookies, Nancy.”
Her unit was across the hall from mine, so I turned to my door before responding. “Give me about thirty minutes to wash up and grab a real bite to eat, and…” I said as I put my key in the door, only to notice it was unlocked.
As I pushed the key to turn it, it was enough to nudge the door open, meaning it hadn’t been closed all the way.
The Type A personality in me always checked twice when I left, so I knew this wasn’t a mistake on my part.
Pushing the door open but staying rooted where I was, I noticed my throw pillows were on the wrong side of my couch.
My blanket, which I had always neatly folded over the arm of my L-shaped couch—as feng shui dictated—was now askew on top of the throw pillows.
A small gasp left my mouth as I took a look around the space.
“Iris, dear,” I vaguely heard someone behind me say, but I was frozen in shock.
My place wasn’t tossed, but someone had definitely been in here. By the looks of it, they were searching for something.
“Iris, what’s wrong?” I heard Nancy ask next to me.
“I think someone’s been in my apartment.”
“Come, deary, into my place. Quickly. We’ll call the police from there.”
I watched her close my door and pull at my arm, leading us into her unit.
Once in, she closed and locked her door. “Do you want me to call the cops, dear, or do you want to do it?”
“I’ve got it, but thanks, Nancy.”
I reached for my phone, realizing my hands were shaking.
I called and gave the dispatcher the details, and she assured me someone would be there as soon as they could.
There wouldn’t be full-blown lights and sirens since most likely no one was still in the apartment, but an officer would be here soon nonetheless, and they knew I would be waiting in Nancy’s apartment.
After hanging up with the dispatcher, I sat on Nancy’s couch, staring off into space, thinking how weird my life had become in just the last week.
I was startled out of my thoughts when Cocoa jumped up onto the couch and into my lap. Cocoa didn’t much like strangers, but once she added you to her circle, she was loyal to you for life.
“Here, honey,” Nancy said, sitting down next to me as she handed me a small cup of tea.
“Thank you.”
Nancy was like the grandmother I never had.
She was sweet, cooked a mean lasagna, and always invited me over to hang out with her and her friends.
In the last year since I’d moved in here, she’d taught me to play Mah Jong, to finger crochet, the intricacies of making homemade jam, and how to cheat at rummy.
She also sprinkled in some life advice, which I loved.
A knock at the door startled me out of my thoughts.
“How about you restrain Cocoa, and I’ll get the door,” I told her, knowing her dog would not take too kindly to the new strangers in her home.
“Sounds good, dear.”
Even though I knew it was likely the cops, I still checked the peephole since I was feeling a bit on edge. Confirming two officers—one female and one male—on the other side, I opened the door.
“Are you Iris?” the female officer asked me.
“Yes, ma’am,” I confirmed for her, speaking louder so she could hear me over Cocoa’s barking.
“I’m Officer Kelly Swift,” she said. “This is my partner, Officer Taylor Clarkson. We already walked through your apartment to make sure it was clear, but we’d like to have you come over now and take a look and see if anything looks stolen or out of place.”
“Yes, of course,” I responded, thankful Cocoa had switched to a more muted growl.
I followed the officers over to my apartment. It was a bit unsettling knowing someone else had been in my space, but I also knew this needed to be done, so I put on my big girl panties and braved through it.
I showed the officers what I’d noticed when I first opened the door. As I moved through the rest of my apartment, a few other things felt off—though I couldn’t tell if they truly were, or if my mind was playing tricks on me after everything that had happened.
“Is anything missing?” Officer Clarkson asked as we made our way from the bathroom to the laundry room.
“I’m not sure,” I told them honestly. “If there is, it isn’t anything big.”
“What about family heirloom jewelry or even some expensive handbags or shoes?” Clarkson added. “Those are items that you may not notice at first but are popular to steal because they can resell them easily on the internet.”
Wow. I hadn’t thought of that, but I guess it made sense.
“I don’t have anything like that,” I told them and then noticed something odd on my floor.
I had bright-white tiles on my laundry room floor, so it didn’t stand out very much, but there was a cotton ball on the floor underneath where I hung up my clothes after washing them.
“Do you see something?” Officer Clarkson asked.
I pointed down to the floor. “I don’t own any cotton balls. They’re not great for the environment because they are usually bleached or mixed with synthetic fibers, so they can’t break down safely.”
My laundry room wasn’t big—maybe five feet wide by seven feet long—so when Officer Swift came into the room, it felt extra crowded with the three of us in there. He opened what looked like a Ziploc bag and picked up the cotton ball.
“When did you wash these clothes?” Officer Clarkson asked, pointing to the clothes above where the cotton ball had been.
“Two days ago. I just haven’t gotten around to putting them away.”
The two officers exchanged looks before Officer Swift asked me a question as she exited the room. “Is there anyone you can think of who might want to cause you harm or even play a prank on you? Have you had any disagreements with a coworker or recently broken up with a boyfriend?”
“No…I mean yes,” I answered and then sighed. “No, I don’t have any angry coworkers, and yes, I broke up with someone recently, but I don’t think he would break into my house.”
“We ask because this doesn’t look like a regular robbery where people break in and take the biggest ticket items like laptops or jewelry,” she explained. “If something was stolen, it appears it’s because they were looking for something specifically.”
It occurred to me this could be related to the letter I’d received from Steve the podcaster. He’d asked me if I had taken anything from the crime scene. Even though I would never do that, maybe he didn’t know that and came looking for it here.
“Actually, there may be someone,” I said to both of them.
I gave them all the details of what had happened at Lake Echo as well as the specifics regarding Steve Stanton. I let them know that the ISB had the letter now and gave them the contact info for Agent Andrews.
“We’re going to take some photos and make some calls,” Officer Swift said. “If you want to go back over to your neighbor’s unit, we will swing by and let you know when we’re all done here.”
I nodded in return, feeling an urgent need to get out of my apartment.
When I knocked on Nancy’s door, she was quick to let me back in and engulfed me in a hug the moment I was inside her apartment. I hadn’t known I had needed that, but I was grateful for it.
“Here, dear,” Nancy said as she released me from the hug. “I warmed up your tea. Have a seat and relax for a few minutes.”
I wasn’t sure I could relax, but I would take a seat, anyway.
“Do you have someone you want me to call?” she asked me from the kitchen.
I knew she meant a family member or a friend, but the first name that came to mind was Hector.
“You’re welcome to stay here with me tonight, Iris, but if you’d like someone else, I can call them for you.”
At her comment, it occurred to me that the police may not let me sleep at my place tonight, nor would I want to, even if they said it was okay.
I didn’t know why I didn’t text Leah or Christine. Instead, I grabbed my phone, and my fingers went to Hector’s name in my contacts list. My finger hovered over his name for several seconds, as if internally I was trying to decide what to do.
“Go ahead and make your call,” Nancy said, placing her hand on top of my leg. “I’ll get your tea and some cookies.”
I looked back down at the name on my screen, but before I could change my mind, I pressed the button.