Chapter 26 #2
Things were supposed to be getting better.
Why is this happening? Who would have done this?
Was it Rory or Travis? I doubt they’d be capable of something like this but then again, I never thought I’d do all the things I’ve done either.
As I wait for the cops to show, I toss some necessities into a bag and grab everything I’ll need for Huey while we’re away.
Luckily, none of his stuff was messed with.
There’s that at least. Then another thought comes to mind when I see the hoodie I swore I had with me while I was at Henry’s yesterday. Did I do this?
My chest rises and falls heavily as my breaths stick in the top of my throat. Two men in black uniforms are getting out of their car as I’m shutting my trunk.
“Mr. Hernandez.”
“Yeah . . . yeah, that’s me.” I shove a hand through my hair, nervousness causing knots to form in my stomach.
“We got a call about a break-in.”
I nod, leading them into the house. They look around, taking my statement again and scribbling notes after examining each room.
“Any idea who would do this?” The shorter man asks.
Yes. A few. “No,” I say, my throat tightening. “I’m one of those keep-to-myself types.”
Nodding, he folds his notepad over. “We’ll do our best to figure out who it was, but as of now we don’t have a whole lot to go on, so if anything else comes up, give us a call.”
“Will do.”
“This doesn’t look like something a stranger would do. This is usually the type of behavior seen from an angry ex. No angry ex out there who’d want to get back at you for something?”
I swallow hard and shake my head. “No. I mean, we didn’t end on the best of terms, but it’s been a year and he isn’t like that.”
“Yeah, no one’s ever what they seem to be at first. Maybe it’s something we should look into just in case?”
I shake my head. The last thing I want to do is cause Rory any more problems. He didn’t do this. He’s the good one. It’s why I lost him.
That’s why you’ll lose Henry too. An unwanted thought pops into my head.
“It’s not Rory,” I finally say. “He doesn’t even live in the same state as me, and he’s moved on.”
“Very well, then. Like I said before, if anything else you can think of surfaces, let us know.”
“I will. Thank you, officers.”
“You have another place to stay tonight, because I wouldn’t recommend being here? At least not until you get that door and those windows replaced,” the other cop says.
“Yeah. It’s why I came here. To get some things.”
“Perhaps whoever did this knew that somehow.”
“Not sure how. I meant it when I said I mainly stick to myself. No one knew I was going to be away at my boyfriend’s cabin.”
“Not even your boyfriend’s ex?” The shorter guy lifts a brow.
I inhale a deep breath and slowly exhale.
Nah. It couldn’t be. He did stop by to deliver his mail once before and then offered again.
Could he have driven by and seen me? I don’t need to add fuel to the fire I’ve already had burning from this guy.
“I don’t know. I guess that could be a definite possibility.
He has been blowing up his phone. How’d you know he had an ex? ”
“Lucky guess.” He shrugs his shoulders. “And also, everyone has an ex.”
“True. His name’s Travis, but that’s all I know. I think he’s still living next door to my boyfriend, in case you want to question him.”
“Sure, we could do that.”
I give them the address, and they say they’ll let me know if anything comes of the questioning.
I wave them off from my porch as they get into their car, then I hurry back inside to make sure I’m not forgetting anything before locking the screen door.
It’ll have to do until I can get the main door fixed.
It’ll more than likely have to wait until after the holidays.
I add a few more things to my trunk and head to Henry’s house next.
Luckily the cops aren’t anywhere to be seen, and neither is anyone else outside the house. They probably won’t drop by Travis’s place until later. I’m sure they have more important matters to get to.
Looking into the spot where Henry said he keeps his key, I shake everything around it but come up empty-handed. My blood goes hot when I look to the house on my left and loud music is pouring from a cracked window. He still has the key, doesn’t he?
Getting my anger under control, I roll my shoulders and stomp off toward the house, my gentle knock growing impatient the longer I’m left waiting on the porch. The tall redhead from the park winces his eyes at me. “Can I help you?”
“Depends. Do you have Henry’s spare key?”
His eyebrows lift. “I’m sorry, who are you?”
“That’s not any business of yours. Do you have the key or not?” I snap.
Stretching his arm up against the door frame, he looks me up and down. “You look familiar. Where do I know you from?”
I grit my teeth, balling my fists at my sides. This man is trying my patience. “Nowhere, and I’m here for the key, not small talk, so if you don’t mind going and getting it for me—”
“No. I don’t think so. If I don’t know who you are, then how do I know you’re trustworthy and not going to rob the place?”
I rub my temple, jaw tightening. “Give me the key, Travis.”
“And you said I don’t know you, but you know my name.”
“I know Henry and I came to get his mail. So go get the key and I won’t shove you out of the way to look for it myself.”
“Who exactly are you to Henry?” He steps closer, attempting to tower over me but failing. The guy is way shorter than me, no matter how tall he stands and uses the door to arch his feet. Loser.
“You have his key and he doesn’t want you having it, so give it to me and there won’t be any problems.”
“Answer my fucking questions and I’ll think about it.”
Heat rising in my face, I step back and then shove myself forward, nearly knocking him to the ground when he’s pushed out of the way by my slamming shoulder. Steadying himself on his feet, he storms toward me, and I move out of the way before his hand can hit me.
“What the fuck?” he gripes when his hand hits the nearby wall instead. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
Before I can respond, a blond man rushes down the hallway, forehead rising in concern. “What’s going on here?”
“You must be the new boyfriend.”
“And who are you?” His eyes turn down.
“The question we’d all like to know the answer to,” Travis grumbles from beside me.
I huff, looking between them before saying, “I’m here to get Henry’s key, but this one wants to keep it so he can have an excuse to be in his house whenever he feels like it.”
The other guy’s face goes pale. “You still have Henry’s spare key?”
Travis shoves his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, babe, but only ’cause he asked me to watch his place while he’s away, and I felt guilty about everything so I couldn’t say no.”
His jaw twitches. “Where is it?”
“What?” Travis’s voice shifts to a higher octave.
“Where’s the key, Travis? If that’s all this ruckus is about, give it to him and then he can be on his way. We’re going to be late if you don’t get dressed soon.”
Travis’s shoulders sink. “It’s in my jacket pocket.”
His new boy toy stomps to where the jacket is hanging on the back of the sofa and plucks out the key. “Look, I no longer care who you are as long as you take what you came for and get the hell out of my house.”
“Sounds good to me.” As I’m moving forward to grab the key, Travis stands in front of me.
“I still care. Maybe I should call Henry and okay this with him first.”
“Good luck, but I’m sure he’s blocked you by now. You kept blowing up his phone while we were in the shower and trying to go to bed.”
“What do you mean while you were in the shower?”
“Wait, you’re still calling him?” The other man’s face tints a light red color.
“It’s not what you think, babe. I was trying to get a package I accidentally delivered to him the other day.”
“You went to the cabin?”
Yeah, he isn’t making this better for himself. “Why you’ve been calling isn’t important. Only the part where you stop is. You’ve moved on, and it’s only fair you let him do that too.”
“You mean with you?” Travis straightens his stance.
Blondie shoves him out of the way and places the key in my hand. “Here. You got what you wanted, you can leave now.”
“Yes, I can. You two enjoy the rest of your day,” I say, smirking when I hear them bickering behind me as I hurry out the door.
The way Travis kept getting upset and jealous of me makes me wonder if he really was the one who trashed my house.
He said I looked familiar. Could be from the day at the park or from when he broke the glass on the picture frames hanging on my walls.
It doesn’t matter anymore. I have the key now, and more importantly, I have Henry.