“I said I would.”
“Excuse me, Ms.Hayes, we just need you for a few more minutes.”A police officer sticks her head out the door with a warm expression for Paige and then motions to me.“Your visitor can come, too, if you wish.”
Paige takes my hand and it’s a small consolation to her distance but welcomed nonetheless, and I follow her into the house.
Ahead of us, a plainclothes officer descends the stairs with what looks like a toolkit in one hand and a large brown paper bag in the other.Following right behind him is another person, a woman this time, with several more bags filling her hands.
Evidence?
It’s then I realize I don’t know the specifics of what happened tonight, how Paige knew Hummel had been in the house.I have a million questions and I want answers.Now.
Paige isn’t in any shape to retell the night’s events in every detail.Besides, she most probably had to relive the evening several times already during her conversations with the police.
“Would it be all right if this officer,” I make sure Paige watches me point to one of the policemen in the room, “told me what happened?”
She nods and beside her, the officer interjects, “Sorry, Ms.Hayes, we need verbal consent for…who are you?”She looks directly at me.
“Zachary Rothwell.I’m her boyfriend.”
‘Boyfriend’ sounds so juvenile and foreign, and instinctively I frown at the use of the word.Paige eyes me warily, obviously uncomfortable with parading our arrangement in front of an officer of the law.It isn’t a big deal.A white lie at the most.
“Is that so?”The policewoman is keen to pick up on whatever passes between Paige and me.
Her question is directed at Paige as if challenging my claim and I mask my irritation with a clenched jaw.
“Yes.”Paige doubly confirms it with a head nod.
“I’ll be right over here.”I clasp her elbow and point to the kitchen before kissing her lightly on the forehead.
Her eyes shutter closed and the corners of her lips tip upward for the briefest of moments, and she nods again.
It’s then I notice Tamara showing the man at the door her credentials.She joins me and we listen to the officer recount the evening and what they have discovered so far.
My lawyer isn’t her usual cool, calm, and collected self.Worry creases the corners of her eyes and mouth as she glances my way several times.Good, let her sweat.
“To recap.No signs of forced entry.We’ll do a light dusting for fingerprints in the bedroom, but he’s the landlord, so if we find any, they likely won’t hold up,” the policeman says, more to Tamara than me, as she furiously takes notes.
“The clothes on the bed and the shoes have been collected and will be tested.It appears the underwear has some kind of substance on it.An initial examination suggests it’s body fluids, but we’ll know more once the tests are done.”
Fuck.Just a more sterile way of saying cum.
That sicko jacked off with her underwear while she was in the bathtub just feet away.My fists curl and teeth grind together, a sharp ache shooting to the top of my head.
Instinctively, I need to seek out Paige.She’s still with the other officer, nodding at something the woman is saying and then glancing my way.
I wonder if she knows what Joel Hummel did with her underwear.I’m not surprised—it’s close to what he did with his previous tenant.I already knew the dangers of this man.
If I was incensed before knowing the events of tonight, it’s nothing compared to the anger coursing through my veins while the officer finishes his report.I let that deranged man get this close to her, take it this far.
And with every word from the cop, Tamara grows more uptight, shifting from one foot to the other, once or twice even tugging at the collar of her crisp white button-down shirt.She was supposed to be on top of this.She knew what Hummel was capable of, and what happened tonight is just as much her fault as mine.
“Mr.Rothwell,” she starts once the officer leaves.
“Save it.I want a full report emailed to me by eight tomorrow morning and in it you will outline your strategy for putting Hummel behind bars.Immediately.Do you understand?”My voice is strained, barely holding back the shitstorm I so want to unleash.
She nods curtly, eyes wide even behind her square-framed glasses, and leaves, knowing better than to stick around.She’ll bear the brunt of my outrage if she does.
The police finally give the go-ahead for Paige to leave with the understanding that she needs to come into the station by Monday.She does a quick scan of the ground floor and the look on her face says it all.This house is no longer her home.Her refuge.
