“Okay, sit tight and we’ll send an officer your way.”
“Thanks,” I say before hanging up the phone.
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.
