“INTRUDER.”
“I’m not an intruder,” I hissed.
“ALEXA. CALL 911.”
“Markie.”
He puffed up. “INTRUDER. INTRUDER. INTRUDER.”
Motherfucker.
My phone buzzed in my pocket just as the device on Zoey’s kitchen counter lit up.
A calm voice came through the speaker. “911. What is your emergency?”
Markie puffed up and shouted toward the ceiling. “INTRUDER.”
I stepped toward the counter slowly. “Hello,” I said carefully. “There is no emergency.”
Markie screamed again. “INTRUDER. INTRUDER. INTRUDER.”
The operator paused for a moment. “Sir,” she said, still perfectly calm, “this device placed a call reporting a break-in.”
I rubbed a hand across my face. “Yes, that appears to be what happened.”
“Are you currently inside the residence?”
Markie leaned forward proudly. “INTRUDER.”
“Yes,” I said quietly. “I am.”
The pause on the other end lasted slightly longer this time.
“Sir,” the operator said, “officers are already on the way.”
Of course they were.
I rested my hand against the wall and closed my eyes for a moment.
You absolute fucking idiot.
Markie puffed his feathers. “INTRUDER.”
“Yes,” I said. “That part has been established.”
I could leave. I could walk out of the building and be halfway down the road before the cops arrived. But then it would look exactly like I had broken into Zoey’s apartment and tried to run.
She would never speak to me again.
Markie leaned forward and shouted proudly. “INTRUDER.”
Chapter 20
Zoey
By the timeI reached my building, my feet had moved past irritation and into open hostility. Wearing heels had definitely been a mistake. Right now, they mostly made me feel like I was being punished for vanity.
Two police cars were parked outside the building.
