“Everything appears fine here. If anything else comes up, you can contact us.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Silence settled over the hallway as the officers descended the stairs.
Then Markie screamed again. “INTRUDER.”
I stared at the ceiling.
“Please stop helping,” I muttered, then turned my attention back to Liam.
Up close, the damage to his composure was obvious.
His shoulders were still tight, and his posture had that careful stillness of someone who knew they had crossed a line they couldn’t easily uncross.
The earlier flash of concern returned, then the reality of the situation settled back into place.
I crossed my arms. “What happened?”
Liam exhaled slowly and looked down at his hands.
“I finished work this afternoon,” he said. “And you hadn’t responded to my message.”
My stomach jittered slightly.
“I told myself that was information that I should respect.” He glanced up briefly.
“Correct,” I said.
“But I kept thinking about you being alone in the apartment, still sore from the fall.”
I watched him carefully.
The muscles in his jaw jumped slightly. “Possibly forgetting to eat.”
That was uncomfortably accurate.
“I decided I would bring flowers and chocolate,” he said. “I planned to leave them outside your door.”
“That would have beennormal.”
“Yes.” His gaze dropped again. “But when I got upstairs, there were several packages sitting there.”
I pictured the pile immediately.
“One of them was a large box with a chair printed on it,” he continued. “It had fallen across the hallway. People were stepping over it.”
I could see that happening very clearly.
“So, I stood it up against the wall.”
“That was thoughtful of you.”
He paused. “But the flowers and the chocolate were still outside the door.”
“And that bothered you?”
“Yes.”
