Читать книгу Exposing Casey - Deanna Lee - Страница 8

“No, I’m positive that door was locked before I went on vacation.” I stared at the uniformed officer. “I took my dog to be boarded, arranged for him to be fixed while I was gone, and came back here. I checked all of the windows and the alleyway door before I left.”

“And you haven’t opened it since you’ve returned?”

“No.”

“Does anyone besides you have a key?”

“Not that I’m aware of. I don’t give out keys to my apartment.”

“How long have you lived here?”

“Nearly five years.” I glanced at Shawn, who was talking with a plainclothes cop who had arrived shortly after the uniformed officer.

“Was anything out of place when you returned?”

“No. I checked on my dog and came home.”

“And that was Saturday?”

“Yes. On Sunday, I slept in, did some laundry, and went to a formal event downtown at the gallery where I work. I came home.”

“And your ex-boyfriend showed up?” The detective asked as he came to stand near the cop who had been questioning me.

I pursed my lips and glared at Shawn, who had turned to hear the answer to that question. “Yes. He did. We talked and then he left.”

“Don’t look at me like that. They can’t help you with this if you don’t give them all of the details,” Shawn said evenly.

I glared one more second and then focused on the detective who had sat down on the couch in front of me. The uniformed officer slid away. “His name is Connor Grant. He’s the lead on the Holman Gallery’s security contract and it wasn’t him.”

“How can you be certain? You said yourself that you never even got a look at the man.” Detective Martin asked softly. I was pleased that I’d managed to remember his name in the twenty minutes that had passed since he’d introduced himself.

“I’ve known the man for over a year. It was not Connor.”

“I will be contacting him to ask him a few questions, just to cover my bases.”

I nodded. “Fine.”

“You said the intruder spoke to you.”

“Yes, he told me to shut up when I screamed and punched me in the side.” My hand went to my ribs briefly and then I straightened. “Then I tried to offer him money and my computer. I figured he was here to rob me.”

“His reaction?”

“He said, ‘I’m not here for things, Casey’.” I cleared my throat. Repeating the words hadn’t made them any less scary. “I asked him not to kill me and he said he wouldn’t.”

“Do you remember his words exactly?”

I snorted. “I couldn’t destroy something so pretty or something close to it. It all happened very fast.”

“So, you started down the hallway to check the back door as Detective Tranner had requested and you see that it’s ajar.”

“Yes.”

“And he comes at you from behind?”

“Yes.”

“He was in your bedroom?”

I scrunched up my nose. “Yes, apparently.”

“Do you remember if you went into your bedroom when you returned home?”

“Yeah, I went in and changed clothes.”

“You opened the closet?”

“No.” I swallowed hard. “He was in my closet?”

“Evidence seems to support that he spent some time in your closet. He could have been here when you got home.”

I wanted to throw up. This could not be happening. I just wasn’t the kind of woman who found herself in a situation like this. “He knows my name but he isn’t someone I’ve spent time with or anyone I work with.”

“How do you know that?”

“He was surprised by Shawn. I think he thought that Mrs. Tranner still lived next door to me.”

“Shawn, why did you suggest that Ms. Andrews check her back door?”

Shawn sat down on the loveseat with me and picked up one of my hands. Casually he rubbed warmth back into my fingers. “The front door doesn’t have security on it, the back doors on both apartments are in need of repair. When I was out in the alley earlier in the afternoon I noticed that people seem to use it a lot as a shortcut. It occurred to me that it would be easy for someone to come through the alley and into one of our apartments. I doubt anyone would consider someone walking into or out of that alley as suspicious activity.”

“The door wasn’t forced, was it?”

“No.” Shawn shook his head. “It wasn’t.”

“Did you get a look at the guy?”

“No, he was gone by the time I got into the alley. I checked the street. The traffic was pretty tight out front and everything looked normal. He either had a car waiting for him or he lives nearby.”

Neither one of those options really had appeal. I pulled my fingers gently from Shawn’s and cleared my throat. “I’m going to pack a bag. The uniformed officer offered to drive me to a hotel for the night.”

“You can’t take anything from your closet.”

That hurt. “Are you taking my clothes into evidence?”

“Right now, forensics is testing the clothes for fluids and hair. Everything that doesn’t have any kind of biological matter on it will be left. The rest will unfortunately be put into evidence for the case file.”

Biological matter. That sounded particularly disgusting. “Okay.”

“You’ll let me in this damn door right now or I’m going to wake the Mayor.”

I jerked at the sound of Mercy Rothell-Montgomery’s voice. “Mercy?”

She slipped past the uniformed cop in the doorway and hurried toward me. “Casey, what the hell is going on?”

I accepted the embrace and curled my fingers briefly against the soft fabric of her blouse. “What are you doing here?”

“Mathias and Jane were having dinner with us when his beeper went off. When he called in he found out that you’d had the police called to your residence.” She touched my face with gentle fingers. “You aren’t hurt?”

“No, I’m fine.” I looked toward the entryway and found Mathias Montgomery and Connor Grant standing there. “Hey.”

Shawn came to stand beside me.

Mathias entered first and offered Shawn his hand. “Mathias Montgomery. My men heard the call come in over the police scanner.” He turned to me. “Where is your security badge?”

I paled and my mouth dropped open. It hadn’t even crossed my mind. Turning, I went into the kitchen. The badge lay where I had dropped it. “It’s here.”

“Your handheld?”

“In my purse.” I pulled it from my open bag and offered it to him.

Mathias glanced toward the cops and shook his head. “Did you bring home any paperwork, contracts, or other secure documents in your briefcase?”

“No. I left my briefcase at the office, actually.” I blushed. Since I’d made plans to have dinner with Shawn, I’d left work at work.

“You can’t stay here with the front door broken.”

I glanced toward Connor and nodded. “I know.”

“You’ll come home with us.” Mercy looked at each man in the room as if she expected one of them to disagree with her. “Jane went to the gallery to check on the security team and make sure everything is secure, or she’d be here as well.”

“Do you think this is related to the gallery?” I asked softly.

“Since his interest was centered on you, I somehow doubt it. Otherwise he would have grabbed you elsewhere, perhaps near the gallery so he could force you to let him in.”

That was not a comforting thought. “Okay, so it was personal.” The statement dropped in the room like a lead balloon.

Mercy took in a deep breath. “Let’s go. We’re about the same size, so you don’t need to pack anything.”

I turned to Detective Martin. “Should I come down to the station with you?”

“No, your statement from tonight will work for the report. Just be careful and watch yourself.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow about the security company,” Shawn said softly.

“Yeah, thanks.” I touched his arm briefly as Mercy ushered me toward the door. “I gotta pick up Harvey in the afternoon; but I’ll be straight home after that.”

He nodded and after a brief nod in Mathias’s direction followed along after Detective Martin as he went down the hall. A part of me would have preferred to stay with him, but that made me feel foolish. I barely knew Shawn Tranner.

I was sitting in a huge red chair in the corner of Mercy’s living room when Connor finally got me alone. He pulled up an ottoman and sat down in front of me.

“How are you?”

I shrugged. “I’m okay.”

“You’ve been holding your ribs since you got here. Are you hurt?”

“He punched me.” I lifted my hand from my side and pulled my legs up into the chair. “It’s sore, but I don’t think anything is broken.”

“The cop neighbor of yours is protective of you.”

“Shawn’s been nice to me.” I glared at him when he raised an eyebrow. “Look, just because you use “niceness” to get in women’s pants doesn’t mean every man does it.”

He laughed. “At least your attitude is still intact.”

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t lie to me, Case.” He stared at me for a moment and then lowered his gaze to the floor between us. “I didn’t do a very good job of making sure you were safe.”

“It’s not your job to protect me.”

“As a matter of a fact, it is my job to protect you. At least while you are at the gallery. And I should have checked your doors and locks at your apartment.”

“The back door wasn’t broken. The cops think he used a key.” The thought was a pretty scary one and not one I’d allowed myself to dwell on too much. “He knew my name.”

“His voice wasn’t familiar?”

“Everyone sounds the same when they whisper.” I rubbed my face with both hands. “Where’s Mercy with that wine she promised me?”

“I think she’s waiting in the kitchen.” Connor glanced over his shoulder. “Look, I know we’ve had some problems lately…”

I laughed softly. “Problems?”

“Casey.”

“No,” I whispered and glanced toward the kitchen door. I figured Mercy was lurking with her husband behind it. “That part of our relationship is over. One day we can be friends. But, right now, no matter my circumstances…we’re done. I don’t need or want a man to come to my rescue. I also don’t want to be party to a testosterone festival…so I suggest you check your ego.”

He laughed and shook his head. “You win.”

“I know.”

“For now.”

Bah. He stood up and walked away from me. Mercy came through the door just then with a smile. “Perfect timing.”

She flushed and shrugged. “I had a hard time with the cork.”

“Whatever.” I took a deep drink of the wine and huddled in the chair.

She sat down carefully on the ottoman and looked over my face. “Do you want a shower?”

I nodded. “Yeah, after the wine.”

“Jane wants to know if she can come over.”

“Yeah, after the shower.” She laughed and glanced briefly at her husband, who nodded and walked away. I assumed he went to call Jane. “I’m okay.”

Her eyes brightened with tears and I reached out and grabbed her hand. She sucked in a deep breath and blinked once or twice. “It scared the hell out of me. I can’t imagine how you felt.”

“Well, it wasn’t a good time,” I murmured. It was distressing to realize that my brush with violence had reminded her of her own past. “Thankfully, Shawn managed to hear me.”

“Yes, he seemed pretty protective.” She raised an eyebrow and I laughed out loud.

“He’s a nice man.” I pursed my lips. “I wonder how long that asshole was in my apartment.”

“He didn’t make any noise?” Connor asked from his place on a couch.

“No. I came home, put the food in the kitchen, and went into my bedroom. I changed clothes, and by that time Shawn was home.” I flushed when his gaze hardened, but continued. “We ate in the living room and he left after about an hour. I went down the hallway and realized that the back door was open.” I stopped then. I couldn’t repeat it. Not so soon.

I brought the wineglass to my mouth and finished it off in one uncouth swallow. “He must have sat in there and listened to us talk the whole time.”

“And your new neighbor didn’t realize you had another man in the apartment?”

I glared at Connor. “As you might remember, men don’t get invited into my bedroom.”

He flushed and stood. “I’ll go down to the gallery and brief the security staff. If you give me your keys, I’ll retrieve your car and bring it over here.”

“Thanks.” I picked my purse up off the floor and rummaged through it.

Mercy watched him retrieve the keys and leave before she turned to me. “I take it the two of you are pretty far from being friends.”

“He just didn’t like it when I cut off his supply of pussy.” I blushed when her husband Shamus busted out laughing. “Christ, I’m sorry. I forgot you were here.”

“No, it’s fine.” Shamus came to me and held out a hand for the empty glass. “Do you want some more?”

“No, thank you.”

I waited until he left the room. “I don’t have any underwear.”

“Oh.” She was silent for a moment and then turned slightly. “Honey! Would you go to the store for Casey?”

“Oh, my God!” I shook my head. “I can’t send your husband to the store to buy me panties.”

She frowned. “Don’t be silly. Honey!”

“What?”

“Will you go to the store and get Casey some underwear?”

“What?” He came out of the kitchen and raised an eyebrow.

“Well, she didn’t bring any of her things with her.” She pursed her lips. “And while you are there you could get me and the baby a candy bar.”

He snorted. “I see you operating.”

“Really, you don’t have to go to the store.” I’m not sure I could survive if he went and bought me underwear.

He frowned. “Well, she’s about your size, right?”

“Well, yeah, about seven months ago.” She glared at him as if at the reminder of her past waistline.

He nodded and then walked toward the stairs and went upstairs to their bedroom. Men are such odd creatures really; I can’t imagine what he was up to. When he reappeared with a gift box, I flushed.

Shamus cleared his throat. “Well, I bought these for you for your birthday but then I figured since you were having my kid you deserved diamonds.”

“You’re damn straight I did.” She grabbed the box, pulled off the lid, and sighed. “Great taste darling.”

She handed me the box. Dark blue panties and a bra were nestled in the tissue paper. I doubt I’d ever owned lingerie as pretty as what I was holding. “I can’t take these.”

“Please.” Mercy chuckled. “Maybe your new neighbor likes blue.”

“Oh Christ.” I grabbed the lid and closed the box. “Thank you. I’d like to reimburse you.” I looked toward Shamus.

He laughed. “No way. It’s not often that I get to buy that kind of thing for a beautiful woman who isn’t my wife.”

“Men,” Mercy muttered.

“So, how are you?”

I stared at the ceiling for a minute and turned my head to look at Jane, who was sprawled out beside me on the pull-out couch. It had been comforting when she’d insisted on staying with me, but I’d pretended to be exasperated.

“I’m mad.”

“Good.”

“I bet that asshole touched all of my clothes. Everything will have to be cleaned.”

“You can take the day off. I’ll just reschedule Kenneth Victor.”

“He’ll be a total jerk-ass about being put off.”

“I don’t care.” She snorted. “Mathias is running a check on your new neighbor. He’s got a friend who’s going to get us a copy of his employment file with the Boston PD.”

“Are you serious?”

She laughed. “Yeah. You’re my friend and I’m going to make sure that you are safe with that guy. Also, starting next week you are going to sign up for a self-defense class of some kind.”

“Sweating is overrated.”

“You need to be able to protect yourself.” She turned her head on the pillow to look at me. “How about a handgun?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Stun gun?”

“No.” I sighed.

“Mace?”

“I’d just end up blinding myself.”

“Large stick?”

I laughed out loud. “Shut up.”

“Well, let’s hope that the cops processing your bedroom don’t list your sex toys among the contents in the closet.”

That was discomfiting. “Fuck, I’ll have to buy new stuff.”

“Excellent. I love going to the sex toy store.”

“You got a man.”

“So?” She laughed. “He likes the toys, too.”

When I arrived home the next morning, a work crew was already replacing my apartment door and another was installing a security door. Since Shawn’s apartment door was open, I walked to it and peeked inside.

“Shawn?”

“In the kitchen.”

I dropped my purse on a table beside the door and went to the kitchen. He was standing at the stove, a spatula in one hand staring intently at the pancake he was making. Loose fit jeans, a worn Boston PD T-shirt, and no shoes…the man looked good enough to eat, forget the pancakes.

“How long did the cops stay after I left?”

He laughed. “Martin sent me off to my apartment when he left. Once the forensic people were done, I locked up for the night. I guess about an hour. The security company got here about an hour and a half ago.” He motioned toward the pan. “Want some?”

“No, I was force-fed already.” I slid up onto a stool at his breakfast bar and tucked my hands between my knees. “Thanks for last night. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been here.”

“Don’t dwell on it. You’ll have nightmares.” He added the pancake to the stack he’d already made and flipped off the stove. “Did you get any sleep last night?”

“Yes, well, at least four hours.”

“You have the day off?”

“Yeah, they figured I’d need the time to take care of the security stuff and Detective Martin called me this morning. He wants to see me.”

“Probably just a follow-up.”

“Yeah, he said as much.” I wanted to ask him to come with me but I didn’t want to sound like a big black hole of need. So, I accepted the bottle of water he silently offered. “Last night was the first time I’d ever even come close to a criminal.”

“I feel responsible. I should have went ahead and had security installed while you were gone.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“And I should have checked your door myself.”

I laughed. “I do tend to define quite clearly where my guests are allowed to go in my home and where they aren’t. I get that from my grandmother. She could herd people through her house without them even realizing it.”

“How about I ride down the station with you?”

I should have said “no.” Grown, modern women don’t need a man to guide and protect them. Instead, I nodded and smiled. “Thanks.”

“I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.”

I glanced briefly at Shawn, who was leaning against the wall to my left. Detective Martin had showed us into a small private interrogation room. A camera was tucked discreetly into one corner.

“Okay, let’s go with the good news.”

“We caught the intruder. He left a few prints on your closet door and he popped in the system. His name is Peter Stevenson. He’s got a pretty extensive criminal background and was paroled recently.” He inclined his head. “Is the name familiar?”

“No, not at all.” If that was the good news, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the bad news. But, ignoring something horrible doesn’t make it go away. “And the bad news?”

“He was hired to do the job.”

My stomach dropped into my feet and Shawn immediately came to sit beside me. He tucked my left hand into both of his and they both sat there while I took several deep breaths.

“By whom?”

“He doesn’t know. They met in a chat room about three weeks ago. Once the deal was brokered, Stevenson received five thousand dollars in cash, a key to your apartment, and a vial of semen. He was instructed to put the semen on your bed and mess up your apartment.”

“I came home early.”

“Yes, Mr. Stevenson was very clear on the fact that he’d watched your routine carefully before you went on vacation and believed that he could get in and out without anyone seeing him.” Detective Martin checked his records. “So, after he got off work, he went to your apartment to do the job.”

“And I came home earlier than he expected.” I rubbed my face with both hands. Before I’d gone on vacation, it had been my habit to have an early dinner with Connor nearly every night after work. “So, he was hired to scare me?”

“Yes.”

“Any luck on tracing the people in that chat room?” Shawn asked.

“We’re waiting on a search warrant for the company’s records. It should come in today. But anyone who watches TV would know to use a public hot spot or a computer at the public library to avoid the activity being traced back to them.”

“Why didn’t he wait until I’d gone to sleep to leave?”

Detective Martin sat back in his chair. “I think he found being there a little too tempting, to be honest. Ms. Andrews, Peter Stevenson was in jail this last time for a sex crime.”

I curled my fingers against Shawn’s palm and bit down on my bottom lip. “He’ll go back to jail, right?”

“Yes, he’s violated the terms of his parole. Assault, home invasion, and conspiracy charges will also be filed against him.”

“He won’t get a deal for talking about the man who hired him?” I asked. I watched TV, too.

“Perhaps, but because he violated his parole he’s going to have to complete the twenty-five-year sentence he received for rape and attempted murder. Even if he gets a deal on your case, he won’t be out of jail until he’s a very old man.”

Rape and attempted murder. The words were like a knife in my chest and I took a deep breath. The fact that he would go back to jail was cold comfort, but it was something I could hold on to. “And the person who hired him?”

“We’ll do all we can to find him.”

The detective left us shortly after that. I sat in that little room for a few minutes, silent and thinking about the people in my life. Who would want to scare me like that?

“Come on, we’ll grab some sandwiches and go back to see what the security people are doing.”

I nodded and let Shawn guide me out of the police station and to his car. I was relieved, now, that I’d conceded when he’d asked to drive. The thought of maneuvering through traffic in my current state of mind wasn’t a very nice one.