Page 21 of Abandoned

He whipped around, and she slammed into him. “What’s wrong?”

After squeezing him tight, she stepped back. “Someone was in my apartment.”

“What?” But he didn’t wait for an answer. He ran to his truck and, from the safe that was bolted to the floor, drew a Sig Sauer P365. With the other hand, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed 911.

While waiting by the truck for backup to arrive, he offered Zara his elbow and talked to the dispatcher.

Two minutes later, a squad car pulled into the parking lot. Officer Frank Marcos got out. An older officer who had taken the cliched donut-eating as a challenge. “Hey, Cooper. And Grant, right? What seems to be the issue?”

Zara nodded. “Someone trashed my apartment.”

Will hung up with dispatch and slid his phone back into his pocket. To Zara, keeping his voice low, he said, “Stay in the truck?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Figured.” He turned to Frank. “Help me clear it?”

“Sure.” He hiked his pants higher.

Hopefully, no foot chase would be necessary.

Frank went in first, and Will followed with Zara right behind him.

They stepped over the items that had been tossed from the closet. He’d noticed the lack of doors earlier. They’d been there when he and Logan had helped her move in.

In the kitchen, cabinets were open, and boxes of food had been pulled out. But nothing was broken.

The living room was the same. Cushions pulled from the couch, movies strewn about, the TV was crooked, but nothing broken.

They cleared the bedroom and bathroom last. Again nothing was broken. But it was a disaster. Her drawers had been dumped, covers ripped from the bed. And another doorless closet had been tossed.

With a pointed expression, Frank turned to Zara. “What were they looking for?”

“I have no idea.” Other than being pale and quiet, Zara seemed to be holding it together.

“Well, they wanted something. Good luck figuring out what they took. Seems safe for now. The detectives will be here shortly. Don’t touch anything, but you know the routine. I’m gonna get back to patrols.”

Frank left the room, leaving Zara with her mouth agape. Once he was gone, she grunted. “What on earth? He can’t simply leave and abandon me like that.”

“He’s just grumpy, always has been. You need the detectives at this point anyway.”

“Maybe, but way to disregard protocol.” Her body was tense.

“Don’t worry about it.” He extended his hand to her. “Let’s go wait for the detectives out front.”

She slipped her hand in his. It was shaking.

Instead of walking out of the bedroom, he pulled her close. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head. “Someone was in my apartment. What if I had been home? It doesn’t look like they took anything—I don’t have anything to take. I don’t understand. Were they looking for me? If they wanted to steal something, you’d think they’d at least take the movies or heck”—she walked to the dresser—“at least the jewelry. It’s not that valuable, but”—she lifted a necklace—“this one is a real diamond. It’s the most expensive thing I own, but it’s here.”

“Hello? Cooper? You guys here?”

Will stuck his head through the doorway. “Back here in the bedroom.”

Detectives Doug Ramirez and Wyatt Remington came around the corner.

Will introduced them to Zara, and she walked them through what happened when she got home.