Page 23 of Fractured Fate

“What’s wrong?”

She looked back at the screen. “Did you hear that?”

“I didn’t hear anything. What’s going on?”

“I think something fell. Hang on.”

She climbed off the bed and moved to her nightstand, opening the drawer.

Her ma gave her a small container of pepper spray disguised as perfume before they left her at the apartment when she moved in. “Just in case,” her ma said. Charlotte laughed it off then, like so many other warnings. Like the ones from her neighbor about living alone.

Clutching the pepper spray, she moved out of the nook where her bed sat into the area that divided the living space from her bedroom. Standing in front of the laundry room door, she didn’t see anything amiss, but she didn’t have the full view of her living room.

Rattling, like someone was trying to open her sliding glass doors, broke the silence.

She tightened her grip on the pepper spray and drew in a lungful of air, calling out to whoever waited around the corner. “I’ve got pepper spray and I know how to use it!” Her voice cracked, betraying her.

The false bravado died with her last words, laying her fear bare for anyone to hear. “Keep it together,” she muttered to herself, hoping that if anyone was listening, they wouldn’t hear her weak attempt at a pep talk.

As she crept into the living room, the sight that greeted her made her legs weak and her knees buckle. She braced her hand on the wall for support. Two things registered in quick succession…

One, on her coffee table lay a single pink rose. And two, the glass doors to her balcony were open.

She rushed across the room to the door, hoping no one was waiting on the balcony for her. Slamming the door and locking it, she peered down at the terrace through the condensation. A flower pot she had on the railing lay smashed on the floor—the reason for the crash she heard.

Drawing the curtains closed, she rushed back toward her bedroom, ignoring the rose. It would seem her new “friend” didn’t appreciate being ignored.

How did he get in so fast—or at all? Had he been waiting on the balcony and called her from there? Had she forgotten to lock the balcony door after watering her plants earlier? Had he come through the front door, and she missed it while in the shower? It was a lot easier to climb down from a balcony than it was to climb up to it.

The questions whirled around inside her mind, and she didn’t have an answer to any of them. She only knew for sure that someone came into her apartment uninvited. Someone invaded her personal space.

“—lotte? Hey, Charlotte. What’s going on? Are you okay?”

She jerked and pivoted toward the pillow. She’d forgotten she still had Aiden on FaceTime, and she didn’t know how long he’d been trying to get her attention while she sat on the edge of her bed having an internal freak out.

“Charlotte?”

“Shit—I mean, shoot.” She struggled to hide the tremor in her fingers as she turned on the bed and picked up her phone. She tossed the pepper spray back in the drawer before moving back into the living room.

“What are you doing?”

“Just hang on.”

She set the phone on the coffee table, leaving Aiden facing the ceiling, and pushed it across the floor. Next, she went to the side of the loveseat and pushed it toward the sliding glass doors, turning it to block the length of the glass. If someone wanted in, they could climb over the couch if they wanted, but she wouldn’t make it easy for them. This setup would alert her to the noise they would make breaking in, giving her enough time to get out the front door.

She scratched her head, fluffing her hair into a mess as she caught her breath. “Maybe it’s time to talk to the police.” She closed her eyes with a heavy sigh that puffed her cheeks out.

“Charlotte!”

Her eyes flew open. Crap. She’d forgotten Aiden again. Snatching up the phone, she held it up in front of her, brushing her curls off her sweaty face. “Hi. Yes. I’m here,” she breathed, forcing a smile. “Sorry about that.”

“What in the hell is happening over there? You’re starting to freak me out. What about the police?”

“Nothing. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”

“So, what’s going on? Why do you keep leaving the phone? You’re out of breath.” The concern on his face made her chest tighten. His brows drew together. “Is your couch in front of the balcony?”

She looked over her shoulder. “Uh, yeah?”