Page 81 of Secret Obsession
I miss her.
My phone buzzes against my hand, and I jump. I snatch it and scan the caller ID, my hope peaking. It crashes down the instant I register that it isn’t my sister.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Ms. Reed. This is Detective Barrister.”
Oh, shoot. “Hi, Detective. If you’ll just give me a moment, I’ll move somewhere quieter…” I gather my stuff, keeping my phone pinched between my ear and shoulder. In a matter of moments, I’m heading out of the library and toward the campus quad. “Sorry about that. I was in the library, they frown on phone calls.”
“Not a problem,” she replies. Her tone is brisk. “I was hoping to see you stop by the station with that list of items.”
My steps falter. “Oh. I’m sorry, today’s been a little crazy with classes. I probably won’t get a chance until Friday. I haven’t actually been back to the apartment to look for missing things.”
She’s quiet for a moment, then says, “Willow, this is very important. We received a report of another break-in with very similar attributes.”
“What does that mean?”
“The destruction done to the bedroom, shredding things for the sake of anger. It’s aggressive. And the new break-in was to an apartment of a college-aged girl who lived alone, on an upper floor.”
Like me. A chill skitters up my back, and I grip my phone harder.
But at least this means it wasn’t targeted atme. Right? It was just a random attack by some asshole who needed to break something.
And maybe steal something.
“I’m not staying there,” I reply. “So, um, I’ll have to go this weekend.”
“How about this,” the detective says. “I’ll send an officer out tomorrow, and he’ll go with you through the apartment to catalog anything that might’ve been taken.”
Worry niggles at me, but I find myself agreeing. I tell her when I can get over there, and she says she’ll have someone meet me.
She wishes me well.
Hangs up.
I slowly stow my phone in my pocket, although truthfully? All I’m thinking about right now is the desire to chuck my phone about as far away as I can manage.
Instead, I call my mother.
“Willow!” she answers on the second ring. “I was just thinking about you, darling.”
My chest tightens. “Oh, yeah?”
“We were thinking of coming up to Crown Point the weekend before spring break, and then whisk you away for a trip somewhere. We’re due for a vacation, and our bosses informed us today that there would be a project over the summer that would require us to dedicate a solid amount of time to… In essence, springtime is better for travel plans. Although busier all around, of course.”
“Oh.” I smile. It’s easy to force it. “That sounds great.”
“Indie can stay with you, and your father and I will get a hotel nearby. She’s been talking about colleges—now’s an excellent time to show her the true life around CPU, don’t you think?”
Mom just sounds so… chipper.
Happy.
And for some reason, I can’t fathom why. Maybe because Crown Point isn’t feeling quite so safe these days. And even school has been turning into a mental game. Who hates me? Who doesn’t give a shit? Who’s still on my side?
I don’t evenhavea side.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” I lie. A lump forms in my throat as I think about all the things I haven’t told her. I should just blurt it out, but then she’d go into crisis management mode.
