Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“Freeze.”
My head lifts and I swallow as tears stream out of my eyes, seeing two uniformed police officers standing at the top landing in front of my apartment. “They’re gone,” I croak through the soreness of my throat, leaning into the door.
“You know which way they went?” one of the officers questions while taking a step toward me.
“No,” I say then shake my head when the words aren’t loud enough to be heard.
“I’ll stay with her. You go and check around and let me know if you find anything,” the cop before me says, putting his gun away as the other takes off back down the stairs. “Come on, honey,” he instructs gently as he takes my arm. He leads me over to my couch, where he helps me sit before getting down in front of me and pushing my hair away from my face. “You got some ice?”
“Peas,” I murmur, watching him get up and go to the kitchen, coming back a few seconds later with a bag of frozen peas in his hand. Taking it from him, I press it to my throat then to my face, blinking rapidly, trying to control the tears I feel filling my eyes.
“Would you like to call someone?”
How pathetic is it that my answer was, “Not really”? But that was the truth, wasn’t it? I have no one, no one I can depend on, no one I can count on when I need anything. My parents don’t even have a telephone I can call them on if there’s an emergency. Like now, I think bitterly. Then, my sister, seeing how she’s the reason I was in this mess. I knew that even if I were able to get ahold of her she wouldn’t be able to help me. Hell, she would probably run away when she found out the guys she stole from were looking for her. Wyatt is out of the question, since I broke up with him yesterday after realizing it was pointless to be in a relationship with someone who lives hundreds of miles away. My mind flashes to Sven, but I don’t want him to worry…or at least that’s what I’m telling myself right now. “No, I don’t want to call anyone.”
“I’m gonna call an ambulance and have them come look you over.”
“That’s not necessary,” I whisper through the soreness of my throat.
“Honey, I’d really like to make sure you don’t have a concussion.”
“I don’t think I do,” I tell him, dropping my eyes to his badge. “Officer Jenkins.”
“Not sure you would know that.” He smiles.
Sighing, I give up and mutter, “Fine,” and he smiles bigger then pats my knee. He puts his hand to his chest and leans down, telling dispatch to send an ambulance.
“Do you know who broke in?” he asks as soon as he gets the conformation that the ambulance is in route.
“No, they were looking for my sister.”
“Did they say what they wanted with her?” he asks, moving to sit next to me on the couch.
Shaking my head, I start to lie then squeeze my eyes closed and open them back up. “They said she stole money and they were going to pay her back.”
“I see.” He nods, and I fight the urge to defend her, even though I know she has gone too far this time.
“None of the neighbors heard anything, and I didn’t see anyone on the street,” the other officer says, walking through the open front door, followed by two paramedics who come directly to me. It doesn’t surprise me that no one heard anything. My two closest neighbors are older; one uses a hearing aid most of the time, and the other usually has the television on so high that he wouldn’t hear it if the world was coming to an end outside his door.
“As soon as they check her over, we’ll go over the details of what happened,” I hear Officer Jenkins say to his partner as the paramedics begin to examine me. When they’re done, they tell me to take some Advil for the pain, but assure me I will be fine. Officer Jenkins takes the seat next to me on the couch once more as the other officer, Lent, leads the paramedics to the door and closes it behind them, coming back a second later, grabbing one of the chairs from my dining room table, and sitting on it across from me.
“I already explained to Officer Lent that the men who broke in were looking for your sister,” Officer Jenkins says as he pulls out a pen from the pocket of his shirt. “Can you tell me anything else about them?”
Pressing my lips together, I try to remember any details about the two men, but my mind comes up empty. “It all happened so fast. They were both white, and dressed similar in black t-shirts, jeans, and boots, but I didn’t get a good look at either of them.”