Ch. 3 The Break In

I pour myself a glass of wine as soon as I get home. It’s raining now, and the sound is pouring through my open windows. Kicking off my shoes I go to sit in my window seat. I’m absolutely exasperated.

Normally I have my lights come on automatically, as to not seem like I’m a single woman living alone in the city but today they didn’t come on. I ask my home system to turn the lights on, but nothing happens. Looking around I ask again, but when they still don’t come on, I set my glass down and get up from my seat. I reach the nearest lamp and attempt to turn it on. It doesn’t.

“Hmmm. Weird,” I pull my phone from my bag and turn on the flashlight. Looking around my apartment I don’t notice anything out of the ordinary, so I head to the laundry room to check the breaker. I flip the switch but again nothing happens, so I chalk it up to a neighborhood outage from the storm. No big deal. I have some candles around here somewhere. I rummage around in the cabinets for the candles I know I have for emergencies. I found a larger flashlight.

“Thank you, Dad. This will help,” I say to myself. I continue to look for those candles I know I have but stop when I hear a glass break in my living room.

Turning out my flashlights, I lightly close the door to the laundry room and hide as best I can. I’ve seen and read enough thrillers to know better than to investigate.

I dial 911 immediately, it rings once with the operator answering, “City emergency, what’s your location?”

“41 Pine Street apartment 4. I’m in my laundry room, I’m pretty sure there’s someone in my apartment. I heard a glass break,” I whispered loud enough for the operator to hear me but not loud enough to be heard by the intruder. “I was also wondering if you were aware if there’s a power outage due to the storm?”

“Ok, ma’am. Thank you, I’ll get someone to your location now. I’ll ask about the outage in one second. What’s your name?”

“Eloise Sulley,” I tell the operator as I hear the line mute for a moment, I’m sure they’re asking about the outage.

“Ok Eloise. There’s not a reported outage, is your power out?”

“Yes, it is.” Shit. SHIT! Not good. Was this planned?

“Ok Eloise, can you hear an intruder in your apartment?”

“Uhm, hold on,” I pull the phone away from my ear to listen closer to the door for someone in my living room. “I think can hear someone walking around, but I can’t tell.”

“Okay, stay where you are. Can you lock the door to the space you’re in,” the operator asks.

I look at the knob on the door. No lock. “No. I can’t lock it.”

“Okay, is there anything you can use to block the door to barricade it or make a door stop so the door cannot be opened?”

I look around and see some boxes in the corner still from when I moved in.

“I have some cardboard boxes. Would those work?”

“They could if you make them thick enough to wedge them under the door to keep it from opening.”

“Ok, I’ll work on folding them to stick them under the door.” I grab them and quietly break them down with an exact-o knife I had in the utility drawer so I can fold them into a door stop. When I have them in a stack larger than the crack under my door, I shove them into the crack quickly and quietly.

“Okay, it’s in the door. I don’t think they can open it now but I’m going to sit against the door and hold it with my weight just in case,” I tell the operator.

“Good idea, our officer is only a minute out. Is your door unlocked?”

“No, it’s not but there’s a keypad. The code is 6734, I can change it after they leave.”

“Okay, Eloise. I’ll let the officer know. Do you still hear the intruder?”

I put my phone down again and listen through the door. I hear nothing, but then I hear my front door open.

“POLICE!”

“The police just entered,” I tell the operator.

“Stay where you are for now, they know your location. Let them clear your apartment first before you identify yourself, okay?”

“Sure.”

I listen as the police make their way through my apartment with heavy steps. Loudly opening doors, very clearly making their presence known.

“Living room and kitchen clear,” one officer says.

“Dining and office, clear!”

“Bedroom clear!”

A few moments pass, they must have been checking my bedroom, “All clear!”

I hear a soft knock on the door, so I remove the cardboard I placed earlier. Opening it I see a middle-aged police officer with a kind face.

“Are you alright, ma’am?”

“I am, thank you. Did you find anything,” I ask as I survey the hall to the living room. I walk with him back toward the front of my apartment to where my window seat is I was sitting in earlier. My lights are still out, but the police have placed flashlights and lanterns. My wine glass is broken, and wine spilled on the cushion of my window seat.

“From what we’ve seen there’s not much saying there was anyone else here. The dispatcher said you asked about a power outage. Did you check your breaker?”

“I went to. The breaker is in the laundry room, that’s why I was hiding in there when I thought I heard someone enter my apartment. My apartment seems to be the only one without power, and I paid my bill, so this seems kind of odd.”

He looks at me with an odd expression, “Forgive me for asking, but do you have anyone that might want to hurt you? Old boyfriend or something?”

I huff a laugh out, “I’m an attorney. There’s plenty of people that want to hurt me, but none that I thought had my address. Although, my window seat windows were already open when I got home but I live on the fourth floor with no way up from the outside. So, I’m not sure how someone could’ve entered from my windows.”

“We’ll check around outside for you, ma’am. In the meantime, is there someone you can stay with that you feel safe with?”

“Yes. I can call someone. Can I have someone with me while I pack a bag?”

“I’ll stay with you, just give me a moment to relay some information.”

“Thank you, I appreciate this, Officer…?”

“Jons, ma’am.”

“Officer Jons, thank you,” I say as I walk to the couch to call Lucy, hoping she’s not running the coffee shop and she’ll let me stay the night.

~

Lucy graciously let me stay with her above the coffee shop after the officer escorted me there so they could do further investigations on my apartment and get the power company to get my power back on.

Gathering me into a quick hug, “Oh my god, El, are you okay,” she checks me over making sure I’m safe.

“I’m okay Luce. I didn’t see anyone, and nobody saw me, I don’t think. I just heard my wine glass break while I was searching for candles. Someone cut the power to my place.”

“But why would they do that?”

I shrug, setting my bag down and making myself comfortable in her living room above the coffee shop, which is just as cozy. I kept thinking about who could be targeting me, but with my job I couldn’t think of any solid conclusions. Too many people were unhappy with how I did my job or how got the wins I got. Too many unhappy men.

“Do you need anything, El? Coffee, water, a blanket,” she asks coming to sit next to me.

“A blanket and some water would be nice. I think I want to sleep soon. Just rest as much as possible and get through the night, you know?”

She nods and gives me another quick hug before grabbing the thick blanket off the back of the chair across the living room and covering me with it. She then grabs a glass of water and straw.

“Do you want to stay out here or sleep in the guest room? Whichever feels most comfortable for you is fine with me.”

“I’ll just stay here for now, thanks Lucy,” I give her a small smile as a thanks for her kindness.

“Of course, El. Let me know if you need anything, okay? Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

~

Sleep didn’t come easy last night. From thinking of Jensen’s flashing green eyes to my dark apartment, and hearing someone in my apartment, I just couldn’t sleep restfully. Not to mention, Lucy was up and down in the coffee shop at 5am this morning. While she didn’t disturb me intentionally, she’s hard to ignore. She’s my best friend and I love her, but she doesn’t realize how loud she is.

I rest a while longer and get off the sofa around 7:30 to wash my face and shower. During this time, I decided to call Mei and let her know I’d be taking time to work on stuff out of the office and to not expect me. Luckily Mei didn’t ask questions and said she’d see me in a few days.

I get dressed in some comfortable jeans and a light, knit blouse, and head down to the coffee shop. Lucy sees me immediately and starts on my regular order as I go to my normal seat, but there’s already someone there.

Jensen.

“Can I help you,” I ask coldly.

He looks at me with surprise. His green eyes are less flashy than yesterday but still stunning, and his dark hair is mussed like he’s been running his hands through it.

“Good morning, Ms. Sulley.”

“Yes, morning. That’s my seat, Mr. Parker. Can I have it please,” I don’t ask him, I’m not in the mood to be nice to him today. He’s made an unwelcome presence in my life out of nowhere and now he’s taken my seat.

“If that’s what you wish, I’ll move I suppose.” He smirks at me. This is a game to him.

I step aside so he can get around me, but I don’t immediately sit in the seat he just vacated. Instead, I swap it for the seat on the other side of the table not wishing to sit in the same seat as he did. He must’ve caught me moving the seats around because I heard him chuckle as he sat in the same settee as yesterday.

Lucy walks over with my cup of coffee, eyeing me with a funny look.

“What was all that about?”

“He was in my seat; this is the seat I sit in every day.”

“I get that, El. But why did you swap the chairs? They’re they exact same,” she asks, still giving me that funny look.

“I didn’t want to sit in the same seat he was sitting in, but I wanted to sit in my spot. Simple. He just needed to move.”

She too chuckles, shakes her head, and walks away. I pull my book out when she’s back around the counter, catching Jensen glancing at me over his own book. I choose to ignore him and bury my nose for as long as I can.

Sipping on my coffee until the mug is empty, I’ve noticed Grace came in alone today and Evan is back in his usual spot by the window, although more put together today. It’s nice to see their familiar faces. It’s grounding.

I take some deep breaths trying to not think about my dark apartment last night. I put my book down and place my hands on my face continuing to take deep breaths. I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing myself to think about anything else but my dark apartment.

The beach. You love the beach. The waves, the sand, the sun…

All I see is my dark apartment and hear my short erratic breathing as I’m hiding from the intruder I know has entered somehow.

THUMP… THUMP…. THUMP….

Heavy boot steps can be heard walking around in my living room and kitchen now. I’m covering my mouth trying to not make a sound.

Can they hear me? Am I breathing too loudly? Will they know I’m hiding here?

I hear the steps again walk past the door I’m hiding behind not taking a moment to stop, continuing toward my bedroom. They either think I’ll be in there or they plan to wait for me in there. I continue to cover my mouth hoping to muffle the heavy breathing I can’t seem to get under control. I no longer hear footsteps; I don’t know whether they’ve stopped in my bedroom, or they too are hiding somewhere but I don’t want to stay here too much longer. I move quietly to look under the gap of the door to the laundry room where I’m hiding.

The gap is dark, and it takes a moment for my vision to adjust. As it does, I don’t see anything in the direction of the living room. Assuming my way is clear I move a bit more but as I do I see a flash of movement in the corner of my eye.

I quickly look in the direction of the movement and see a wide wicked smile full of white teeth and a bright emerald eye.

“Where are you going, Ellllooooiiiiisssseeeeee,” what should’ve sounded like Jensen sounded distorted, sick, and disembodied. Not Jensen.

I scream and I hear a glass break.

My eyes open, Jensen is in front of me, we’re in the coffee shop but it’s empty.