Sinful Protector

by Mia Ford

  Except that it isn’t just her problem anymore. Jesse became my problem when I decided to protect Allison from him. I don’t know if he’s behind Allison breaking up with me (I still don’t know whether she was serious about that, or not), but I’m not going to let him run rings around her anymore.

  It’s just become imperative that we get rid of that bastard as soon as possible.

  In the meantime, however, I still need to protect Allison. Jesse has already gotten into her apartment once.

  I clench my hand around my phone, determined. I have no intention of allowing him to do it again.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Allison

  As soon as Kyle is gone, I grab my phone and dial the by-now familiar number of the police. I tap my foot on the ground, drawing my robe tighter around myself as it rings.

  “Pick up, pick up,” I murmur, pacing backward and forward.

  Finally, the line clicks and I pause mid-step, my heart pounding.

  “Philadelphia police station, how may I direct your call?” a woman says.

  “Hi, I’d like to report a break-in,” I say.

  “And where did this break-in occur?”

  I rattle off my address. My hands are shaking. The flowers are sitting on the table, mocking me.

  “It’s my apartment,” I add. “I think I made a complaint the other day about spray paint…?”

  “Yes, thank you,” the woman says. “Please hold the line, I’ll have someone speak to you.”

  “Thank you,” I say.

  The phone clicks and then music plays. Not wanting to just stand and wait, I head into my bedroom and start collecting some clothes. I know they’ll send someone over to look, and I don’t want to only be wearing a robe when they arrive. I think about trying to have a quick shower, but, with my door broken, there’s no way I want to risk it. What if Jesse happens to turn up?

  He would be stupid to do that in broad daylight, but I’ve never claimed that Jesse is smart.

  He was smart enough to break into your apartment without you noticing. The thought creeps in and sticks, making me shudder. I still don’t understand how he broke the door quietly enough that neither Kyle nor I heard him. He must have been slow and careful, two words I’ve never associated with him.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello!” I yelp, pulling up the leg of my pants and trying to keep hold of my phone. “Sorry, thank you for speaking with me.”

  “No worries, Miss…?”

  “Miller,” I supply. “Allison Miller.”

  “Yes, yes,” the man on the other end clears his throat. “I’m Officer Bryant. Now, I’ve noticed that you’ve made a previous complaint at this address about graffiti?”

  “That’s right,” I say, putting my phone on speaker and tugging my shirt on. I feel better as soon as I’m dressed.

  “You proposed that the culprit was Jesse Willis, your ex-boyfriend?”

  “Yeah,” I say. “But there wasn’t any evidence.”

  “Yes, yes, I see that.” The officer was silent for a moment. “May I know the nature of this complaint?”

  “He broke into my apartment,” I say instantly. “The idiot left me a box of flowers with a card.”

  “He signed it?” Bryant asks, startled.

  “Well… no, but I recognize his handwriting,” I say awkwardly.

  “Hm,” the officer says, and I wince. I know saying that I recognize Jesse’s handwriting isn’t conclusive evidence. “Well, we’ll come around and have a look, and see if we can collect any evidence. Were you the only one home last night?”

  If I tell them that Kyle was here, they’ll want to question him. Then he’ll know that I lied to him.

  “I was alone,” I say. “My…boyfriend dropped me home and left.”

  It isn’t like it makes a difference, after all. Kyle didn’t hear anything either. He would have mentioned something if he had.

  “Very well. We’ll be there soon, Miss Miller. Thank you for your patience.”

  I bid him farewell and hang up. Then I let out a gusty sigh. That’s it, then. The police are involved, now. I’m worried, though; has Jesse left any evidence? If he was clever enough to manage to break in, then maybe he was clever enough to keep things clean. That means the police will only find my prints, along with a myriad of others belonging to Kyle and my friends, who have been in and out all week.

  I deflate. Suddenly this feels like an impossible task.

  I just need to hang in there for a little while. Surely they’ll find something. And if they don’t…

  I’ll just have to figure out another way to get rid of Jesse.

  By the time the police arrive, I’m a nervous wreck, pacing around my living room. I’ve sent a message to Jacqui, letting her know that I won’t be in class and asking her to take notes for me, but she hasn’t replied yet. She’s probably in class, wondering where the hell I am and worried about my odd absence.

  There’s a knock on my door which swings open slightly. I dash toward it and pull it open the rest of the way.

  “Miss Miller?” asks the man in front, and I recognize his voice from the phone.

  “That’s me,” I say, holding my hand out to shake it. “Are you Officer Bryant?”

  “Yes, yes, I am,” the man says with a smile. It falls, however, when he eyes the broken door frame. “May we come in? You can tell us what happened.”

  I let the officer and two others into the apartment. The other two instantly set about examining the door frame.

  “They’ll be looking for evidence,” Bryant explains. “Are you absolutely certain that the person who broke into your apartment was Jesse Willis?”

  “One hundred percent,” I say, handing over the card. “He left this card with those flowers.”

  Bryant frowns and hands the card over to one of the officers. The other officer walks over to examine the flowers at my words.

  “We’ll see what we can get off both,” Bryant assures me. “In the meantime, I need a list of everyone who has been in your apartment in the last fortnight, particularly those who might have touched your door.”

  My stomach falls. It’s quite a long list. As I start naming names, I see Bryant’s face fall, too. There’s too many people that have been here.

  “And the most recent?” Bryant asks when I’ve finished.

  “Uh, Kyle Jacobs...my boyfriend,” I say. “He’s the one that dropped me home last night.”

  “Well, we do have a set of prints for Jesse Willis on file after a complaint was made against him last year; we had him in a cell overnight before his girlfriend bailed him.” Bryant glanced at me. “You?”

  “Yeah,” I say with a grimace. “That was me.”

  Bryant sighs and shuts his notebook. “With luck, we’ll find some evidence. You don’t happen to have a sample of Jesse’s handwriting around here?”

  “Sorry,” I sigh. “I don’t.”

  The officer mutters something that sounds suspiciously like “no one makes it easy,” before he nods with a wry smile.

  “We’ll do our best, Miss Miller,” he says. “In the meantime, I might suggest that you find somewhere else to stay. Your apartment is no longer secure.”

  “Yeah, I was considering that,” I say, eyeing the front door. “I’m going to have to get the landlord to fix it and…well, that’s going to be enough of a fight.”

  Bryant chuckles. “The terrors of cheapskate landlords. I’ll be talking to them myself; the apartment building’s front door lock is shot, and there aren’t any cameras at all. This isn’t a safe place for residents.”

  “I’ve been trying to tell him since I moved here,” I say heavily.

  “Now, is there anyone else in the apartment who might have noticed something was amiss last night?” Bryant asks.

  “Mrs. Phillips next door might have,” I offer. “She’s got ears like a bat, and she’s always listening out for anything she can complain about.”

  Bryant makes a face at that. “Ah, tha
t type. Well, I suppose I’ll go talk to her.”

  “Thank you for your time, officer,” I say.

  I’m glad that he didn’t just ignore me, like they did with the graffiti. Bryant is nice, and it sounds like he really wants to get to the bottom of this. But, as he walks away, I know that they won’t find anything. Jesse is an idiot…but he’s also the type who knows how not to get caught.

  I sigh and pull out my phone. Still no reply from Jacqui. I need to ask her if I can stay with her. I doubt she’ll say no, though, especially when she hears that Jesse broke in.

  With this in mind, I grab an empty sports bag off the floor and head into my room, leaving the police to their work. I grab some clothes and stuff them into the bag, not sure how long I’ll need to be away for and not wanting to return until I absolutely have to. I toss some books in and then I grab my laptop and all my chargers before zipping it up.

  Just as I do this, my message tone rings out.

  Call me!!!

  It’s Jacqui; it looks like she’s on break from class, and she’s finally gotten my messages. I chuckle quietly and scroll down until I find her number.

  She picks up on the first ring.

  “Allison, what’s going on?” she cries.

  “Sorry, Jacqui, I didn’t mean to stress you,” I say, wincing. “Did you get notes for me?”

  “Of course,” Jacqui says impatiently. “Now, what’s happening?”

  “Well…I kind of have the police here.”

  “WHAT?”

  I flinch at her yell and pull the phone away.

  “Don’t yell, that was right in my ear,” I complain. “Jesse broke into my apartment last night. He left me flowers.”

  “What the hell?” Jacqui asks incredulously.

  “Anyway, the police are collecting evidence,” I say. “Can I stay with you for a few days? He broke my front door.”

  “You can stay as long as you need to,” Jacqui says instantly. “We can go apartment hunting. And, in our spare time, asshole hunting.”

  I smile slightly. “Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Jacqui.”

  “Does Kyle know?” Jacqui asks. “Damn, he’s got to be furious about this.”

  I flinch again. “Uh, actually…about that.”

  “What?” Jacqui asks suspiciously. “Did you ask him on a date?”

  “Actually, he asked me,” I say with a short laugh. “We went to dinner last night. It was nice. I learnt a lot about him.”

  “But…?”

  “I broke up with him this morning,” I admit quickly.

  “Seriously?” Jacqui asks. “Why?”

  “Let’s just say that we’re two very different people,” I say with a sigh. “We had nothing in common, Jacqui. The only thing we shared was lust for each other.”

  “That’s something in common,” Jacqui points out.

  I snort. “That’s not enough, Jacqui. Anyway, we spoke about it this morning and we decided it was for the best. I feel terrible.”

  “You should,” Jacqui says bluntly. “You’ve kept that guy hanging all week. I feel sorry for him.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?” I say grumpily.

  “I am,” Jacqui assures me. “And you did what I asked you to, which was to talk to him and try to get to know him, so I guess I can’t complain too much.” She pauses. “I still think you’re an idiot, though.”

  I make a face. There’s something in Jacqui’s voice that sounds suspicious, as though she knows I’m not telling her everything. I roll my eyes and sit on my bed.

  “Yeah, well, it’s over now,” I say, shrugging. “We broke up and that’s it.” I hesitate. “We did agree to stay friends, though, so maybe…you never know what the future brings.”

  “Oh,” Jacqui says, suddenly sounding sad. “I’m sorry, Allison. I didn’t realize that the two of you felt differently. But you don’t have to act strong for me, alright?”

  “Huh?” I ask, confused.

  “I can hear it in your voice,” Jacqui explains. “You regret it ending this way. So you wanted to try, but Kyle didn’t, huh?”

  “What, no, I broke up with him,” I say stupidly.

  A moment later I kick myself. I should have just allowed Jacqui to believe that.

  “…What?” Jacqui says, deadpan. “Okay, now I’m really confused.”

  “There’s nothing to be confused about,” I say sharply, more than done with this conversation. “We weren’t compatible. We broke up. Maybe we’ll get to know each other better and try again, maybe we won’t. Discussion closed.”

  Jacqui falls silent. I wince. I hadn’t meant to snap at her like that. But I’m still on edge from everything. Jesse breaking in and leaving those flowers, lying to Kyle so I can break up with him, now I’m lying to Jacqui, too.

  “Sorry,” Jacqui sighs. “You’ve been through a lot this morning, I shouldn’t be pushing. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

  “I know,” I assure her, ignoring the spark of guilt I feel at her words.

  “Alright,” Jacqui says. “Where do you want me to pick you up?”

  “I’ll head over to the college and see if I can catch the last class,” I tell her. “Even if I don’t, I’ll hang around on campus until you finish. I haven’t eaten, so you might find me at the cafeteria.”

  “Got it,” Jacqui says. “I’ll see you later, then. And, Allison?”

  “Yeah?” I ask warily.

  “Hang in there, we’ll make this better somehow.”

  I swallow the sudden lump in my throat. I’m not sure I can see many ways that this could get better. My primary weapon to fight Jesse with is the police, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to be much good. I don’t know any other way to fight, which means that this war, for all I was determined to fight it not that long ago, could wage indefinitely.

  “Thanks,” I say roughly. “I’ll see you later.”

  I hang up the phone and draw in a deep, shuddering breath. I need to get it together. I’ve set everything in motion, now. All I can do is wait and see what happens next.

  “Miss Miller?”

  I look up. It’s one of the younger officers. He hovers awkwardly at the door and I stand, dragging my bag over my shoulder.

  “Sorry, what can I do for you?” I ask.

  “You can have this back,” the officer says, holding out the card. “We got all we can off it, and we’ve taken pictures.”

  “Thanks,” I say, grabbing it. I hesitate and then put it into my pocket. “I’ll hold onto it, just in case. Is there anything else you need from me? I was going to leave; I’ll be staying at a friend’s place for now.”

  “Just leave your number and your friend’s address, and you can go,” the officer says kindly.

  I nod and duck into the bathroom, grabbing my toiletries, stuffing them into my bag. When I get to the kitchen, I jot down my number and Jacqui’s name and address, as well as her number.

  “Here,” I say to the officer that gave me the card. “Thanks.”

  He waves me off and I step through the doorway. Hopefully, the next time I come back here will be to collect my things. It was a mistake to settle for this place just because it was cheap and I was desperate to leave Jesse’s apartment. I should have stayed with Jacqui for a little while so I could find somewhere a little better, like she offered.

  Oh well, regrets are pointless, now. I won’t regret anything that’s happened so far. I’ll fight Jesse with everything I have, and live my life out of his shadow.

  I close my eyes and Kyle’s face swims into my mind as I head down the hall.

  I’ll try not to regret anything.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Allison

  I’m going insane.

  That’s the only excuse I can think of.

  That’s the only reason for why I keep seeing people in the corner of my eye, only for them to not be there when I turn around.

  It looks like my decision to fight on equal ground with J
esse has driven me mad.

  And it’s only been four days since I started staying at Jacqui’s house!

  “Do you think it’s Jesse?” Jacqui asks, concerned, when I finally tell her about it.

  “No… Maybe?” I groan, burying my head in my pillow. “I just want them all to go away already. Why are they stalking me?”

  “Maybe I should find out?” Jacqui suggests darkly.

  “On top of that, I have seen Jesse a few times,” I admit, raising my head up. “But he’s always in the distance. And he always looks frustrated.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Jacqui asks, exasperated. “That’s something you’re supposed to tell me, Allison!”

  “Sorry,” I sigh. “I just really don’t want to deal with any of this, anymore.”

  I bury my head in the pillow again. I hear Jacqui sit down on the couch beside me.

  “Do you want to talk?” she asks gently.

  “No,” I say, my voice muffled.

  Jacqui waits patiently. I groan and lift my head again.

  “A week, Jacqui,” I say to her pitifully. “It was only a week.”

  “A week for what?” Jacqui asks.

  I glare at her. I know she knows what I’m talking about. She’s just playing dumb because she wants me to admit it.

  “You know,” I say.

  “I don’t, actually,” she replies.

  We stare at each other stubbornly. Finally, though, I’m the one the backs down, and I let out a gusty sigh.

  “Kyle,” I say, rolling onto my back and glaring up at the ceiling. “We were together only for a week.”

  “Ah,” Jacqui says, with an air of comprehension. “Yes, you’ve said that.”

  “Not even a week,” I correct. “In fact, I didn’t speak to him for a full twenty-four hours before we went on that date. We weren’t together before then. It was just sex.”

  “Uh huh,” Jacqui says.

  I glare at her. There’s no smile on her face, but the bitch sounds amused.

  “We weren’t together,” I repeat.

  “You said that,” Jacqui points out.