USING MY DAY OFF, I crank up the music on the sound system in the living room and open all windows in the condo, then spend the day cleaning every room, organizing the hallway closet, and cooking Theo’s favorite meal.
Once done, I take a long bath, pampering myself with body scrubs and face masks, and even cover my eyes with two cucumber slices. The idea seems moronic, but I’m willing to be proven wrong. Who knows? Maybe they’ll make a difference? Maybe my skin will be more radiant. Music still plays, but this time it filters through the little speaker on my phone as I lay in the warm water, enjoying a little me-time.
Forty minutes later, I’m wrapped in a towel, I close the bathroom door and tiptoe across the hall and into the bedroom, the wooden floor cold under my warm, water-wrinkled feet. The windows are still open, and a cool breeze breaches the room, but that’s not what raises goosebumps across my skin. What the… I pull my eyebrows together for a brief moment while my brain catches up, processing what I’m seeing.
Fear squeezes my throat, moist and sticky.
My legs freeze, glued to the spot in the doorway.
The teddy bear Theo won for me last week at the arcade sits on the bed, propped by a few decorative pillows. His paws are wrapped around a big bouquet of red roses.
His head is missing…
It lays on the floor, the teddy’s eyes staring at the ceiling, and a rolled-up piece of paper tied with a red ribbon is stuffed in its mouth.
A shot of adrenaline jolts me into motion. I run back into the bathroom, slam the door and turn the lock. What the hell is happening?
I check the door, making sure it’s locked.
And check again.
Dread fills my lungs like heavy mud. My phone is still on the shelf, quiet music hanging in the air. I clutch it in my trembling hands, the riot of my pulse making it hard to focus. It takes three tries before I successfully dial Theo’s number.
“I’m leaving the office right now,” he says, answering on the second ring.
My lips part, but no sound comes out. I stop breathing at the sound of rushed footsteps outside the bathroom door.
“Thalia?”
Instead of helping me take hold of myself, the sound of his voice has an entirely different effect. A pathetic, quiet whimper bubbles in my chest and grows more audible when someone slams a hand against the door.
“Thalia, what’s wrong?”
“Someone’s in the house,” I whisper, biting my cheek so hard I taste blood.
“What? What do…” he trails off as if needing a second to connect the dots. “Fuck! Where are you?” Hurried footsteps clap against the floor, and a door bangs on his side of the line, making me jump. “Are you okay?”
“I’m in the bathroom,” I choke out, biting my fist to stay quiet when another bang reaches my ears a second before the door handle rattles.
“Stay there. Lock the door. I’m coming, baby, don’t move.” The engine of his car thunders in the background. “Talk to me. Don’t hang up. Stay on the line.”
The sound of my heart thumping in my chest mixes with the revving of the big engine, Theo’s heavy breathing, and my stifled whimpers.
It’s maddening.
Seconds tick by, stretching into eternity.
Another bang on the bathroom door has me ducking under the sink. I cover my head with my hand, shaking all over when the rolled up note from teddy’s mouth is pushed through a gap under the door.
“Someone beheaded the teddy,” I whisper to Theo.
The tires of his Camaro squeal in my ear. “I’m coming. Stay where you are. Don’t move. Did you see anyone?”
“No.”
The note is through and whoever is there starts retreating. I listen, holding my breath until the main door slams shut, and my tears come on stronger, relief mixing with fear.
“I think he’s gone…”
“Don’t move!” Theo yells immediately. “Don’t open the door, baby. Stay put until I get there.”
“Oh, God!” I spring to my feet, shaking all over. “Ares… I can’t hear him!”
“Don’t open the door!” He yells again as if he can see me reaching for the handle. “Ares is with the trainer, remember? He’s not home. Stay in the bathroom. I’m almost there.”
I sink back to the floor, listening for any sounds, but the condo is silent. “I was taking a bath,” I mutter because I can’t stand the maddening sound of my pulse rushing in my ears. “The music was playing, and I-I left the windows open, and I didn’t lock the bathroom. What if—”
“Don’t go there,” Theo warns. “Don’t think about that. You’re okay. You’re fine. I’ll put you on hold for twenty seconds, okay? I need to call Shawn. Stay with me.”
“I’m scared,” I whine.
I don’t think I’ve ever spoken those words aloud. I’ve never even thought them before. Not even when I was in jail locked in isolation, because the charges could’ve easily gotten me killed. Not when my lawyer said he won’t fight to help my case, not even when my parents threw me out of their house. The disgust on my father’s face when he backhanded me, saying he no longer has a daughter, haunts me in my sleep to this day.
But I’ve never experienced fear as paralyzing as I do right now, and I wonder if it’s because I’m truly happy for the first time in my life. The happiness could disappear if whoever broke in here got his hands on me. God knows what they wanted to do.
“I know, omorfiá. I’m not far off.” The engine revs louder. “I’ll call Shawn. Twenty seconds. Count.”
You’ve been placed on hold, please wait.
I crawl across the tiled floor, pressing my back against the bathtub, eyes fixed on the door handle.
You’ve been placed on hold, please wait.
I dip my head, fisting my wet hair, tears threatening to spill. Get a hold of yourself! I shut my eyes tight, inhaling deeply.
You’ve been placed on hold, please wait.
Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six.
“Thalia.” Theo comes back, along with the sound of his Camaro speeding across town. “Shawn’s on his way. Did you touch anything?”
“No. Where are you?”
“Close. Don’t move until I’m with you, understand?”
I bite my lip. Theo’s office is in the city center, not far from the condo, but it still feels as if he’s been driving for hours, not minutes. I glance at the screen to check how long has passed since I called, but it doesn’t matter. The roar of the Camaro speeding down the street is no longer just in my ear. It breaks through the walls of the building.
“I’m here.” Tires squeal before the car comes to a full stop, and the door opens before the engine dies.
I shoot to my feet, ignited by an influx of courage now that Theo’s here. I turn the lock when the main door flies open, hitting the wall with a loud bang. I yank the bathroom door, stepping out into the hallway.
Theo grips me by the shoulders. “You were supposed to stay in there,” he says, his heart going faster than mine when he pulls me into his arms, lips on my head. “You’re okay, little one, you’re fine.” He wraps his arms tight around me, cradling the back of my head with one hand. “You’re safe. Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m okay. I’m-I’m sorry, I panicked.”
Shame burns my cheeks. Whoever the girl in the bathroom was just now, that wasn’t me. I don’t panic. I don’t hide. I face whatever the world wants to throw my way.
Not today, though. Today the danger felt too real, the stakes were too high.
“Why are you apologizing?” He pushes me away enough to check me over and brush my cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. “You’re okay. It’s okay to be scared. I was scared too.”
I nuzzle my face back into his chest. My eyes tear up, but the closeness of his body calms me down faster than any tranquilizer ever could…
I’m in love with him.
I love him, and that’s why I panicked. He’s the only person I can’t stomach losing in any way.
And I will lose him.
The weight of my secrets crush me inside out. I should’ve told him sooner before I let myself fall for him, before he became the person that matters the most, before the idea of losing him started to rip me wide open.
“That was the longest five fucking minutes of my life,” he says softly, stamping one kiss after another on my forehead, then scoops me off the floor and into his arms like a little girl.
“Longest five minutes of mine, too,” I admit, wrapping my arms around his neck.
He crosses the hallway and sits me on the couch, readjusting my towel again. “I’ll get you some clothes before Shawn gets here.” He disappears into the hallway, my mind splitting in half.
Theo deserves to know the truth. He deserves the chance to make a conscious decision about me, us and our future, but I’m scared to tell him about Vasilis and the murder charges because I know what he’ll do.
He’ll leave like everyone else.
I’ll be alone again, fighting to keep my head above water.
Theo’s silent for a long time. I can imagine he’s standing in the doorway to the bedroom, taking in the scene, the beheaded teddy bear on the bed and flowers in its paws. The closet doors open and close a moment before he comes back with my tank top and sweatpants in one hand and the rolled-up piece of paper from the bathroom in the other.
“Thank you,” I say when he hands me the clothes.
“Tell me you’re okay, Thalia.”
I’m not okay. How can I be? I let my guard down, and now I no longer face losing a friend or the man I’m crushing on.
I face losing the man I love.
I catch his lips with mine, the kiss slow and gentle. “I’m okay now,” I lie. This isn’t the time to voice my truths. Not today. Not like this, but soon. He needs to know, process, and decide what he wants to do with me next.
He helps me get dressed despite my protests. Now that he’s here, the paralyzingly cold thoughts give way, making it easier to hold the gruesome what-ifs at bay, stopping them from feasting on my conscious mind.
The wail of police sirens outside grows closer by the second until the engine dies.
“Don’t move. I’ll be right back,” Theo says when loud banging shakes the door.
It’s the first time I see Shawn in full police uniform, a gun in his holster, and dark shades pushed back into his thick hair. He’s shorter than Theo and not as broad, but the resemblance is there like with all the Hayes.
“Hey, babe, how are you holding up?” He rounds the couch, crouching before me. “You scared the shit out of Theo. And me too.”
“I’m fine. I just… I don’t know. I panicked.”
“I’d panic too if someone who shouldn’t be there was in my house.” He gets up, glancing at Theo. “Show me what I’m dealing with, bro. The forensic team is on its way.”
They turn around, disappearing into the hallway. I move to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water, the last thirty minutes surreal, to say the least. The note that was pushed under the bathroom door lies on the coffee table. I unroll it carefully, touching only the corner, then use the remote control and my phone to weigh down the edges. Words are printed in dark red ink, the font a fancy script.
You had a chance, and you blew it. Time to play.
I read it three times, understanding less and less with every pass as the ideas form and morph in my head.
“You shouldn’t have touched that.” Shawn plops down beside me. “Sounds like you hurt someone’s ego, babe. Who did you shoot down recently?”
Theo slumps down beside me, leaning in to read the short note, a frown on his forehead. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“Ah, so you know who it is?” Shawn asks.
I shake my head, not sure who Theo might be suspecting. “I have no idea.”
“No idea?” Theo fumes, raking his hand through the hair on the back of his head. “Dean Striker.”
“You think Dean broke into your house? Don’t be ridiculous!” I whisper-shout.
“Who else could it be? Dean sent you flowers, Thalia. Red roses just like the ones in the bedroom. He was pissed off when he realized he won’t get another chance with you, and this,” he points at the note, “that’s a threat.”
“When was that?” Shawn asks, pulling a notepad out of his vest pocket.
“After the Unexpected Truth party at Nico’s. I almost broke his jaw at Nico’s restaurant last week.”
I shake my head, unease squirming like a bucketful of earthworms in my stomach. “I don’t think it was Dean. He’s a decent guy. I can’t imagine him beheading a teddy. What about Asher? He surely holds a grudge against me.”
Theo tightens his hold around me, the muscles in his arms and shoulders tense. “It was Dean, omorfiá. I just know it. And sure, he’s very fucking nice. He basically called you a slut, but he’s a good boy.”
Shawn scribbles in his notepad. “I’ll check them both. I need you to walk me through the day, Thalia. When did you see the bedroom untouched last?”
“I cleaned the house all day. Windows were open. I finished around three, closed the windows, and grabbed fresh clothes from the bedroom before taking a bath. I was supposed to close the window there too, but I forgot.”
“How long were you in the bath?”
“Forty, maybe fifty minutes.”
Theo pulls his phone out, flicking through the call log. “She called me at ten past four.”
“Call it an hour. Ten past three to ten past four,” Shawn says. “Did you hear or see anything?”
“No, I had the music on my phone playing. No one was in the bedroom when I got out of the bath. I saw the teddy bear and locked myself in the bathroom to call Theo, but whoever was here banged on the door a few times, slid the note underneath it and left.”
“Are there any cameras around the building?”
“Yeah, a few,” Theo says, taking my hand to stop me from picking a thread of my tank top. “I’ll call the building manager and get you the footage.”
Shawn rises to his feet when a soft knock reverberates through the condo. He leads the forensics team to the bedroom, explaining the situation briefly, while Theo’s on the phone with the building manager.
“Stop,” he says a moment later, pulling me to his side. “Stop thinking. You’ll give yourself a headache. I’m sure it was Dean, and as soon as Shawn confirms, I’ll take care of that nutcase. He’s not getting anywhere near you again.”
I press myself to his chest, trying to shush the storm in my head. “Hold me for a moment.”
He wraps me in his arms, one hand across my back, the other on the side of my face. My eyes flutter closed, and my heart swells and aches all at once.
“It’ll take about an hour to dust the room for prints,” Shawn says, and my eyes pop open.
I don’t move away from Theo. I couldn’t care less what Shawn thinks of me right now. Whether he considers me weak or needy, it doesn’t matter. Deep down, I want to believe Theo will understand when I tell him the truth about my past. I want to believe he won’t leave, but why wouldn’t he?
Everyone else did.
“Were detaining your teddy bear,” Shawn says. “He’s not a suspect. We just need to ask him some questions. He has the right to remain silent. Although, I don’t expect to get much out of him, even in the presence of a lawyer.”
My mouth curves into a smile when Theo’s chest bounces with soft laughter. “Lack of head might prove problematic, but I’ll call the lawyer just in case.”
Shawn chuckles, shaking his head, focusing back on his brother. “Don’t engage, alright? Leave this to me.”
“I will, for now, but I’m getting my hands on the fucker one way or another.”
