To her credit, Memphis doesn’t ask the question,“Who would break into my apartment?”I think we’re both well aware that her very existence is sending up red flags all over the city.
“It’s going to be fine. I promise,” I tell her as we pull up and she reaches for the door handle.
“I really, really hope you’re right.” She looks around, probably scanning for the cops that are supposed to be here, or at least on their way. But no one’s here yet. Typical of the overburdened NYPD.
“You want me to come up, sir?” Yuri, the driver, asks from the front seat. I keep his number handy for random jobs like this.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d stay with the car. Direct the cops up when they arrive.”
Yuri gives me a short nod, but I can tell from his posture that he doesn’t like having anything to do with the cops. Given what I know about his past, it doesn’t surprise me. Old habits die hard, or not at all.
Memphis retrieves her keys from her purse and hands them to me to unlock the first door. Then she pulls out her phone and taps at its screen.
“I have security cameras hidden,” she says, lifting her chin at the lobby ceiling. “Here and near my apartment. We should be able to see something on the feed.”
“Smart girl,” I say, opening the door and ushering her inside.
She’s still waiting for the camera feed to load due to the crappy service inside the stairwell when we reach her floor. Randi leans against the hall wall opposite Memphis’s door, and the expression on her face can only be described as supremely pissed off.
“Good. You’re here. See you later.” She turns to stalk off down the hallway.
Memphis bolts forward to catch her. “Wait, Randi. I’m sorry.”
Randi shoots a glance at me, and I can tell she wants to call Memphis out about what happened at the restaurant, but she doesn’t.
Could she actually care about not blowing Memphis’s cover, even though she’s furious and knows she’s been lied to?As if I’m one to talk. Only yesterday it was me getting gut-punched with the truth, and here I am. Memphis has that unique effect on people.
“Yeah, whatever. Good luck,Drew.Hope they didn’t take anything important.” Randi turns the corner and disappears, leaving Memphis with her phone in her hand, staring after her.
I move closer to the door to check out the damage to the handle and locks. “Boot prints. A man kicked it in. Someone big or unusually strong for his size.”
“I have dead bolts.”
I glance her way for a beat before pulling down the cuff of my shirt to open the door without getting fingerprints on it. “If someone’s determined, no dead bolt is going to stop them.”
With a frustrated shake of her head, she looks back down at the phone and taps the screen several times. As I swing the door open, she looks up toward the position where I assume her other camera should be ... and there’s nothing.
Memphis meets my gaze, her mouth falling open. “How could they chance taking that camera out without being filmed? Wouldn’t they have to know it was there?”
“Come on, let’s check out the inside before the cops get here.”
In the pit of my stomach, I know we’re dealing with a professional. Even with the boot print and obvious signs of forced entry, which would make someone think this was an amateur job, I make a different conclusion. Someone wanted it tolookamateur, which is even more telling.
“Holy shit.” Memphis gasps when we walk into the living room. The entire place has been torn apart.Ballsy as fuck, given the fact that this apartment building could not have been empty when the break-in went down.
The couch cushions are slashed, erupting with stuffing. The drawers in the tables in front and beside the sofa are tossed on the oak floor, the limited contents spread out on the wood. The kitchen is the same. Every drawer and cupboard open. Food spilled everywhere. The fridge and freezer have been pawed through too.
Someone was looking for something specific. The only question is ...did they find it?
Memphis charges toward what I assume is the bedroom, but I grab her hand. “Careful. I’m going first.”
“But—” She cuts off what she was going to say.
Even rattled, she’s braver than most men I know. Still, her safety is something I take seriously, even if she doesn’t sense the danger.
“You going first isn’t going to change anything. If they found what they were looking for, it’s gone regardless.”
“Fuck. Fuck.Fuck.” She curses but falls into step behind me.