her arms around her body, hugging herself. God, she was cold. So cold.
“Okay. But it couldn’t have been, because your father’s no longer alive.”
She met his eyes. “Right. No. It couldn’t have been, but it . . . scared me.”
“Of course it scared you. Someone broke into your apartment.”
“It appears as though whoever it was, used a window in the office to enter the residence,” Officer Garrity said, looking up momentarily from his paperwork.
Reed nodded at him and looked back at Liza. “Do you remember leaving that window open?”
She sighed. “I suppose I could have. I often open it when I work from home. I just can’t remember.” She rubbed at her temple. “Things have been . . . I’ve been . . . stressed I suppose. What happened at work and just . . . personally.”
Reed pressed his lips together for a moment, watching her. “Okay. It’s understandable. So you saw him, hid, and then heard him leaving through the front door?”
Liza nodded. “I hid in the closet. He was looking straight ahead toward my bedroom, so he didn’t notice me.” She paused, a shiver running through her at the realization that if she hadn’t had trouble sleeping, hadn’t gotten up when she did and gone to the kitchen and then the guest room, she would have been in bed asleep. Right where he’d left the rose. She swallowed, hugging herself tighter. “After a few minutes I heard the front door unlock, open, and then close again. I heard his footsteps moving away outside. I came out of the closet a few minutes after that and engaged the lock again.” She took a big breath. “When I went to my bedroom to grab my phone and dial 911, I saw a single white rose on my pillow.”
“Does that have any significance to you? That particular flower?”
Liza shook her head.
“All right. I’m going to go take a quick look in your bedroom. There’ll be a criminalist here shortly to dust for prints.”
Liza nodded. “Thank you, Reed.”
His eyes lingered on her a moment before he gave her a slight smile meant to be comforting, and then left the room.
Her cell phone rang and she startled slightly, grabbing it off the table and connecting the call. Chad.
“Hey, sorry to call so late, but I’m doing a bit of work and I had a question—”
“Hi, Chad,” she said, turning her body slightly so she wasn’t looking directly at Officer Garrity as she took the call. “I’ll need to call you back.”
“Okay. Are you all right? You sound strange.”
She cleared her throat. “I’m okay. The police are here. A man broke into my apartment—”
“What the hell?”
“Chad, I’m okay. He didn’t hurt me. Listen, I really have to go. But since I have you on the line, will you let everyone at the hospital know I won’t be in tomorrow? I . . . I think I need a day off.”
“Of course you do. Jesus, Liza. Listen, I’m coming over. You shouldn’t be alone.”
“No, Chad, really—”
“Ms. Nolan?” The other officer named Foster, stepped into the room and she caught his eye, gesturing that she’d just be a second.
“Chad, I really have to go. Don’t come over. Everything’s okay. Thank you for passing along the message at work.” Liza hung up, placing her phone back on the table.
“Sorry about that,” she said to Officer Foster.
“No problem, ma’am. I completed the search of your apartment. There doesn’t seem to be another possibility as far as how the suspect entered other than that office window. I just need you to check through the rooms, make sure nothing is missing.”
Liza stood on legs that still felt like jelly. The adrenalin was draining from her body, leaving her weak and sort of spacey.
Reed came back into the room, his eyes doing a quick sweep of her as she walked toward him.
“Ms. Nolan’s going to do a walk-through and make sure nothing is missing,” Officer Foster said.
“I’ll go with her,” Reed said, coming up beside her. And somehow just his presence, the warmth of his body next to hers was a comfort and a strength. “Are you okay? Do you need some water?”
She pulled herself straight, taking in a big breath and letting it move through her body before she spoke. “No. I’m all right.”
They walked through the rooms of her apartment and Liza did a visual sweep of each space but didn’t see anything out of place. Her space looked completely untouched, and yet it felt utterly different to her.