9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Z ara gripped the steering wheel with every ounce of strength in her muscles. She was pretty sure she was falling in love with Will, but she couldn't do that, couldn't let herself fall for someone who had no perseverance. She'd been tossed with the waves enough in her life.

But she loved him.

Why was she such a fool?

Love was just a farce. Wasn't it?

Who had ever loved her enough to stick with her through it all? No one.

No human anyway.

She pulled into her parking space at her apartment, and the floodgates she'd been holding shut while she drove broke.

After she unbuckled her seatbelt, she folded her arms on the steering wheel and rested her forehead on them.

God was with her. Wasn't He?

There was a phrase in the Bible that came up again and again. "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Did that apply to her? Or was it only for the specific people being spoken to in the Scriptures?

Why was it all so hard to understand?

She wanted to call Will and talk to him about it. But she couldn't do that. That bridge was up in flames.

Fresh tears ignited a coughing fit. When would this stupid cough go away?

She dug in her bag for a water bottle and her inhaler.

Once the coughing subsided, she went inside.

Will and Logan had installed a security system in her apartment on Saturday afternoon, and she was beyond grateful to know she was walking into an empty apartment.

And empty it would stay.

Because she'd shoved Will away.

She locked the door and reset the alarm, but she barely hit enter before another wave of grief hit her.

Putting her back to the wall, she slid to the floor, dropping her bag beside her.

She was alone and always would be.

Only God would stick with her. She could sense Him near, holding her soul in His hands.

He was all she needed anyway, right?

But she had thought that maybe He'd been the One to bring Will into her life. She'd heard stories of how God had used another person to show His love to someone. She had hoped that Will could help her understand what it was like to have someone genuinely care for another. But she couldn't count on him. If he gave up on his dreams so easily, wouldn't he turn around and give up on her? She knew she wasn't an easy person to handle.

While she was growing up, her dad had always said what a handful she was.

More than one boyfriend had told her she was a pain in the neck.

Not one person in her entire life had said she was easy to get along with.

She was bound to be alone. Maybe she should get a cat or ten, then she could be a crazy cat lady. Too bad she was allergic.

Pushing herself off the floor, she shuffled to the living room and found a box of tissues. The first tissue still had remnants of fingerprint dust, so she threw it away and got another one.

She looked around her apartment. They'd gotten it clean, but something still felt off. But what was it?

Walking around, she checked everything—even her room and the bathroom. Nothing was out of place. No one was in her apartment. But something still felt off.

She strolled back into the living room, and that's when she spotted it. Will's dark blue Tar Heels baseball cap sat on the TV stand. She picked it up and chucked it across the room. It whacked into the air conditioning unit.

It wasn't the hat. The AC unit was off.

She crossed the space and picked up the hat, drawing it close to her chest.

The AC unit wasn't just not running, it was powered off. She depressed the power button. Nothing. Did the landlord give her a reject instead of a new unit to replace the one the intruder busted?

She checked the power cord. It was plugged in. Maybe it was sabotaged?

A shudder coursed through her body.

She looked down at Will's hat. Why had she pushed him away? She should call him to come check her AC, but that wasn't going to happen. He probably never wanted to talk to her again.

Could she call Logan? No. He was Will's best friend. She'd pushed everyone away.

AJ was probably on duty, and who knew if she could help with an AC unit?

Zara put the cap on her head, pulled her ponytail through the hole, and fought the tears that threatened again. She needed to go to bed, but it was going to be a million degrees in her apartment by morning. It wasn't like opening the windows would help, and she wasn't about to do that on a ground-floor apartment that someone had already broken into.

Maybe something was wrong with the unit on the outside?

She went into her closet and pulled her sidearm out of the safe that was bolted to the floor there. She checked that it was loaded, snapped it into her holster, and slid the holster onto her belt.

After grabbing a large flashlight and her keys, she ventured outside. The apartment building was surrounded by trees and bushes, but there was about five feet of clearing around the building.

She rounded the corner and checked the window where the AC unit was situated. It looked fine. No wires cut or exposed or whatnot.

Her phone rang. She screamed, and her voice cracked. Why did she have to be a screamer?

She didn't recognize the phone number. "Hello?"

"Zara?" A woman's voice shook on the other end of the line.

"Yes, who is this?"

"It's Miley. Can you … come over?"

"What's wrong?" Zara left the AC unit and turned the corner back toward the front of her apartment.

"Brett and I had a fight—"

Zara stopped. "Did he hit you again?"

"No! But he left. Can you just come over?"

Zara moved the phone away long enough to look at her watch. It was pushing one o'clock. "I suppose I can come for a bit. I'm off duty, but it's late. Give me ten minutes."

"Thanks, Zara."

"Sure." She hung up and resumed her course to the front of the building.

She turned the corner and a dark figure approached.

She screamed.