40. “Killing Me Softly”

40

"KILLING ME SOFTLY"

LAURYN HILL (THE FUGEES)

A s soon as Roxy jumped down onto the driveway, she immediately started sniffing the air with her tail up.

She cut a path, left to right, right to left, back to back, across the driveway, and up the walkway to the back door. A low growl rumbled from somewhere that until now had been dormant.

"What is it, Rox? What's gotten into you? Attack lizards this time? Little green ninjas? Terrifying!" I joked in an attempt to quell my growing anxiety.

She continued with the odd body language but stopped sniffing long enough to turn and look at me, then at the back door with the same low growl.

"A cheese emergency, then?"

When she didn't answer with her typical "yes!" bark in response to the magic word, my instincts kicked in.

Roxy wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a guard dog, but she did have excellent instincts, and I felt compelled to pay attention to them at that moment.

I tried the handle of the door, and it was locked. The chances of it actually being a cheese emergency were becoming more likely, so I turned my key and opened the door.

What I saw in the foyer took my breath away.

The place was a disaster, to put it mildly. There was glass all over the floor, and I immediately closed the door and got Roxy and myself back into the Jeep and out of the driveway.

I parked around the corner and, with shaking hands, dialed 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I've had a break-in at my house."

"Are you currently at the location? Are you inside your house right now?"

"No, I saw the damage and broken glass on the floor, and I left immediately."

"We'll get someone over there right away. What's the street address?"

I gave them the address and immediately texted the Sensational Six after I hung up.

Someone broke into my house while I was gone.

Grace: I'm on my way. Are the cops there?

Elyse: I'm turning around now. I'll be right there.

Sarah: Are you kidding me? Let me have my husband put the rest of the food away, and I'll be there in a few minutes. Please be careful.

Cat: I just parked my bike. I'm putting my helmet back on, and I will be there in five. Do NOT go in until the police get there.

Grace: Yes, please don't go in.

Oh, I definitely won't.

I called, and they are on their way.

I'm parked around the corner.

Jenna: Oh no.

I was relieved to see the squad car pulling down the gravel road. My hands were still shaking as I tried to grip the wheel and pull the Jeep back into the driveway.

A uniformed Officer Alcott was getting out of his squad car as I opened my door. I hopped down and told Roxy to stay. "Is it okay if I let my golden retriever out? She's a little anxious right now."

"Feel free, but please wait out here while I make sure that everything is safe inside. Do you know how they got in?"

"I don't. This door was locked, but I haven't checked the front door. I saw the glass in the foyer and left immediately."

"Okay, I'm going to go in and have a look around. You wait right here."

He went inside through the door I'd left unlocked in my haste to flee, and remained inside for what was probably ten minutes, but felt like a hundred. He returned and opened the back door, then waved me in.

"Come on, Roxy," I said, but I'd wasted my breath. She was already halfway to the open door, her nose down and her tail up.

"The front door was also locked. There is broken glass everywhere," he said. "Do you have somewhere you can safely put your dog so she doesn't cut her paws?"

"Yes, I'll put her in her room off the kitchen."

I walked to the other side of the patio and unlocked the door to Roxy's room, which was at one point a workout room and which would at no point in the future be used for such nonsense.

"Roxy, wait here, and I'll come and get you once everything is cleaned up. Be a good girl," I said and patted her head before giving her a smooch on her snoot.

I wished I could stay with my arms wrapped around her fluffy neck, but I had some adulting to do instead. I left Roxy's room through the hallway to the kitchen, closing the door behind me, to which Roxy protested with a high-pitched bark.

"I'll be right back, Roxy. Hang in there."

I tiptoed through what had to be dozens of smashed plates and bowls in the kitchen to the equally destroyed foyer and found him waiting there with a notepad. The table that had been holding up a beautiful antique vase filled with an enormous silk floral arrangement was lying on its side, surrounded by shards of blue and white glass and an oxymoronic sea of brightly colored petals violently ripped from their stems. The enormous round mirror that had hung just inside the door was a goner, and I couldn't help but think about the seven years of bad luck that would be following whomever had ripped it from the wall and heaved it onto the hardwood floor. Its mangled frame had been relieved of all but a few pieces of reflective glass at its edges and was face-up in submission inches from the baseboards along the staircase.

"You've got yourself a real fan here, Paige. As you can see, there is broken glass everywhere, particularly in the foyer and kitchen. There's some damage to the walls headed up the stairs, and the room that looks as if it's inhabited—which I'm assuming is yours—has the most extensive damage."

We carefully picked our way through the great expanse of broken glass and went up the stairs to the second floor. I could barely look at the gorgeous murals on the walls. It was obvious they were going to need some extensive repairs.

"The mirror in the bathroom is smashed. The mirror above your dresser is smashed. The pillows have been sliced open, and feathers are everywhere. It looks as if the bedding has been slashed with a knife. Do you have any idea who would do this? "

When I started to reply, I realized my mouth had been hanging open in shock. "I have no idea, but if I were a betting woman, I'd put my money on the lunatic who has been vandalizing my Jeep."

Officer Alcott tapped his pen on his notebook. "That'd be a safe bet, I'd say."

My shaking had been replaced with a full-body numbness.

"Hello? Oh my god." Grace's voice traveled up to us.

"Grace, we're up here. Hang on."

"Is it okay if my friend comes upstairs?" I asked Officer Alcott. "I could use a familiar face right about now."

"She can come up, but please warn her to be careful and not to touch anything."

I parroted his instructions and within moments I could hear Grace's footsteps on the treads of the stairs as she made her way up to the second floor. Her eyes were full, blue moons against her tanned, worried face. "What on earth happened here?"

"I wish I knew. The doors were locked, so I have no idea how this could have happened."

"I can't even believe this. So what has been damaged?"

"Right now, it looks as if it's the foyer, the kitchen?—"

"Oh, I saw the kitchen on my way to the staircase. I'm nearly speechless. I'm glad to see you here, Ben," Grace said, turning to where Officer Alcott stood in front of my bathroom door to her left.

"Hello, Grace. I'd say it's nice to see you, but…" He looked around the room and back to her.

"Knock, knock," came Elyse's voice up the stairs.

"Is that Elyse Bennett's voice I hear?"

"Yes, we were all together earlier before I came home to find this… disaster."

"Well, I'm going to dust for fingerprints, then I'll be on my way. I'll let you know when I'm done so you can start cleaning up."

A short time later he cleared us to start in the kitchen, and we began sweeping up all the plates and mugs that had been pulled out of the cabinets and thrown to the floor.

"I'm glad none of these beautiful countertops were damaged," said Grace as she placed an empty cardboard box on the floor.

Elyse came around the corner from the dining room with a dustpan full of broken bits of plates and teacups. "If I find out who did this, I—oh, hello there, Ben."

"I would suggest not taking the law into your own hands, Elyse. Miss Rhiann, if you think of anything else, please give me a call. I'll be in touch." He handed me his card. "I'm glad you have a dog here. Keep her loose tonight and listen for her. Do you have an alarm system?"

"I do have an alarm system, but I haven't been turning it on." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grace straighten up much faster than I'd seen her move up until then. "I will start doing that today."

"You better," admonished Grace.

As Officer Alcott left, he passed Sarah on the walkway coming in, and I heard the concern in her voice. "Ben. Thank God you were able to get here so fast. How is she? Everything's okay inside?"

"Yes. She's a little shaken, but I'm sure your company will do her a lot of good. You ladies have some cleanup ahead of you. I'd stay and help, but I need to get back to the station to write up the report and run some fingerprints."

"Thank you, Ben. I hope you find who did this before Elyse and Cat do."

"So do I. Take care, and please remind Miss Rhiann to keep that alarm set, even when she's home, and she definitely needs to have these locks changed. I'm going to drive past here a few times tonight."

I heard this last bit as I walked outside to take a breath.

Sarah looked to me with concern clouding her eyes, then back to Officer Alcott. "That makes me feel a lot better. We will set the alarm right now and remind her to set it again after we leave."

As he climbed into his squad car, I could hear the roar of Cat's bike as she turned down my street. We waited for her to park and take her helmet off.

When she and Sarah walked into my destroyed kitchen and stood in the same state of shock we had all experienced, without a word, I walked to the alarm panel and activated it, then hugged Sarah and Cat on my way back into the kitchen.

"Thank you all for coming. I owe you big after tonight."

"Nonsense," replied Grace. "Let's get this cleaned up so you can let that poor dog out of her room. Her howling is tearing my heart in half. I brought some gardening gloves and empty boxes in from the garage and I found an extra broom. This shouldn't take long."

The five of us continued working in the kitchen without saying much, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Once all the glass had been cleaned up and the counters wiped down, Sarah spoke up. "Is this it? The foyer and this mess in the kitchen?"

"No, whoever it was went upstairs and destroyed my bedroom and bathroom as well."

The dustpan Elyse had been using clattered to the ground. "Are you shitting me right now?"

"I wish I were."

Her eyes found Cat's and widened in shock. "You and Sarah come with me. We will get started up there."

We knew precisely when they'd arrived in my room. "What the hell ?" (Elyse) "Holy shit!" (Cat) Then, "Holy cow." (Sarah)

Grace closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and spoke. "You have a lot of flatware and cups you're going to have to replace."

"It sounds like some online shopping is in order. I'm not looking forward to calling my uncle about this. He's put so much of his heart into this house and in one evening someone just trashed it."

"What do you think you're going to do? Will you file an insurance claim?"

"I don't think I want to start off with my new insurance policy by immediately filing a claim, so I think I'm just going to end up eating this one. It looks to be mostly glass and bedding, which can all be replaced pretty easily. The murals are another story, but I'm hoping my uncle can put me in contact with the artist. With any luck, she can touch up the damage without having to completely repaint those sections."

Within a few hours, the ladies had everything cleaned, boxed up, and tucked into the back of Grace's SUV. "I'm going to take this with me and drop it off at waste management." She put my ravaged bedding in her backseat. "I don't know what I'm going to do with this yet. I just don't want you to have to look at it until garbage day."

"You ladies have been incredible, as always. I don't know what I would do without you."

"The good news is," retorted Elyse, "you don't have to do much of anything without us. But what I would recommend is getting some cameras set up."

Cat spoke up. "I just had some installed at the café after that fiasco with Craig. Is that something that you are open to?"

I shuddered at the mention of his name. "Yeah, I don't think it's a bad idea at this point. I hate having cameras around, but right now, I wish I had them all along."

"I'll call him on the way home and tell him it's an emergency. Are you going to be home tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'll be here all day. "

"Great. Expect a call from Adam. He'll get you all set up."

Grace stepped forward and hugged me, which I gratefully returned. "I can't even imagine what this feels like, but please know we're here for you. Would you and Roxy like to just come back home with me?"

"No, we're gonna be okay here. I'll bring my nine-iron upstairs for protection."

Grace, Elyse, Cat, and Sarah barked out a laugh at the same time, then one by one, wrapped me up and squeezed me tightly.

"That's not a bad idea," said Sarah. "And Ben said he'd be driving past tonight. He's a good guy, and he seemed genuinely concerned about you. Promise me you're going to activate the alarm after we leave."

"The second I walk back in, I'll be turning it on."

Elyse opened the door of her car, but stood behind it. "Keep your phone with you and charging all night. We'll probably check in right around bedtime, and we're just a phone call away if you need any of us."

"You ladies are amazing."

I stood in the driveway and waved as the three of them pulled out of the driveway. When I went inside, I headed straight for the alarm panel, swept the floor one more time, then let an anxious Roxy out of her room. A few minutes later, my phone was ringing on the counter. Uncle Mike.

"I fell asleep watching TV and missed a call from Susie next door. She left me a voicemail saying there was a squad car in your driveway when she got home from her Bridge club. Is everything okay?"

"Yes. It is now. I was going to call you as soon as I got upstairs. Someone broke in here while I was at book club and smashed up a bunch of stuff. Other than a few parts of the mural going up the stairs, nothing that can't be replaced. Other than my psyche. "

" Are you serious? " he shouted into the phone. "Do you need us to come over?"

"No, my friends just left. They helped me clean everything up, and I just turned the alarm on. Cat is sending someone over to install cameras tomorrow."

"That's an excellent idea. You've got some great friends there, Paige. Do they happen to have any old uncles looking for more friends?"

"I'm not sure." It felt good to laugh; it was something I could always count on Uncle Mike to provide. "I can ask."

"I'm happy you're able to laugh a little. You must be so shaken up! Do you have any idea who this might have been?"

"I have no idea. Between this and the vandalism to my Jeep, it feels personal to me, but I can't imagine who would have it in for me already. I just got here."

"Was the door unlocked when you got home?"

"No, both doors were locked, and the police officer couldn't find any broken glass anywhere other than the dishes and mirrors."

"And you're sure you don't want us to come over? Or you and Roxy are welcome here."

"I'm going to stay put for tonight, but thank you. Hopefully, whoever did this has wound themselves down and Officer Alcott will find them quickly. He took a bunch of fingerprints before he left and told Sarah he's going to drive by throughout the night."

He hesitated for a moment, likely debating whether he should drive over and kidnap me. With a long sigh, he released a breath he'd clearly been holding in as he deliberated with himself. "Ok. I met Ben years ago at a fundraiser. He's a good guy and if he said he's going to drive by, that probably means he'll be camped out in front of the house. But, Paige, I'm serious about this. If anything seems strange, call the police and then call me. I'll wake up Chris and we'll be right there. I'm so sorry this happened, kiddo."

"Me, too. My heart broke when I saw all your hard work smashed on the floor."

"It's just stuff, honey. Nothing that can't be replaced or fixed. You, on the other hand,…"

"I know, Uncle Mike. I'll be fine, I promise. But, I'm going to go to bed and see if I can get some sleep."

"Okay. Well, again, let me know if you need us there."

I let a very reluctant Uncle Mike go after promising to double-check the alarm, leave Roxy to roam the house overnight, and bring a golf club to bed.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to sleep, but I couldn't talk about what had happened there for one more minute.