13. VIOLATION

13

VIOLATION

T he rest of the day passed by peacefully. Charlotte managed to forget about the chaos of her life by exploring the town with Aiden. Primarily indoors because the humidity made her clothes want to stick to her skin, and she didn't want to chance that in white shorts, even though she wore a thong to avoid any see-through mishaps.

Like all good things, the peace wasn't meant to last.

Sunset approached, and Aiden prepared for the drive back to Rosebrook Valley. However, before he needed to depart, they made a quick stop at a café to grab a meal to take home for one last dinner together.

Pushing the door open after unlocking it, she froze.

"Gonna let me in?" Aiden chuckled. He must have noticed her tense posture, because he hardened his voice. "Let me through."

His tone compelled her to obey, so she gravitated closer to the wall beside the door. If she didn't use the wall, she wouldn't be able to stand. Her knees weakened at the sight before her.

Her apartment looked like a tornado ran through it. A picky tornado, but a tornado, nonetheless.

Picky, because not everything appeared destroyed.

A few throw pillows from her loveseat appeared cut into by a sharp object, but the loveseat itself remained intact.

Textbooks and school papers lay scattered across the living room floor, buried in dirt from the house plants that were now toppled over and torn from their planters.

Framed photos of her with friends and family lay smashed on the floor.

Someone had shattered the vase she kept roses in on the tile of her kitchen floor, scattering pink rose petals everywhere. Nothing else seemed to be disturbed in the kitchen.

Aiden stormed into the apartment, doing a sweep of the place. To see if whoever broke in was still there or not, she assumed. Her fear prevented her from pleading with him to stay back in case someone was there and would hurt him. Her voice didn't seem to want to work.

"Call the police," he shouted from her bedroom.

Her hands trembled as she set the bag of food down next to her feet, not moving from where she remained plastered against the wall. Pulling out her phone, she dialed the familiar emergency number again. The irony wasn't lost on her that she had a real break-in to call for help about. It was like the universe needed to balance out the false alarm from this morning.

"Athens-Clarke County—"

"There's been a break-in at my apartment." She cut off the dispatcher the same as earlier, immensely grateful it was a different person this time, a woman.

"A break-in? "

"Yes. My apartment is a mess."

"What's your address?"

She gave the address and paused. "Um. I called this morning because I thought someone broke in, but this time I'm serious."

The line was silent for a moment before the female dispatcher asked, "You called this morning?"

"Yes, my friend was here, but I didn't know it was them in the bathroom." She waved a hand before smacking it down on the side of her thigh. "I just woke up and heard them in there and thought someone broke in because someone has been stalking me. I've been to the police station. There's a report. But this time it's for real. My apartment is a mess and—"

"Ma'am." The woman's stern voice grabbed Charlotte's attention, cutting into her panic-induced rambling.

"Yes?"

Softer, the dispatcher asked, "What's your name?"

"Charlotte."

"Okay, Charlotte. I'm gonna need you to take a deep breath for me, okay?"

"Okay." She inhaled deep in her nose and exhaled it from her mouth.

The dispatcher asked for her address. Charlotte recited it by rote.

"Good. I have officers in route. Now, can you tell me if anyone is there?"

"Just my friend." She looked up as Aiden walked across toward her, his boots crunching over the broken glass on the kitchen floor until he came to a stop in front of her. "He checked to make sure no one else was here."

If Aiden hadn't been here, she would have fallen apart.

"Okay. Is there anything missing that you can tell? "

"I haven't—there's…" Her eyes moved up to Aiden's, and she blanched. If that son of a donkey… Somehow, she found the strength in her legs to move forward and head for her bedroom.

Straight for her nightstand.

The drawer sat open, and her journal lay there with all the pages shredded. She didn't even care if Aiden saw her battery-operated boyfriend tucked beneath the journal as he stepped up behind her in silent support.

This final violation of her personal space shifted something inside her, and she wasn't sure how she would get over it.

The journal was big. Three-hundred full index pages, bound with a thick leather flap that buckled on the front. Burned into the leather on the center of the front cover was a celestial sun and crescent moon; her name in script was burned into the bottom corner. Her ma had given it to her as a graduation gift, and it meant the world to her.

To make it last longer, she sectioned off the pages with a ruler and only added important things, as well as a weekly summary, rather than writing nightly.

Her ma told her they could always remove the pages for safe keeping and have new ones bound inside, but she wanted to avoid too much wear and tear on the inner spine.

Now someone had ruined it, and she would either have to add new pages or let it go. It felt tainted now, and that hurt.

She resisted the urge to touch the shredded paper, knowing that touching evidence wasn't smart.

"Nothing seems missing," she finally said in a flat voice.

She turned then, scanning the room, pushing aside the discomfort she felt over her journal.

Her drawers were open; panties and bras spilling out of the top. She wondered if he'd stolen any. It seemed like a stalker-esque thing to do, right? What remained appeared torn and slashed.

"Officers should be there shortly. Do you need me to stay on the line with you until they arrive?"

With no one waiting to ambush her in her home, she didn't see any reason to keep the woman occupied when she could be helping others. Besides, what more could she do than what she already had?

"I'll be fine."

"If you need anything, call me back. My name is Denise. You can ask for me."

"Thank you," Charlotte responded, already forgetting the name as she dropped to sit on the edge of her bed, pressing the button to end the call.

Aiden took the seat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her against his larger frame.

She pivoted her body toward him and wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her face against him, and cried.

"I'm so sorry this is happening," he whispered against the top of her head. His large hand moving to rest on the back of her head while his other arm banded around her back and pulled her tightly against him. "I think it's time to come back to Rosebrook. You can't stay here."

She sniffed and pulled out of his embrace, swiping at her cheeks. "I can't do that. You don't understand."

"I don't, no. I don't understand why you want to stay here and continue to put yourself in danger."

" Aiden, " she pleaded, her voice breaking as fresh tears slipped down her cheeks. "He told me leaving changed nothing. I think… I don't know if he meant that if I came back he'd be waiting, or if…" Taking a measured breath to steady herself, she asked, "What if he follows me back? I can't put my family at risk." She didn't include the lingering fear of what she saw in the alley to her excuse .

Her spine straightened at the thought. She looked around at the mess in her apartment. What if they did this?

It didn't seem like the logical option, considering the personal nature of the destruction. Her eyes shifted to the destroyed journal. The stalker knew about the journal already.

No. That creature didn't do this, but he might also follow her home.

Leaving meant danger for her family from more than one direction. She couldn't do it no matter how scared she felt.

Aiden sighed as he took in her expression. "You're serious about staying."

"I am."

"Then so am I."

"You're what?"

"I'm staying with you."

She blinked once. Twice. Three times. Did he suggest moving in with her? Surely not.

"What are you talking about?"

His thumb brushed a lingering tear from her cheek. "Until this gets sorted out, and the police catch this guy, I'm going to stay here." He paused and seemed to consider his words. "If you'll let me, that is." His face held that sheepish look, paired with the nervous quality of his tone again.

"I don't have anywhere for you to stay." She looked around. "I can't expect you to drop your life for this—for me ."

"I'm not. I'm bored out of my mind with everyone hooking up. Whenever Dom and Layla—"

"Dom?"

"Ah, you haven't met him. His name is actually Dominic. He's a transfer. We met him in Europe on our school trip. Nice guy. He does stuff with us, so maybe you'll get to meet him when you're down next." He shifted his eyes away. He didn't look too thrilled with the idea. Weird. "Anyway, whenever they aren't with us, I feel like a seventh wheel to all the couples." He leaned back on his hands on the bed. "I mean, we have fun. But I do not take pleasure in watching my sister stuff her tongue down someone's throat."

She giggled. It felt good to laugh, even though the world was collapsing around her. His smile in response to her laugh made her stomach flutter.

"We're out for the summer now. I've got the rest of this month and next. If they haven't sorted this by then, we'll figure it out when the time comes."

"What about your things?"

"I can buy clothes and things I need. I've got my laptop, which is the only thing I'd miss."

She rolled her eyes and smiled.

Instead of driving eight hours total to get his things for two months, he would buy completely new things. He had seemed nothing like his sister Riley until then. She had a shopping addiction and didn't blink twice at spending money on new things when she already had so much already. Charlotte didn't think badly of Riley for it, but she didn't understand the lifestyle. Not that she didn't love shopping. Splurging on the occasional treat or new outfit made her happy—splurging on a game made her giddy—but she would take the inconvenience of the drive before spending her grocery money. Of course they didn't have to make a choice.

And there came the reminder of where she didn't fit in their world. She didn't even understand it.

A rapid series of hard knocks sounded on her door, jerking her from the spiral she had started down .

"Athens-Clarke County, open up!"

She slid a nervous glance at Aiden, and he stood, hand touching her shoulder to steady her.

"I'll let them in."

While Aiden let the officers in, she took a moment to compose herself.

As heavy footsteps approached, she looked up at the shorter officer from this morning.

"Afternoon, ma'am. Didn't think we'd be seein' you again today," he said in greeting, an easy-going smile on his face.

Her smile was as forced as her laugh. "No offense, but I hoped to never need to."

"None taken. No one wants to deal with this situation." He cleared his throat. "So your boyfriend here tells me y'all came home to find it like this?"

Her eyes widened, and she darted a glance to Aiden, who looked just as surprised by the officer's assumption.

"He's not—"

"She has a report in with the police about a stalker already," Aiden said, and she gave him a confused look. He wasn't going to correct the officer? He wanted them to think they were a couple? Something about the way his eyes looked when he looked at her prompted her to go along with it. "We believe the same guy did this."

"That so?" the second officer said in a low, smooth voice.

He was taller than Aiden and built like a truck. Likely one of those CrossFit bros. He could crush her like a bug if he wanted, with the way his muscles looked ready to burst out of his uniform.

But that wasn't the scary thing about him.

It was his tawny eyes. They reminded her of the eyes of a big wild cat, almost glowing in the sunlight coming through her window like animal eyes when light reflected off them in the night. Predator eyes. Eyes trained on her, narrowing by the minute.

She shifted, apprehension making her skin feel tight. The urge to get up and run away from the room was overwhelming.

"Brooks," a voice she recognized as the taller officer from that morning called from her living room. "Got something."

The intimidating officer—Brooks—broke the stare-down and turned to go see what the other man had to say.

She teetered on the verge of collapsing when the intense pressure on her chest released. What the hell was that about?

Aiden was by her side in an instant, his expression thunderous.

He sat next to her and grabbed her hand. His grip held tight—almost too tight, but she welcomed the bite of pain. It grounded her after that weird experience.

The shorter officer squinted in the direction the bodybuilder in uniform went. "Don't mind him. He was supposed to be off shift now. Decided to tag along." He shrugged and muttered under his breath, but not quietly enough, "Don't know why if he didn't wanna be here."

"What's this about?"

They all looked as the tall officer—though not as tall as Brooks, so now she needed to read his badge to get his real name—stepped into the room. Douglas. Officer Douglas.

She noticed the business card in his hand, but she didn't know what he wanted to know. There were a few business cards in her kitchen drawer.

He held the card up and read, "You looked lovely this morning. Purple suits you."

Her breath caught in her throat, and all eyes turned on her. Brooks joining them in the small space to add to the scrutiny.

"I-I received roses. I've been receiving roses." She looked at the short officer—Evans. "It's also in the police report I filed." She licked her dry lips. "This guy has been sending me roses for weeks, and that's the first time he put a card in the bouquet. I dropped it. Didn't know where it ended up."

Officer Douglas motioned behind him. "Found it sticking out from under the edge of your fridge."

"This guy," Brooks started, his cold features giving nothing away. "What's his name?"

"I don't know."

"Then how do you know it's a guy?"

"Because he called me," she said, not able to hide the irritation in her voice. She didn't like Officer Brooks. He made her extremely uncomfortable.

He made a humming sound that sounded more like a growl than she cared for, and Aiden's grip tightened on her hand in response.

"If you check with the station, you'll find all the information about this," Aiden said. "He's escalating."

Brooks narrowed his eyes at Aiden, observing. "He is, is he? You seem to know a lot about the situation." The two of them seemed to have some sort of standoff before Aiden broke eye contact.

"Brooks," Officer Evans chastised. "He's her boyfriend. Course he's gonna know about it."

Brooks scoffed. "Boyfriend?"

Did he not think they could be a couple? Rude much?

"Yes, boyfriend," Aiden said, giving the officer a pointed look she didn't understand.

"Interesting."

Her mouth gaped as Officer Grouchy-Pants walked away. Weirdo.

The two remaining officers watched Brooks leave before returning their attention to the room .

Trying to divert attention from the whole boyfriend thing, she said, "Nothing is missing, and the things destroyed—aside from plants and throw pillows—are all personal. Photos, my journal, my underwear… It doesn't seem like a normal break-in. It's not, right?"

"It certainly isn't commonplace. Seems personal," Douglas said.

"We're gonna have a team come in and take some prints and look for anything of interest," Evans said, hooking his thumbs into his belt. "Think y'all could go someplace until we're done?"

"Sure." She looked at Aiden. "We can do a little shopping. I need some new things now that…" Her voice trailed off, and she motioned to the drawer spilling out her most intimate clothing, torn and useless.

Aiden released her hand and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her tight to his side in an intimate gesture she felt positive was for the officer's sake. "I also need to get some things. I plan to stay with her for a while until this gets figured out."

"That's a smart idea," Officer Douglas said with a nod. "If we can't find anything to connect this to someone, there isn't a lot we can do except add it to your existing report."

"But rest assured," Evans interjected. "When we do find this person, these reports will go a long way to solidifying a case against them. Evidence is important in cases like this."

Douglas inclined his head in agreement. "For now, keeping your boyfriend with you—or possibly staying at his place—is a good solution until the investigation is complete."

"I won't be leaving her side."

"Good man," Evans said with a pleasant smile. "We're gonna get on outta here. We'll have investigators drop by shortly. Don't touch anything." He looked around and his expression dimmed. "Afterward, you're free to clean up how you see fit. Damn shame this happened to you."