38. Nat

The message daubed across my bedroom wall is as explicit as it is violent. Red paint - at least I hope it's paint - drips down onto my white pillowcases, and from the pungent yellow stain on the bed, whoever left me this message also pissed in here for good measure.

I feel ill. Being called a cunt and a whore is bad enough, but knowing a stranger has violated my safe space is somehow so much worse. And… terrifying.

My clothes have been pulled out of drawers and strewn everywhere. Even my old journals are tossed around the room like confetti. It's impossible to tell if anything has been taken.

Not that there was anything valuable in there. Or in my apartment at all. Everything useful to the investigation is with me or at the office.

It does not escape my notice that the first thing I worry about is the USB drives and my laptop, which makes me realize I understand on a subliminal level this attack isn't random. Someone has broken into my apartment to look for items connected to my investigation, likely hoping my laptop was there.

Sadly for them, it was with me because I hadn't gone straight home after work.

If I had, whoever came here would know what I know.

My legs wobble and for an awful moment, I think I'm going to throw up. But Max is there. He scoops me up in his arms and takes me back into the living room. I don't say a word while he makes a quick phone call and then we leave my apartment. He carries my bag and laptop as well as me, like I weigh nothing at all.

Artem waits outside. He takes my bags from Max and drops them in the trunk while Max places me gently onto the backseat. I can hear them talking quietly to each other but I zone out.

All I can see are red drips and vile words. Who could have done this? And worse still, what if I'd been there when they arrived?

Cold dread snakes down my spine. It was pure luck I went out for the evening with Max. If he hadn't been there, I would have headed home after making an excuse to Dylan.

God.

I doubt the pepper spray I keep in my bag would be sufficient to fight off a fully grown man for long. And if there was more than one guy… it doesn't bear thinking about.

The journey back to Max's apartment doesn't register. It isn't until he walks me into his gigantic bathroom and turns the shower on that I notice where we are.

It's only then that I realize how cold I am. How badly I'm shaking. He peels off my shoes and clothes and then strips his own off, but there's nothing sexual about it. The water is scalding against my cold skin but Max cradles me against his chest, letting the water sluice down over the two of us until finally I feel warm.

When I'm dry again, he places me carefully under the covers and climbs in next to me. I fall asleep with his steady heartbeat thudding gently against my ear.