AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She gave him another sad smile. “I’m sorry, Felix. I really am. And I wish I could tell you the bedroom was better, but…”
“You can’t. I get it.”
Officer Johnson grimaced. “No. Ready to take a look?”
“I don’t have a choice, do I?” But he was already following Officer Johnson back into the hallway.
In a move that shocked us both, I grabbed his hand and laced our fingers together. He looked at our hands for a second, then squeezed my fingers and pulled me along down the hall.
The bedroom was more of the same—smashed lamps and overturned nightstands, slashed and torn bedding, the carcassesof a few collectible stuffed animals lying like deflated balloons around the room, their fluff in piles that reminded me of snow. Clothes had been stripped from hangers and pulled from drawers, but most of it looked relatively intact, only a few shirts ripped or pairs of pants shredded. Apparently, whatever these motherfuckers had been looking for, it wasn’t Felix’s collection of nerdy T-shirts.
He moved around the room, stepping carefully and mentally cataloguing what he saw. Before anyone could stop him, he bent and came up holding a fluffy round ball, clutching the stuffed toy to his chest, the trauma of having his space so brutally invaded finally catching up with him. I could see him starting to crack around the edges.
“We’ll need to process that.” Officer Johnson held out an evidence bag. The stuffy was maybe the only relatively unharmed item in the apartment, and Felix turned sharply, hiding it against his side and refusing to give it up. He looked so young in that moment, so innocent. And I couldn’t really blame him for wanting to keep it.
“Don’t you think we could let him hold on to this one thing?” I gave the officer a significant look. “He’s been through a lot today.”
She frowned, torn between protocol and compassion, but she finally nodded. “The tech might need to look at it, but I’ll make sure you get it back.”
Felix didn’t seem to hear her. He was looking down at the stuffed sea otter like it was the last good thing in his world.
I would make sure it wasn’t.
Hours later, we were back in the hall, sitting on the floor again. McMahon had shown up, and he and Ortega had gone through the apartment with the crime scene techs. We’d been allowed to leave for a little while to grab something to eat. Felix had pushed a few fries around his plate, but he hadn’t eaten much and kept a death grip on the otter he’d rescued from his room.
I wanted to take Felix home so he could start to put this invasion in his past, but McMahon asked us to come back when we were done eating. He’d already taken our statements and talked to Felix about what could have been on the drives, and he’d made Felix list everything he could remember being in the apartment.
And we’d been sitting in the hall since, getting only the occasional update as people moved in and out.
“Felix. Nero.” McMahon poked his head out the apartment door before taking a step into the hall. “I think you can go.” He looked dead on his feet, and the small part of me that actually kind of liked McMahon felt a little bad.
Standing, I held out a hand to Felix, and he took it and let me help him up again. “Good. It’s about damn time.”
McMahon rubbed a hand over his face. “I know, but for fuck’s sake, don’t give me shit right now. This is a mess.”
I nodded.
“Lie low and keep Felix at your place. I’ll be in touch if we need anything else.” He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and flipped through it until he found a business card that he held out to Felix. “These guys are the best crime scene cleanup crew on the West Coast. I’ll let Nero know when we release the scene, and you can give them a call to come in and clean up. See if there is anything left you want.”
Felix had both arms wrapped around the damn stuffed otter, and he made no move to take the card, so I plucked it from McMahon’s fingers. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Good. Good. And the department will pay for it.” McMahon clapped me on the shoulder.
“You better find these guys.” The words came out on a threatening growl.
The detective’s eyes widened, but he nodded. “We’re doing everything we can.”
“It’s not enough. But it’s good you got Felix out when you did.”
Another nod, and then I put my arm around Felix’s shoulders and led him down the hall and out of the building.
Back in the car, he was silent as we drove out of his neighborhood, and as someone who’d always been utter shit at this kind of thing, I had nothing to say to make him feel better. I took the exit before the one I needed and pulled into the parking lot of a Target, killing the engine. That seemed to pull Felix out of his head, and he looked around.
“Where are we?”
“I thought you might want to get a couple changes of clothes and whatever else you need.”
Felix rubbed his forehead, his glasses sliding to the end of his nose. “Oh, yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”
