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Searching the wall blindly, I find the switch and illuminate the small kitchen. “My other house.”
“You have another house?”
“I like to work with my hands when I’m not doing police work. I buy old, broken houses and fix them up. It’s called flipping houses.”
“Oh. So you built this house?” she asks, wonder filling her voice. It makes me crack a smile.
“I didn’t build the house itself. I just tear down the broken parts inside and make them new again. This kitchen we’re standing in? I gutted it down to just the walls and rebuilt it. I made these cabinets and put in the new floor. Everything down to the knobs on the drawers are new.”
She doesn’t say anything, but I watch her examining the space with clear wonder on her face.
“Follow me.”
I lead her through the living space and down the hall. I point out the bathroom and take her to the room at the very end. It was an old spare room that Aislin’s mom used as just another surface for her fuck buddies, but I’ve done so much with the space, there was no way to tell that now. Thank fuck a few weeks back I decided to buy some furniture to stage the house in case I decided to sell it, even knowing that I probably never would. Now Doe doesn’t have to sleep on the damn floor.
“I thought it might be better for you to sleep over here.”
A war of emotions flickers across her face. Confusion and fear dominate, but I also think I see relief, too.
“It’ll be better. You need plenty of rest, and you won’t get that if I keep waking you in the middle of the night with my bad dreams. You already have your own bad dreams to deal with. I think we’ll both sleep better this way, and I’ll be right next door. You’re still safe here, Doe.”
And she is. I might have had that incident a few weeks ago, but I’m almost one-hundred percent certain it was her sneaking into this house. And that whoever was in that car on my lawn was looking for her. I have installed a security alarm on the place since then, and the person from the car is long gone. They’d have no reason to suspect she’s still here after all this time.
“I’m scared to be alone,” she whispers, worrying the hem of her shirt with her fingertips. I dump the bag on the floor just inside the room and take a step closer until I’m right in front of her. I wish I could hug her and translate some of my confidence into her, but that’s not possible with all that’s happened to her. I’d scare her straight into a catatonic state.
“You won’t be alone. This house is safer than mine, and I’ll be right next door. There’s an alarm system wired to my cell phone that’ll wake me up if anyone tries to break in. It’d take me thirty seconds to get over here with my gun.”
“I’m still not sure.” She turns her head away from me again. This time I call her back with a, “Hey.”
When she looks back at me, I ask, “What would make it better?”
A few seconds tick past. “Can Betsy stay?” At her name, the German Shepherd butts her head against Doe’s thigh, and she immediately slides her fingers into her fur.
“You want my dog?”
She nods. “She makes me feel safe.”
I crack a small grin. “Sure, I’m the one with the gun, but you feel safer with the dog.”
“She can bark loud. And you said she could tear a man apart.”
“She could,” I reply in a deadly serious tone.
“Okay. I’ll stay here to sleep if Betsy stays with me.”
“Good. One more thing.” I jerk my head toward the hall in a gesture for her to follow me. I stop in front of the one door I didn’t point out to her before. Aislin’s old room. “You aren’t allowed in this room. There’s nothing bad or weird in there. It’s just my rule.”
A fearful look crosses her face again. Shit. I steel myself with a steady breath then crank the knob. The door swings open. Thankfully, adequate light shines in from the moon and I don’t have to flip the light switch. I try to hold my breath and not think about the last person who lived in here, but it’s nearly impossible. “See? Nothing weird. Just please stay out of there.” Before I lose my nerve, I shut the door again.
“Okay, Niko. I’ll stay out of there.”
“Thank you. Now, it’s late. Get into bed and when you’re settled, I’ll head out and lock up. Sleep as late as you want, but I’ll come check on you in the morning so you don’t have to go outside alone. We can have breakfast at my house whenever you’re ready.”
“Okay. Good night, Niko.”
“Good night.”
She turns out the bedroom light, and I hear her getting into the bed. Once she gives the okay, I walk back through, turning on the bathroom light and closing the door most of the way. I don’t want it too bright, but it’s an unfamiliar house. She shouldn’t be too afraid to use the toilet in the middle of the night. I darken the kitchen, set the alarm, and lock up. Part of me feels lighter, and the other part feels guilty as hell. Not only because another woman is sleeping in Aislin’s house. That’s hard enough as it is. But going into Aislin’s old room, no matter how brief, feels a bit like opening Pandora’s box. This is one time I absolutely hope my gut feeling is wrong.
