AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A fucking mannequin.
I gritted my teeth and dragged it out of the elevator, leaning it against the wall in the hallway.
Turning around, I was ready to race back to the apartment, but the two kids were right there behind me with their phones in my face. It seemed they’d recorded the entire prank. And now that their secret was out, they were openly laughing at me.
I was about to rip them both new assholes, but then I saw Devyn standing behind them, not a hint of a smile on her face. She clearly had her hands full and very little control of these kids. I didn’t want to look like a jerk, so instead of screaming at Frick and Frack, I forced a laugh—even though there wasn’t anything amusing about this.
Devyn scolded them. “Where the hell did you get that mannequin?”
“We stole it from Macy’s,” the girl said. “Walked right out with it.”
Devyn pointed behind her. “Get the hell inside the apartment and wash up. Both of you!”
They disappeared, leaving Devyn and me standing across from each other in the hallway.
My chest heaved as I stood there, torn between anger and feeling like a dog in heat because of this beautiful woman. More than anything, I wanted to wrap her in my arms and assure her that whatever she was going through right now would get better.
“I have to go,” she finally said, turning toward the apartment.
I followed her. “Devyn, wait. We should talk.”
She turned and shook her head, regret in her eyes. “I really can’t.”
“I understand you have your hands full. I don’t mean tonight.”
“I don’t think so, Owen.” She walked backwards. “I’m sorry.”
If I had a nickel for every time this woman apologized to me…
Devyn returned to the apartment—and closed the door on me.
Again.
CHAPTER 3
Owen
“What’s going on? Did something happen?” Two days later, I walked through the front door of the apartment building after work to find a lobby full of cops.
“Do you live here?” the tallest of the bunch asked.
I nodded. “Up on the second floor. I’m also one of the owners.”
“I’m Officer Wells.” He motioned to another cop, who stepped over to join us. “This is my partner, Officer Tambour. One of the residents in the building came home and interrupted a robbery in her apartment—her name is Mrs. Unger.”
“Shit. Is she okay?”
The cop nodded. “She’s fine. The perpetrator was a kid. We found him up on the roof. The only thing he had was one of her cats. An expensive Persian type, apparently. The thing’s been vandalized.”
My brows pulled together. “Thecat’sbeen vandalized?”
“Yep. It was white. Now it’s dyed orange and black with stripes. Sort of looks like a tiger.”
I closed my eyes. A teenager who stole a cat to dye it? I had a pretty good idea who the perpetrator was.
“Do you know the kid’s name who did it?”
The cop shook his head. “Won’t talk. Other than to call my partner a pig.”
