Page 19 of Missing White Woman

The other pair of cops rushed into the house, followed quickly by the EMTs. They too didn’t acknowledge me, but at least they had a good reason. They thought there was a life still to be saved. I didn’t say anything. They’d find out soon enough.

I turned back to watch the cops talk to Drew. I took them in. A man and a woman. Both in uniform. Each tall and good-looking enough to pose for one of those charity calendars. Drew said something. They nodded back. Friendly but all business.

He pointed at the row house and they all glanced at it—looking through me to do so. Then finally one of the cops came back outside. “Lou. Come here.”

The woman ignored me as she rushed by. The man managed to squeeze in a full once-over in the second it took to pass me. Even from a distance I heard the door slam. It was just like at night, when it was pitch-black and you were scared shitless. Even the softest noise felt like it was blasting through speakers.

I turned, and sure enough, the door was finally closed. I exhaled but still saw her lying there in my mind. Drew stood a few feet away, staring at the closed door as if he could see right through it.

Before I knew it, the woman was the first back out. And this time she stopped to talk to me.

In. Out. In. Out.

Where was Ty???

“This is your place?” she said.

I wasn’t under arrest. They were just asking me a question. One I could answer. I shook my head, made a point to keep my response simple. “Airbnb.”

“But you were the one who found the body?”

I nodded.

“And what’s your name, sweetheart?”

At least this one was pretending she was nice. “Breanna Wright.”

“Spell it for me.” She typed it into her phone. “Ms. Wright, you said you and the deceased had rented the place.”

I shook my head too fast. It made me dizzy. “My boyfriend.”

“Where is he?”

“At work. JPMorgan.”

She typed that too, thumbs working fast. “So you don’t know who’s in there?”

I shook my head yet again. Tried to think of her as a person versus just a body on the floor.

“Or how she got inside?” she said.

“I’m assuming she broke in and fell while coming up the stairs.”

“You heard her?”

“I was asleep.”

“But you know she broke in?” she said. “There weren’t any signs of forced entry.”

I hadn’t checked. Other things had been on my mind. I finally glanced at the place, saw the lock that had given me hell my first day. I turned back to the officer. “It’s an Airbnb. Keyless lock. She could’ve known the code. She was there when I woke up.”

“Did you try to revive her?”

It never even occurred to me. I just ran—only thinking of myself. “No. I got out of there. Went to get help.” Not exactly true, but it sounded good. “That’s when I ran into… Drew and Krista. He called you and we waited outside for you to get here.”

She said nothing, just used her thumbs to note what I’d said before finally looking up. “The detectives should be here soon. We’re going to need you to wait in my patrol car.”

I stopped all breath. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard a cop say that.

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