Page 62 of Conner

“Are you okay?”

She nodded again.

He stopped. “Sasha, look at me. Are you okay?”

She finally looked up at him. “Please, just get me out of here.”

“Let's go.” And at that he led them to his car and started to his house to get the note.

33

Sasha

Sasha's head was spinning. While she had known some of that would happen, she had wagered they would need her passwords, she knew they would want to search her apartment, but she hadn’t thought they would take her computer and her phone. Her phone. She was sick to her stomach. Not that she had anything particularly damning on it, it was the principle of the whole thing.

She numbly followed Conner to his car, and they got in, making their way back to his house in silence. Her stomach was turning, and the bile was rising in her throat.

“Pull over.”

“What?” Conner asked, glancing over at her quickly.

“Pull over!” she said quickly.

He pulled off to the side and she opened the door and got sick. Conner rubbed her back and she tried to take any type of solace in his comfort, but she just couldn't. This all felt so violating. Someone pouring through her online life and through her real life in her apartment made her skin crawl.

“Are you okay?” he asked for probably the twentieth time today and all she could do was nod, knowing full well she was lying. She was not okay. She washed her mouth out with her water and they made it the rest of the way to Conner's house with his hand firmly on her knee.

“I’ll run in and grab the letter,” he said as he pulled in and left the engine running.

“I’m going to go brush my teeth,” she said as she got out of the car. Conner turned off the car and followed her in. She made her way to the guest bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She was still relatively put together on the outside which just made the inner turmoil she felt even stronger.

Making her way down to the kitchen, Conner was waiting for her with a look on his face that cut her to the quick. She didn't know how or when it had happened, but the way he looked at her told her that he understood how hard all of this was for her. There was a reason she had run last time. Some people would assume since she put herself out there as an influencer that her life was an open book, but really having that public persona made her protect her privacy even more, and this was awful.

She gave him a small smile and he pulled her into a hug. She held onto him. He tightened the hug, and she took a shuddering breath.

“I’ll be right by your side,” he whispered in her ear as he stroked her hair.

Managing to pull herself away from the safety of his embrace, “Let's do this.”

They both made their way back to his car and over to her apartment. When they arrived, there were already three cop cars there waiting for her to let them in. Her hands starting to get a little shaky. Conner got out of the car and quickly went around, helping her out. “I’m right here,” he whispered in her ear as they made their way over to three cops who were gathering outside of the door.

“You moved here with a stalker and are living in a building with no security?” was the first thing one of the police officers said to her.

“The lock wasn’t broken when I moved in,” she said softly as she made her way into the building. They climbed the stairs to her apartment and Detective Owen was outside of her door waiting for her.

“Is that the note?” he asked Conner, gesturing to the note in his hand. Conner nodded. "Can we get that bagged for evidence?" Another officer came and got the note from Conner and slipped it into a Ziplock bag.

“Lead the way,” he said to her. Conner started to move in behind her. "Just her and the crime scene investigators," he reminded Conner. The look Conner gave him was a look she had seen on the ice. If she wanted to push this, she knew he would be by her side.

She stopped and put her hand on Conner's chest. “It's fine. I'll be right out.” He closed his hand over hers, holding it there. The thump of his heart beneath her hand centered her.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

She nodded and turned to open the door.

“Okay, I’ll be right outside.” He squeezed her hand one last time. He finally let go of her hand a tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

After a deep breath, she turned. “Okay let’s do this,” she said as she let Detective Owen into her own apartment.

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