Page 45 of Mensa's Match

“I have to leave in a few minutes, but there’s a patrol officer here if you miss me.”

My lips pressed together for a moment, and I kept my tone neutral. “Understood. Thank you for your help, Detective Fortner.”

The way Mensa’s face drooped at the mention of the detective’s name, I almost laughed before Fortner ended the call.

Mensa crossed his arms. “Is he with your car?”

I gave a short nod. “Not for long though. He said a patrol officer will be there if Fortner leaves.”

“Patrol officer gonna take you to your car?”

With wide eyes, I shook my head. “No. It’s at my apartment complex.”

Mensa turned his head to the side and muttered, “Motherfuckers.”

He swung onto his bike, I scrambled up behind him, and we were off.

Mensa parked his Harley near the stairwell to my apartment, but I didn’t see any sign of a patrol officer. I dismounted, took off his helmet, and waited for Mensa to swing off.

My head was on a swivel looking for any sign of my car or the patrol officer. It hit me that maybe the car had been parked on the other side of the building. I strode in that direction, but Mensa caught my hand.

“Let’s check your apartment first.”

My eyes narrowed a touch. “My car could have been here all along, Mensa.”

His eyes went wide. “You don’t believe that.”

He had me there. I’d taken a walk around the complex after my questioning before going upstairs for a nap and hadn’t seen the first sign of my car.

Still… if I thought my place were compromised, better to have an officer there when I went inside. My eyes locked with Mensa’s. “You don’t like him, but if Fortner is still here, he should come with us to my unit.”

Mensa deliberated that. “No arguments here.”

I tipped my head toward the office. “Let’s see if we can find Fortner.”

We found the detective sitting in an unmarked sedan parked in front of the office. My car straddled two parking spaces, which set my teeth on edge. The hubcaps were gone, and I wondered what else would be missing inside the car.

Fortner unfolded from his car and sauntered toward us. “In addition to the lousy parking job, they left the car without your hubcaps, the spare tire, and your sound system’s gone.”

Great.

“I don’t want to take more of your time, but would you or the patrol officer mind walking to my door? If they were in my unit, I’d rather report that right away.”

Fortner pinned me with a look full of skepticism before he nodded. “I’ll send Officer Robinson up.”

My brows drew together. “Officer… there’s another Robinson in the Biloxi PD?”

Fortner gave a nod. “Detective Robinson’s nephew.”

Five minutes later with Officer Robinson at my side and Mensa at my back, I shoved the front door open and sighed. The scent of marijuana wafted out of my unit. “Those assholes,” I hissed.

Officer Robinson glanced at me. “I take it you don’t smoke marijuana.”

“No, officer. I don’t.”

Inside, the kitchen appeared untouched, but my end tables and bookshelves had been tossed.

Officer Robinson used his shoulder-mounted walkie-talkie to radio in the home invasion.

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