Page 40 of Mine to Keep

Mendez went to place the heart down and it shattered. “What the fuck?” I moved away.

“The note said, ‘You’re breaking my heart.’ Something tells me this was supposed to happen.”

“How am I breaking anyone’s heart?”

The officer searched inside the box, but there wasn’t anything else. “I can take this all with me, and maybe we can pull a print off it. If they’re in the system, we might be able to find them.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s a good plan.”

“Are you okay, Matt? Anyone that can stay with you?”

I shook my head. “It’s obvious they can’t get to me. I’ll be all right.”

He gathered the box, glass, and note, and I walked him out.

I leaned against the cool wood for a minute before going back to putting things away and figuring out what I would be making for dinner.

I had just finished chopping the onions when there was another knock on my door, followed by the chime.

With a sigh, I wiped my hands off and looked at my phone.

“What on earth?”

I opened my door and came face-to-face with Nick.

“What are you doing here?”

“What was in the box?”

My eyes widened. “Are you watching me?”

“Matt! Answer me, what was in the box?”

“Calm down, Brad Pitt. Answer me first.”

For the first time ever, Nick appeared unsure. I stepped back, inviting him inside. He walked in, and there was no hiding how alert he was. His head moved left and right and his eyes were all over the place.

“Are there cameras in my apartment?”

“No.”

“Then how’d you know about the box?”

“Your Ring and the outside cameras. I saw someone on a motorcycle last night, had to be them.”

I knew the bike he was talking about; he’d mentioned it before. “The same person?”

“I don’t think so. The bike is registered to him, but I don’t think it’s Morgan.”

I went to the kitchen and returned to cooking dinner. “I don’t know how I’ll explain it, but I can tell Officer Mendez about Greg Morgan.”

“He’ll have to know how you know that, and you can’t involve me.”

I nodded and started sautéing the onions. “I asked you all not to get involved.”

“We know. But they wanted eyes on you.”

“To make sure I kept my mouth shut?”

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