Page 53 of Mine to Keep

“Good evening, Matt.”

“Hi, James. Did you and Nicole have a nice vacation?”

He grinned. “We did, thank you for asking. Anything going on here?”

I explained to James about being attacked in the garage and how I had police involved. I’d gone back and forth on whether I should, but Mendez had told me he might need to speak with the landlords at some point, and I figured it was time to tell him.

“Oh my God, Matt, that’s awful. Has this person been doing this for a while?”

“A few weeks.”

He shook his head. “And the police have no ideas?”

“I actually don’t know what they have. Officer Mendez takes all of my information, everything I get, statements. He’s working hard.”

“Well, I hope he catches whoever is doing this. Thank you for letting me know. I haven’t looked at the garage cameras in a while, but I will be sure to pay more attention to them.”

“Thanks, James. Well, I’m going to go make dinner now. Have a good night, and tell Nicole I said hi.”

“Will do. Be safe, Matt.”

I stepped inside my apartment and saw that Nick hadn’t arrived yet. I was glad since I’d taken longer than I’d thought I would talking to James. I turned on the lights and kicked off my shoes. I wasn’t sure what time Nick was going to arrive, but I figured I’d make dinner.

Nothing too fancy, pasta and meatballs. I’d made the sauce and frozen it days ago, so it wouldn’t take too much time.

I’d just put the sauce in a pan to heat when I heard the distinct sound of metal on metal. My gaze darted to the fire escape and I could see a slight wobble.

I waited and watched, and sure enough, a minute later Nick’s face popped up at my window. When I went to approach he held up a hand, halting me. He took out something and was playing with the window, and after a second he pulled the window up.

“You have shitty security,” he grunted, then crouched and entered my apartment.

I was wide-eyed and slack-jawed at how easy that was for him. “Holy shit.”

“Don’t panic.” He approached as one would a frightened kitten. “I can pretty much get into any place, but it is an issue that I can fix for you.”

I blinked. “How?”

“For one, cameras that will alert me if someone enters that way.”

“Nick, you’d never get here fast enough.”

He nodded. “I know, but I’m also going to give you this.” He took something out of his pocket.

It was a necklace, masculine and yet delicate. A dark metal chain, and at the center it looked to be onyx and silver maybe.

“That’s beautiful.”

He chuckled. “Thanks, but it’s more than pretty.” He flipped it over. “The back slides open, and there’s a button there. If you hit it, an alert will go out to not only me but the police department as well.”

“Like a life alert?”

He smirked. “Kind of. It also has a tracker so if God forbid someone tried to take you somewhere, I’d find you.”

Not too long ago I hadn’t wanted Nick’s help, but the more I saw what he and his family could do for me, the more I wanted toembrace it. If something were to happen, I’d likely stand a better chance of the Saint brothers finding me than the police.

“Thank you, Nick. Is it waterproof?”

“Somewhat. You can wear it in the rain, but maybe take it off in the shower. I’d be really happy if you would put it on now and never take it off.”

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