Page 50 of He Doesn't Deserve You

“It’s not your fault,” Detective Martin reassured her gently. “Just tell me what you witnessed.”

“It was a couple of days ago—Tuesday, I think. I had just put the kids down for their nap when I heard an argument coming from the apartment above me. It was so loud that I was afraid the kids would wake up. But then, it suddenly stopped. I went outside to check the mail, and on my way back from the mailboxes, I saw a woman running down the stairs. She practically knocked me over as she rushed past. She must have come from Maggie’s apartment.”

“Can you describe this woman you saw?”

Detective Martin pulled a small notepad and pen out of his front pocket and jotted down notes as Anna spoke.

“Brown hair, shoulder-length, about my height, 5’6”, medium build, attractive. Oh, and she was pregnant.”

“Do you think you could identify her if you saw her again?” Detective Martin asked.

“Yes, I saw her face clearly,” Anna replied.

“Thank you, Anna. This information is very helpful. I’ll need your phone number; we may need you to come in for a witness lineup procedure.”

Anna rattled off her phone number and said, “Sure.”

Detective Martin finished interviewing the neighbors. After ensuring everyone had left the apartment, the detectives headed directly to the county jail. Their next challenging task was to inform Michael, the victim’s next of kin, about her passing.

26

After dropping Ava off at school, albeit later than usual, Emily returned home and finally had a moment to herself. Her thoughts drifted to Roman. Since their night together, they’d exchanged only a few brief texts. Emily missed him and longed to see him again, so she decided to give him a call.

“Hi, I was just thinking of you,” Roman answered.

Emily smiled, “I was just thinking of you too. What are you doing?”

“Just working on your case.”

“Anything new?”

“No.”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.” She sighed, “Now that my financial situation has come to light, I don’t know how I’m going to pay you.”

“Don’t worry about it. You don’t need to pay me.”

“No, I insist. Perhaps we could arrange a payment plan or something.”

“How about this: we trade services as a form of payment?”

Emily smiled. “What did you have in mind?”

“Come over, and I’ll show you.”

“All right, but I need to shower first.”

“Hurry.”

“I will, bye.”

Emily hung up the phone and hurried upstairs to shower. As she stepped under the hot stream of water, she closed her eyes and tilted her face, letting the warmth of the water pulse over her as thoughts of being with Roman again filled her mind. After thoroughly lathering her body and washing her hair, she turned off the water and reached for the towel—only to find it missing.

She pulled back the shower curtain, expecting to see the towel on the floor. Instead, she jumped in surprise upon seeing Gabriel standing outside the shower, holding the towel open for her.

She quickly snatched the towel from him, embarrassed that he had seen her naked, and hastily covered herself. “What are you doing home?” she demanded.

“I’ve had quite a morning,” Gabriel said.

---