Page 48 of Koa's Little Girl
“She’s fine. The intruder was gone by the time she got home. We walked through without touching anything to ensure the place was empty.”
“How bad is it?” Giana asked in a steady voice, but she reached for Koa’s hand.
“I don’t know if they were searching for something or focused on destruction. We need you to go check for anything missing or damaged. Make a list if you can. We’ll add that to the report. When the culprit is caught, that information will affect the type of sentence he or she gets,” one officer told her.
“Can my…” Giana paused.
“Partner. Can I go into the apartment with her?” Koa asked.
“I’d recommend that,” the second officer readily agreed.
They stepped inside the door and could see the extent of the damage more clearly than from the outside. Koa walked past her a few feet and picked up a notepad on the floor next to thekitchen. Searching under a scattering of things obviously swept from the counter, he located a pen.
“Let me know what you see.”
“A mess! Thank goodness I hadn’t left much in the refrigerator.” Giana pointed at the apple smashed into the wall. Someone had thrown that with force. And anger.
“Look at that!” She pointed to a potholder pinned to the wall with a butcher knife from the wooden block on the counter. The others were missing. “Who does something like this?”
Glancing around, Koa was sure this was personal. Not a normal theft. “Be careful where you step. There could be other hazards.”
Giana shook her head and turned back into the living area. “The TV is smashed, as well as the lamps and my decorative vases. I had five on the shelves in here. I like… I liked the pretty glass.”
“You still like it,” Koa said, rubbing his hand over her shoulder. “Unfortunately, those are gone.”
“That carpet is going to have to be replaced. Whoever this was, they ripped it. My deposit is so gone,” Giana said sadly.
Another knife tethered a flap of cut flooring folded over to reveal the padding underneath. He couldn’t spot any reason for that vandalism other than to cause damage—psychological warfare designed to scare his target. Koa knew that this was a man.
They quickly went through the rest of the house. In her bedroom, Giana gestured at the empty dresser drawers gaping open. “Thank goodness, we came last weekend and got the rest of my underwear and bras.”
When she shivered, Koa knew she was thinking about the vandal touching her private things. He wrapped his arm around her waist. “When we get out of here, I’m going to wrap you up inyour blankie and hold you all night long. Focus for a few more minutes. Do you have any jewelry? Anything valuable?”
“Department store earrings at best. I don’t have any place to wear diamonds.” Her joke fell flat in the messy room. No fun could exist in this environment.
“Then I’ve got everything here. Let’s go talk to the officers and see what happens next,” Koa suggested.
As they walked back into the hallway, two maintenance guys appeared with a new door. “That answers one question,” Koa pointed out before turning to the police. “Shall we move down here for a minute as they replace the door?”
“They made a real mess. I had already moved a bunch of stuff out so other than the TV, some decorative items, and the clothing they destroyed, there wasn’t much left,” Giana told the police.
“Thank you for being honest. Others would have made up a lot of mysterious, expensive items. Can you give me with a ballpark figure?” the lead officer asked.
“The TV was new and big. I think it cost eight hundred dollars. Add my glass vase collection and my clothes, the total is probably close to two thousand, twenty-five hundred,” Giana suggested.
“That’s what I would have estimated too. I’ll put that in my report. Do you have insurance?” the other cop asked.
“I do.”
“Call them in the morning. Don’t clean until they see it. Get some estimates from the apartment management for repair costs. You may have to fight, but losing your apartment deposit should be included in the insurance amount.”
“Thank you, Officers. I appreciate your help,” Gianna told them.
Koa hated hearing the waver in her voice. He needed to get her home. The stress had wiped away the last of her energy.
“That guy took all those knives. That’s not a good sign. Don’t come here alone. We’ve seen a lot of home invasions. This one was personal,” the officer warned.
With that, the police excused themselves and headed for their squad car. Koa looked at the men installing the door. They’d have it in place in a few minutes.
