Page 23 of Wrath

“I don’t know.” I flipped the camera around so she could see some of the images I had taken. “Why don’t you tell me?”

As soon as she saw the picture of Willa standing next to her pink roses, she gasped, “Oh. My. God. That’s it! That’s the picture!”

“You like it?”

“Like it? Are you kidding? I love it!”

“Oh, great. I’m so glad.”

“Mia, you are a lifesaver.” She reached over and gave me a big hug. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank you for this.”

“You just did.” I glanced down at my watch and sighed when I saw the time. “I better get going.”

“What? So soon?” She looked so disappointed as she said, “I was hoping you could stay for dinner.”

“I’d love to, but I’m wiped and I have a full day tomorrow.” I placed my camera back in the bag as I told her, “Maybe some other time.”

“Absolutely.”

I patted my bag as I told her, “I’ll get these edited and send them to your email by tomorrow afternoon.”

“That’ll be great. Thank you so much, Mia.”

“I was glad to do it.” I turned and gave Willa a quick wave. “I’ll see you later!”

She waved back, and I took that as my cue to go. I slipped through the back gate and followed the brick path back to my car. I tossed my bag onto the passenger seat, and seconds later, I was on my way. By the time I got home, I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go straight to bed.

So, that’s exactly what I did.

I didn’t even bother taking a shower. I just took off my work clothes, put on my pajamas, and crawled into my bed. I hadn’t been lying there long when I realized the familiar hum of my ceiling fan had returned. I quickly turned on the bedside lamp, and I was stunned to see that my busted fan was no longer there.

It had been replaced with a brand new, super-duper fan with gleaming blades that spun effortlessly in the air. I couldn’t believe my eyes. When I left for work, it was still broken. I hadn’t called my maintenance department, so I had no idea how it had gotten fixed. I just knew someone had been in my apartment.

That thought led me to get out of bed and take a look around. That’s when I spotted the pillows on the floor. I hadn’t paid any attention when I’d pushed them off the bed, but after a closer look, I could see that they weren’t the same pillows that were on my bed when I left for work. I thought my imagination was playing tricks on me, so I ran my fingers across the smooth fabric and checked to see that all the tassels were there.

And sure enough, they were.

I sat back down on the bed and tried to think of who could’ve been responsible for the unexpected changes. It was possible that maintenance had come in to do a check and saw that the fan was broken. Or maybe my father had come by, and he noticed that it wasn’t working.

Neither option seemed all that plausible.

I sat there for a moment longer, and then it hit me.

Wrath.

I had no idea how he’d managed to get into my apartment, but there was no doubt in my mind that he was the one behind it. I wasn’t sure if I should thank him or scold him, but I knew I had to say something. I grabbed my phone from my dresser and dialed his number. It rang several times, and then it went to voicemail. It wasn’t all that late, so I decided to call again.

It rang several times, and then, once again, it went to voicemail.

Normally, I would’ve just given up and left a message, but for reasons I couldn’t begin to explain, I dialed his number again. This time, he answered, “It’s not a good time, Mia.”

There seemed to be a hint of panic in his voice, so I asked, “Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

“Can’t get into it right now.” I could tell by the hum in the background that he was driving. I figured he had something going on with the club, which led me to wonder if he was in some kind of danger. My mind started to race, and I wasn’t sure if I should push him to tell me what was going on or if I should just hang up. I was going back and forth in my head when he asked, “You okay?”

“Huh?”

“Is something wrong? Did you need me?”

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