Page 45 of Love From the Ashes

“I will be.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, a look of relief covering his face. “I need you to tell the police everything that happened so they can file a report. Here, sit in the chair. You need to answer their questions the best you can.”

“Okay, I’ll try.” I wrapped the blanket securely around me and sat in my chair while Reid stood by my side. I waited for the officer that had taken a seat on the couch to say something.

“Ms. Fletcher, I’m Officer Daniels, and this is my partner, Officer Tran.” Officer Daniels nodded toward his partner, who was standing near the doorway to the hall. “First, I want to let you know we have the man that broke into your house in custody. One of the neighbors spotted him sneaking around the alley and then saw him go through your back gate. The woman called us and reported the man’s suspicious activity. We were investigating the report when Mr. Morgan chased the man down the alley toward us. So, now that we’ve received Mr. Morgan’s statement, we’ll need to get one from you.”

“Okay,” I said, feeling Reid’s hand squeeze my shoulder.

“Can you verify the identity of the man that broke into the house?” Officer Daniels said.

“Yes, he’s Geoff Engels. He’s Reid’s cousin.”

“Thank you. Detailing what happened may be difficult, but I’ll need you to try. Can you do that?”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.” I explained in full detail what had happened, from my hearing footsteps on the stairs to my bolting out the front door into Reid’s arms. Twice during my recital of what Geoff had said to me, Reid turned away and stared out the sliding door while he ran his hand over his face. The second time he did it, his eyes were red when he turned back around.

“Ms. Fletcher, have you had any prior issues with Mr. Engels?” Officer Tran said, taking several steps into the room.

“Yes, I had a problem with him last weekend when Reid and I were at the symphony orchestra’s annual gala.”

“What?” Reid said, staring down at me with a look of confusion. Then his face darkened, and his eyes narrowed. “When did it happen, and what did he do?”

“It was when our tablemate took you away to talk to a friend of his about your charity. Geoff snuck up behind me and said some things.”

“Like what?” Reid said. He let out what sounded like a low growl, making me more nervous than I already was.

I tugged at the blanket, securing it around me. Then I told Reid what Geoff had said, including how I’d thrown my champagne in his face and stormed off. When I’d finished, I glanced up at him. He stood there with his fists clenched, and he looked upset.

“Is that what my mother wanted to talk to me about? What Geoff said to you that night?”

“Yes, since Geoff’s family, she thought it best if you heard it from her.”

“Fuck. None of this might have happened if I had known.” Reid ran his hand through his hair and paced the floor.

“Ms. Fletcher, did anything else happen that night?” Officer Tran said while his partner scribbled notes on a small pad.

“No, that was it.”

Reid’s cell phone rang, making me jump. I turned to look at him as he glanced at the screen.

“Speaking of my mother, this is her.” Reid’s mouth was tight as he answered the call. “Hello?” There was a pause, then he said, “No, I’m not coming over. We’ve had an incident. Geoff broke into the house and attempted to assault Sofie.” After another pause, Reid snapped, “Yes, I’m upset. You should have said something earlier rather than wait until today. We’ll talk about this later. I have to go.” Reid hung up his phone, the tense look on his face indicating his anger.

“Ms. Fletcher, I believe we have everything we need from you,” Officer Tran said, breaking the tension that had filled the room. He turned toward Reid. “Mr. Morgan, I have one more question for you. You told us you’d come home unexpectedly after leaving to go to the gym and found Mr. Engels in your house. Why did you come home?”

“I’d left a magazine here that I had wanted to give to my mother, who I planned to visit after the gym. Since I was only a few blocks away, I came back home to grab it.”

“It’s a good thing you did. Otherwise, things might have turned out differently,” Officer Tran said.

Officer Daniels got up from the couch. “Our forensics team will need to take fingerprints from the downstairs French doors. After that, we should be done.”

“All right. Do you know how long that will take?” Reid said.

“No, but I can find out for you.”

“Reid, I’m going upstairs to lie down. Do you mind?” I said, getting up from my chair.

“Not at all. I’ll come up there as soon as the police finish.”

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