Still nothing.
I alternated between calls of reassurance and knocking for a solid ten minutes.
At long last, a door popped open, but not the one I wanted. Her neighbor to the left appeared at her door, a bottle-blond cougar with crazy eyes. “You the bastard?” she asked, voice husky from years of smoking.
“Excuse me?”
She shrugged. “The son of a bitch?”
“What did you call me?” I asked.
“Are you the dickhead that made my girl leave?” she asked, planting a wrinkled hand on her hip.
“Leave?” What the hell was she talking about?
“Yeah, leave. A bunch of guys cleared her place out earlier. Said some son of a bitch broke her heart.”
I shook my head. Cleared her place out? “What?”
“You heard me, moron. You’re the son of a bitch, aren’t you?” She narrowed her eyes in disgust, her scowl making her chin vanish. “You better leave before I kick your ass. I loved Elena.”
I held up my hands. “Look, ma’am. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I didn’t break anyone’s heart. Especially Elena’s.”
She sneered, yellow teeth poking through. “Girls don’t up and leave like that without a broken heart, you fool.”
“Why do you keep saying that? What do you mean leave?” I demanded.
Just like that, she exploded, her hands flying above her head, arms jiggling. “Are you dumb, boy? She moved. Left. Skedaddled.”
“Where did she go?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Hell if I know. Far away from you.”
“You don’t even know me!” I shot back.
She chuckled, pulling a cigarette from behind her ear and lighting it. “I may be old, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t spot a dumbass.”
“Seriously?” I roared, ignoring the insult. “Where is she?”
She puffed out a haze of smoke. “I don’t know.”
“So, a bunch of guys come by, grab her shit, and you don’t ask questions?” I ground out, enraged.
“Ain’t my place to, and it ain’t yours neither!” she shot back. “Now fuck off! Your knocking is interrupting my shows!” She disappeared into her apartment and slammed the door, leaving me dumbfounded.
I stared at Elena’s door in disbelief. She couldn’t be gone. Where would she go? Lee’s? Her dad’s?
I rushed downstairs, launching into the parking lot. I scanned for a sign of the leasing office and hurried over, startling the middle-aged woman at the desk.
“Excuse me. Can you please tell me about the tenant in apartment 31B? I went to check on her, and her neighbor told me she moved?”
She shook her head, her green eyes wide in terror from my abrupt entry. “I’m sorry, sir. We don’t disclose information about our residents.”
I sighed. “Look, it’s a wellness check. I’m sorry to be so forward, but I’m worried about her. Please.”
She bit her lip, eyeing me carefully. “She’s no longer there.”
“For the week or...?” I trailed.
“Permanently. Her stuff was moved out about an hour ago. Kind of sudden, honestly.”
“Do you know anything about where she went?” I asked, nausea creeping in.
“No, sir. A couple of guys came and were up there about an hour before they dropped the keys off with a letter.”
My hands flew to my head, the movement making her flinch. “Fuck.”
She cringed, looking scared out of her mind. “I'm sorry, sir. It's all I know.”
“I’m sorry,” I breathed, trying to calm down. “Thank you, ma’am.”
She turned her attention back to her computer, more than ready to see me gone. “You're welcome.”
I turned on my heel and stalked out to my car, plotting my next move.
She had no family in the city. Only her father up in Vermont. I doubted she'd head all the way up there, especially with work. That left Lee.
A quick internet search gave me her address, and I was on my way, speeding like hell across town. As I pulled into the subdivision, my eyes scanned the streets for any sign of Elena's car. I was in a frenzy.
I rolled to a stop in front of the modest colonial, dread settling in when Elena's car was nowhere to be found. Christmas lights twinkled across the gutters despite it being daylight, an inflatable Santa flopping in the wind as sleet slapped his face.
I ran to the door, knocking as savagely as I had at the complex. Unlike Elena's apartment, there was noise on the other side of the door. A dog was barking. Someone was shouting. A television was blaring.
The door yanked open to reveal Lee eyes bugging out of her head at the sight of me, bolt cutters in hand. It surprised me that she was home, given that it was a workday, but that offered hope that Elena was inside.
“You motherfucker! Are you out of your mind? Do you really want those balls smashed and fed to you?” she roared.
Ah. The threat on my phone was from Lee, not Justin. Not that I was relieved. She was a hell of a lot scarier than that runt would ever be. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me, dickhead!” she hissed, nostrils flaring.
I sighed. Why did everyone want to beat my face in? All I did was date a woman for Christ’s sake. “Look, I don't know why you want to kill me, but I'm looking for Elena.”
“Stay the hell away from her, you pig!”
“Why are you being like this?” I asked.
She laughed, shaking her head. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Why are you acting like a lunatic? Don't you want your friend to be happy?”
“Yes! So stay the hell away from her!” she screeched.
All the racket drew the attention of another inhabitant, a burly man appearing. “Is there a problem?” he asked, placing his hand in the small of Lee's back.
“Yeah, this fucking asshole showed up!”
He craned his neck to get a look at me. “He's the one?”
She crossed her arms, her nose in the air, the bolt cutters holding my gaze. “Yeah.”
The man cleared his throat. “Look, buddy, you need to leave.”
“I don't need to do anything. Where is Elena?” I had enough of the
