Corrine clears her throat. “I’m sorry. I have a terrible habit of being too honest. Who you date is none of my business. You’re my boss, and I do what I’m told. I apologize for what I said.”
I shake my head. “Your honesty is always appreciated and is important for me to hear. Don’t ever change.”
I’m almost ready to ask her some personal questions, to get to know her a little better when I hear Jim arrive—and he’s talking to someone. As they round the corner, I see it’s Detective Lenning.
“I hope we’re not interrupting,” Detective Lenning says.
“No, I’m just making sure Corrine eats something today,” I tell him.
He nods and opens a folder. He places several crime-scene photos on the table in front of her.
She looks at them mid-bite. I see tears in her eyes. “Everything is destroyed,” she whispers.
There’s blue spray paint on the walls.
I warned you. Next time will be worse.
Whore
Bitch
Keep your hands off my man
She can’t look any of us in the eyes. “I haven’t contacted Bobby, nor have I contacted his girlfriend. You can check my cell phone records, the landline phone records, and the office phone numbers. I’m telling the truth.”
Detective Lenning sighs. “We’ve already checked, and you’re correct. We’ve also reached out to Mr. Sanders and spoken to his current girlfriend, Collette. They both have good, strong alibis for today. We’re looking at some of the women who’ve sent him pictures and other women from his past. He shared with us the name of a woman he was seeing while you were dating, but he doesn’t think any of the women who send him fan mail would go this far. We have collected the letters and photos, and we’ll go through those.”
I can tell by the pained look on Corrine’s face that she didn’t know he was seeing anyone else while they were together. Jackass.
I look down at the pictures of her bedroom. Every article of clothing she owns has been cut and sliced, and they’re all in a pile on her trashed bed. I can see the coils of the bed springs. There is a picture of her with a man and a woman, probably her parents. It’s destroyed. The glass is shattered. The frame is no longer square. In another picture, the plants in the living room have been dumped and the dirt spread across the carpet. There is nothing here that’s salvageable.
Detective Lenning asks Corrine more questions about possible women who may be upset over Bobby Sanders. He then asks about women who may be upset about me.
“Jackson?” she asks, alarmed.
My head whips up. “Detective, I… I don’t really have any…any real girlfriends.”
“So, you’re a love-them-and-leave-them kind of guy?” he presses.
He doesn’t like me much.
I’m feeling a little attacked, but I know they’re just trying to find out who’s behind this.
I clear my throat. “No, I date women, and I may date them for a while, but it’s never serious, and I’m very clear about that upfront. I run a multinational company, and I’m in the process of starting a new venture. I don’t have any time for a serious relationship.”
“And what about women who contact you that you’ve never met?”
“I have a phone log in the office,” Corrine offers. “Jackson gets about two dozen or so dinner invites a day and probably a marriage proposal once a week.”
I do?
The detective nods. “I’d like that phone log and a list of the women you’ve dated so we can make sure to cross them off our list.”
“Of course.”
Detective Lenning asks Corrine a few more questions about where she was today and what we were doing.
“I’m sorry for the loss of your friend,” he says.
She nods and looks weepy again.
Detective Lenning excuses himself, and we agree to have the items he’s asking for sent over. Jim remains for a few moments.
“Corrine, are you okay to stay here tonight?” he asks.
She nods, and I feel a great sense of relief. “It’s not like I have any other choice.”
“We can cover you wherever you want to go,” Jim assures her. “If you don’t want to stay here, you let me know.”
She shakes her head. “I’m fine. I’m already inconveniencing everyone.”
“You’re not inconveniencing me. In fact, quite the opposite,” I tell her. “You’re just fine.”
I walk Jim to the elevator. “Is she going to be okay?” I ask.
He looks over at her. “I imagine at this point she feels highly violated. Anything she had in that apartment of any value to her personally is absolutely destroyed. Detective Lenning and I both agree that someone is incredibly angry with her, and she is not safe by herself.”
“Her roommates return in the next few days. Do I need to put them up in hotel rooms away from the apartment?”
“I think that’s not a bad idea. Maybe if you frame it as you’re fixing the apartment after the break-in, it’ll feel less intrusive to them.”
I nod. “I’ll call them tonight.”
***
There’s a sudden scream in the darkness. I sit straight up, and I’m out of bed before I know what’s going on.
“Corrine?” I run down the hall to her bedroom. Usually I sleep naked, so I’m grateful I thought to sleep in boxers tonight.
I swing her bedroom door open. She’s thrashing back and forth in the bed and whimpering. Her exposed thigh distracts me.
I realize she’s having a nightmare. I walk over and shake her shoulder lightly. “Corrine?”
She wakes up, startled. She looks around and recognizes me after a moment, but she pulls the covers up tight.
“It’s okay,” I say in a soothing
