I spy with my little eye. ||on hold||

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

"There is a fine line between serendipity and stalking."

-David Coleman

***

We got back to New York at ten o'clock but I didn't leave the office for another two hours afterwards. I hadn't realised how much paperwork was involved. I guess this was the part of the job that they didn't tend to advertise.Hayden gave me a ride back to my apartment; she insisted I get a ride with her when she learned that I didn't have a car of my own. I was glad because it meant I didn't have to walk home in the rain, but the only downside was that I was horrible at making small talk. Hayden didn't seem to notice though, she even promised to pick me up tomorrow morning at half eight.

I climbed the stairs up to my apartment, cursing the maintenance man under my breath. The elevator was out of order and, knowing his track record, it wouldn't be fixed anytime soon. I struggled to catch my breathe as I climbed the stair to my top floor apartment. I opened the door and dumped my bags on the table. I told myself I would clean it up later but I knew I wasn't going to. I made myself a quick dinner and was just sitting down to eat it when there was a knock at the door. Knowing me, I probably left my coat in Hayden's car.

To my surprise it was Mrs Peters, my next-door neighbour. Mrs Peters was a cranky woman who always had her nose in other people's business. I had a theory that she had a fold out stool installed in her door so that she could sit and watch everyone through her peephole. "Mrs Peters, how can I help you?" I asked, opening the door just wide enough for her to see me. I didn't want her staring into my apartment.

"Aurora, these were delivered to me by mistake," she said, handing me a vase of roses. "It was quite an inconvenience for me to have to look after them while you were gone."

"I'm sorry about that Mrs Peters," I replied, starting to close the door. I didn't want to speak to this woman any longer than I had to. "I'll make sure that it doesn't happen again."

"You make sure that you do!" She scolded, "what do I look like, some sort of plant babysitter?"

I closed the door quickly, leaving her to mutter to herself. I looked closer at the roses in my hands. There were twelve beautiful, blood red roses, all plump and healthy looking despite the lack of water in the vase.

I didn't know who they could've been from, I still didn't have a lot of friends in the city. They could've been from my best friend Lydia, or maybe from Daniel. There wasn't any card with them. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and pulled it out to see who had text me.

I see you finally got my flowers. Weren't roses your mother's favourite flower? I remember seeing a vase of them on the coffee table the last time I came to visit. You remember that day don't you? Seems like only yesterday. I'll see you soon sweet Aurora, just you wait.

My breathe hitched in my throat as I re-read the text. I dropped my phone onto the couch and quickly locked all the doors and windows. I grabbed my gun from my bag and practically sprinted into my room, leaving my uneaten dinner in the table. I sat cross legged on my bed facing the door with my gun gripped tightly in my hand, trying to convince myself to stop shaking.

***

I woke with a start a few hours later. I could hear my phone ringing loudly in the living room, so I unlocked my bedroom door and answered it.

"Hello?" I asked groggily.

"Aurora it's Mark where are you?" Mark asked, he sounded angry. "We have a case briefing in ten minutes!"

I looked up at my clock and my heart dropped, I was half an hour late to work. "Crap Mark I'm so sorry I must have slept in, Hayden was supposed to pick me up an hour ago," I explained rushing into my room and starting to get dressed. I heard him sigh loudly, and I could almost picture him running his hand through his hair angrily. He tended to do that when he was frustrated.

"Fine but hurry," he said. Just before he hung up I heard him yell loudly, "Hayden, my office now!"

I made it to the office in record time and slumped into a chair just as Francesca walked into the room. "Running a little late are we?" She chuckled, sliding a coffee across the table to me.

"Shut up," I grumbled, picking up the cup and taking a sip. I glanced at Hayden but she avoided making eye contact with me.

"Let's begin then," said Mark and we all nodded in agreement.

"So for the past 5 weeks 5 different women have been raped in Miami Florida," started Francesca. "Each woman was blonde with green eyes, starting with Jessica Smith who was raped on her way home from work. Our latest victim, Lily Masters, was found in an alley 2 blocks from her friends house."

"Did any of the victims see their attacker?" I asked

"No, according to their toxicology reports the victims were dosed with a high concentration of Ketamine."

"We better hurry," said Mark, "Lily Masters was raped 3 days ago, which means we only have 4 more days to catch this guy before her attacks another woman. Wheels up in 30." With that Mark left, followed by Jason and Hayden.

"Hayden wait!" I called trying to get her attention, but she ignored me and hurried out with her head down.

"Don't mind her," said Francesca, "she's just in a mood because Mark threatened to put her on probation."

"I hope I didn't get her in too much trouble."

"Don't worry, Hayden's tough. As melodramatic as she is, she'll get over it."

I smiled at Francesca. Since I had been here she and I had gotten extremely close. More than even Jason and I. Most of the team treated me like their little sister, small, fragile and always in the way.

"Thanks for the coffee by the way," I said walking out of the room with her.

"No problem," she replied, "I knew you'd need it." I laughed lightly and she stopped walking and turned to look at me. "But in all honesty Aurora, you look awful. How much sleep did you get last night?"

"Not much," I admitted, "maybe a couple of hours." It wasn't technically a lie. I had fallen asleep eventually I just wasn't sure for how long.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" She said placing a hand on my shoulder and smiling at me. It was a comforting smile and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from blurting out everything to her. As if on queue my phone buzzed in my pocket.

"Don't worry Francesca, if anything happens you'll be my first call!"

She nodded and walked away, stopping to briefly talk with another colleague. I pulled out my phone and read the text, already knowing who it was from.

You know what will happen if you open your mouth to one of your little friends. Stay quiet and they stay safe.

I sighed and leaned up against the wall. "Why is this happening again?" I thought to myself.

Please let me know if there are any typos!