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“Don’t worry about it. I have someone that can handle it for me. Right now, I want to drive you back and make sure everything’s all right.” Her watery half-smile in response guts me and we rush to the elevator to make our way back home.

“Captain!”

The police captain is standing outside her door, but no other apartment on the floor seems to have been broken into like hers has. Interesting. Multiple squad cars were parked outside of the complex and a few officers still mill about her space, taking pictures for evidence.

“Ah, Celine.” His eyes shine with pity as he watches her take in the pillaged space. “One of your neighbors got home and saw the door broken in and the place a mess so they called the police. We’ve surveyed the building and surrounding area, but the culprit seems to have gotten away. From the surveillance cameras we believe it to be a male, but his features were obscured so we need to investigate further.”

“Do you have a picture?” She crosses her arms and tries to stay strong like always when I know she wants to break. There’s a subtle tremor in her lips that betrays her emotions despite her stoic appearance.

“Here.” Another detective walks over and holds up a monitor with a grainy picture of a figure.

The person’s tall and bulky build points to them being male. An all-black outfit with a hoodie covering their face doesn’t help narrow down our search but I’m already formulating a plan to track down this asshole. Nobody fucks with my girl and gets away with it.

I sniff the air as discreetly as possible, but with so many officers having already disturbed the scene it’s going to make it impossible to single out one specific scent.

Fuck.

“Shit.” Celine scrubs a hand down her face and her eyes brighten slightly when Midnight creeps out from around the couch. “Come here, boy.” She grabs him and holds him close to her chest, stroking his black fur for comfort. I reach over and scratch behind his ears which makes his yellow eyes narrow in pleasure.

“I need to look around and see if they took anything.” She starts her search and I watch helplessly from the sidelines.

“Can I help?” I trail behind her like a helpless child. I don’t like her shutting down.

“That’s okay. I want to do this by myself,” she sighs, and looks at me over her shoulder. “I’m so sorry I ruined our date, but thank you for everything. You don’t need to stay here while this happens.”

She’s kicking me out? Fuck that.

“You didn’t ruin anything, Celine. You didn’t ask for your apartment to get broken in. I want to be here.” We hold eye contact before finally she nods and silently continues to look around.

“Who are you?” The police captain must finally notice a stranger standing in the room.

“Zavier. Her neighbor,” I answer like that’s all he needs to know. “Who are you?” I already know but I’m a petty bitch, so I ask anyway.

“Chip Barnes. The captain of this force.”

“All right, Captain Chip nice to meet you.” I shake his hand when he holds it out.

“Captain Barnes,” he corrects me.

“That’s what I said.” I stuff my hands in my pockets and start to walk back toward Celine’s bedroom. “Captain Tortilla Chip.” A snort sounds behind me and a grin pulls on my lips.

I can’t seem to help myself. The man seems nice enough, but it’s a laughable name.

The apartment looks like a tornado was taken to it. Furniture lies upturned on the ground, clothes that once sat folded in drawers are strewn across the floor, and even the fridge has been raided and torn apart. Her bedroom seems to have the worst damage, and I cringe at the shattered picture frames and TV screen on the floor.

My anger continues to rise when I see a pair of her panties half-hanging out of the drawer. She must feel so violated. My jaw ticks and I clench my fist in an effort to withhold my need to punch something.

“Captain?” Celine’s crystalline voice rings out from her bathroom area.

“Coming.”

He heads over to her, and I coincidentally find a small mess that needs cleaned up outside her bathroom. Slyly, I peek to see what they’re looking at.

“What do you make of this?” She points while still holding the cat, floofy tail swinging in the air.

Blood splatter litters her vanity counter and they both inspect it.

“There aren’t any other blood trails that I can see in the apartment, and I don’t know where he would’ve done it either. Sure, there’s shattered glass in the room but again, no other blood.”