I nodded firmly. “Let’s roll.”
She used her foot to push the door open and we walked inside. Or tried to, anyway.
I groaned. “No, no, no.”
“Shit, man. This place is a mess.”
That was putting it mildly. My studio was a shambles. Tools and brushes were scattered every which way on the worktables and the floor. Paper was torn and thrown everywhere. Piles of marbled endpapers and rolls of cloth and leather used for making new book covers were tossed across the room. Hundreds of spools of thread that had been neatly sorted by color and size into narrow shelves on the walls above the wide sideboard that ran the length of the room were now skewed every which way all over the floor.
“Oh no!” My carefully mapped diagrams and pieces of the medical treatises I’d been working on were shredded and tossed on the floor. I took one step into the room to rescue my work, but Suzie pulled me back by the collar of my jacket.
I fell against her and she wrapped me in a hug. “Easy, girl. Let the police take care of that.”
“But it’s all ruined.” Tears stung my eyes. I was so angry. Who would do this? But I knew, and I literally felt my blood run cold.
“Let’s make sure they aren’t hiding somewhere,” Suzie whispered. “Then we’ll call the police.”
“No, let’s call the police first.”
“Yeah, okay.”
I was shaking badly and probably sinking into a state of shock so I handed my cell phone to Suzie.
“They’ll be a while,” she said after ending the call.
“Okay. I’m going inside.”
“I’m right with you.”
But I allowed Suzie to take the lead as we moved furtively inside, then down the hall to my living area. I knew it was bad when Suzie tried to block my view.
“I need to see.” I broke from her grip and took a step into the living room. The first impression was of complete disaster. The heavy glass coffee table was upended but not shattered, thank God. Sofa pillows were tossed on the floor and magazines were scattered about.
Then I saw the delicate ceramic vase smashed on the floor. Robin had made it for me as a housewarming gift.
“Bastards,” I mumbled. We looked in both bedrooms, but there was no obvious damage back there. On more careful inspection, there was not much damage anywhere but the studio. Nothing appeared to be out of place or missing.
Whatever the burglar had been looking for, he’d apparently confined his destructive spree to my studio. Had he been scared off too soon? Maybe he’d seen my car pull up and escaped as I was talking to my dad. I scowled at the thought that I might’ve caught him in the act if I’d only come upstairs a few minutes sooner.
Of course, I might’ve been dead by now if I’d come home sooner.
As Suzie looked around, I felt my eyes water. This had to be the last straw in a truly sucky day.
First, the confrontation at lunch with Ian, then finding Enrico’s body-after spending time in a dark closet with another intruder who turned out to be Derek, then being stalked by yet another intruder who turned out to be Ian.
I couldn’t forget almost getting caught by Minka at Enrico’s, then her surprise smack-down, followed by the summons to show up at Homicide headquarters to be interrogated. Oh, and being left to wait alone for two hours while my mother was being arrested for a murder she didn’t commit.
I had to wonder if my father was currently confessing to the same crime that got Mom arrested. Oh God.
And now this.
I stared at my ravaged studio. I knew I could clean it all up and put things away, but someone had been here, touching my things, creating havoc. Someone evil, who had killed two people. I could only assume he was now focused on me.
“I wonder if anyone else in the building was hit,” Suzie mused.
“I’m pretty sure this was personal, but we should-”
Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall. Suzie shrieked and clutched my arm, then cursed out loud when Vinnie stepped into the room.
“Mercy, Brooklyn!” Vinnie cried as she grabbed my other arm. “You are all right?”
“I thought I told you to stay put,” Suzie shouted, as she jerked my arm possessively.
Vinnie’s eyes narrowed on her. “You are not the boss of me.”
Suzie shot back, “Well shit, somebody ought to be.”
Vinnie pulled me closer. “You are disturbing Brooklyn with your foulness of speech.”
“No, it’s okay,” I said, easing away from both of them. I’d never seen them bicker before and didn’t want to be the cause of it now. And gads, my arms were starting to hurt. “We’re all a little shaken.”
“Did you lock our door?” Suzie asked in a slightly more subdued tone.
“Of course, you silly squirrel,” Vinnie said crossly.
I traded looks with Suzie. We burst out laughing and I grabbed both of them in a fierce hug.
“Thank you for being here,” I said. “I’m so lucky to have you as my neighbors.”
“We are the lucky ones,” Vinnie said.