The Fear That Divides Us (The Devil's Dust #3)(50)

I hear the front door handle wiggle, making me look over at it warily.

“Addie?” I question loudly. The handle stops, making me lift an eyebrow. I slide off the stool and walk toward the door. I push up on my toes to look out the peephole, but I don’t see anything but Bree’s door across from me. I unlock the door and open it, finding nobody there. I look down the hall and spot muddy footmarks staining the carpet from my door to the stairs. I look inside my apartment curious if Bobby brought mud in on the bottom of his shoes, but there is not a trace of it on my apartment floor. I look back at the shoe prints in the hallway and realize the shoe print is too small to be Bobby’s. My heart stammers. Someone was trying to get into my apartment. Were they waiting for Bobby to leave? I slam the door shut and lock it quickly. My heartbeat picking up rhythm in my chest. Could it be one of Augustus’s men?

“Mom?” I yelp and turn around quickly, finding Addie rubbing her eyes trying to wake up, wearing her Hello Kitty pajamas.

“Hun, I thought you were at Bree’s,” I reply, clutching my chest in panic. She nearly gave me a heart attack.

“I came over late last night to sleep. Bree is in my room sleeping on her laptop’s keyboard,” Addie laughs. Bree is a studying fool. It’s not the first time she has fallen asleep at her laptop and drooled on her keyboard.

I give a half laugh, my frayed nerves keeping me from seeing the full humor in the situation.

“What happened in here last night?” Addie raises a brow, looking around the aftermath of mine and Bobby’s exhilarating sex session. Thank God, Addie is a sound sleeper, and I pray Bree had her headphones on.

“Hungry?” I ask, pointing toward the counter containing the bag Bobby brought, avoiding her question.

Addie nods and runs to the counter, pulling the bag open eagerly. I lean against the back of the door, and chew on my fingernails nervously, watching Addie dig the food items out of the bag.

Killing Augustus was a stupid, stupid move. More dangerous than anything I’ve ever done. What the hell was I thinking? Where did the courage and brass come from?

“Hey, look, extra straws to make caterpillars with,” Addie yells excitedly, holding a handful of straws.

My eyes widen, and my mouth parts at the sincere gesture; Bobby thought of my daughter.

***

Walking into work today, my nerves are on edge. I should have called in, but that would look suspicious, I never call in. There is no evidence that I had anything to do with Augustus’s death, no reason for anyone to suspect foul play, but if it had and they did an autopsy, a surge of adrenaline in Augustus’s bloodwork could come back to me. I take a deep breath and climb out of my Jeep. The sky fills with gray clouds and there’s lightning in the distance. I run toward the entry as rain begins to fall against my skin.

“Good afternoon, Dr. Wren,” Nurse Helga yells from the desk.

“Afternoon,” I reply, heading to the dressing room.

I walk in the room and find my locker door dented and yanked open, my stuff scattered all over the floor.

“What the hell?” I whisper, my palms sweating anxiously. Someone broke into my locker and rummaged through everything in it.

“Oh, man, it looks like you have been stolen from,” Nurse Helga gasps from behind me. I turn to face her, my cheeks turning red. I know I wasn’t stolen from. Someone was searching for something, possibly a syringe with my fingerprints on it.

“You want me to call security, babe?” Helga questions. She places her hand on my shoulder making me jump.

“What?” I ask. I was so consumed of what I was looking at I tuned her out. “No, it’s fine,” I reply, grabbing papers and scrubs off the floor.

“All right, well, I came in here to tell you we’re backed up and need you out here quickly,” she explains, walking back to the door.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll be out in a minute,” I mutter, exasperated. I should call Bobby, tell him about the mud prints, and now this, but that will make him tell the club what I did, and I don’t want that. Whoever was here didn’t find what they were looking for obviously. So hopefully, nothing else will occur.

I clean up and splash some cold water on my face, my nerves taking over my entire body. I am a sweaty mess. I wipe the beaded sweat already forming on my forehead and walk out of the dressing room.

“Dr. Wren,” Shane greets, nearly running into me as I exit. His tone is formal and unfriendly.

“Shane,” I respond, tilting my head to the side, curious why he’s acting the way he is. “Are you okay?” I ask.

“Yes, fine,” he remarks, writing on the clipboard in his hands. He gives me a fake smile before walking off. I sigh and let my head fall against the door. With the date we went on, and the way Bobby got into a pissing match with him, I don’t blame Shane for giving me the cold shoulder.

“Shane!” I yell, running down the hall. “Shane, I’m sorry,” I confront, catching up to him. He stops and tucks the clipboard under his arm.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” I continue.

Shane exhales a tired breath, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Look, Jessica, you are a great doctor and an incredibly talented woman, but you are not available, no matter what you may think. The way that guy was staring at you last night, the way you were looking back at him…” he scoffs. “Do me a favor, the rest of the male population a favor, and tell the next poor son of a bitch who comes your way that you are seeing someone upfront—”