Through her screams, Cassie is dimly aware of a phone ringing. Her phone.
She takes a deep breath, struggling to calm herself. She can’t panic. Yes, someone was inside her apartment and wrote a slur on her wall. Yes, since there are no signs of break-in, it means the person is in possession of a key to her apartment. Yes, she has not changed the locks, which means the person still has a key. Yes, there is a chance the person is in her apartment right this minute…
Okay, this isn’t helping.
Cassie stumbles into the bathroom to turn off the water, then goes to the living room to find her phone. It’s in her purse, where she left it. She looks at the screen, hoping to see a missed call from Joel. But there isn’t a call from Joel. It’s from Anna.
That’s odd. Why would Anna be calling? She took Anna’s number a bit ago, when they were contemplating having lunch together, but then after the baby, Anna seemed too overwhelmed. Totally understandable, and Cassie didn’t want to be pushy, but why would Anna be calling now?
Cassie presses a button to return the call.
“Cassie?” Anna’s sweet voice instantly comes on the other line. It sounds scratchy, like she’s walking around outside.
“Hi, Anna.” Her own voice sounds strange to her ears. She clears her throat. “What up?”
There’s a long pause on the other line. “Are you okay, Cassie? You sound funny.”
“Yeah, I…” There’s something about Anna that makes Cassie desperate to confide in her. After all, she needs to talk to someone about all this. And Anna knows Francesca. Or knew her. “Someone’s been inside my apartment. They wrote the word ’slut’ on the wall.”
Anna gasps. “Oh my God! Cassie, that’s horrible! Did you call the police?”
“No.” Cassie bites her lip. She doesn’t want the police in her apartment, but what choice does she have? “I was about to.”
“Yes…”
Cassie pauses. “I should though. Right?” “I suppose…”
“You don’t think so?”
“Well, what will they do?” Anna says. “Just loads of paperwork, right? And they’ll go through all your stuff.”
Cassie shudders at Anna’s assertion. That’s the last thing she wants. “I mean, really,” Anna says. “Do the police ever catch burglars?” “I… I assume they do…”
“They don’t,” Anna assures her. “But listen, I’m just across town, and my husband’s got the baby. Why don’t I come by and help you get everything cleaned up?”
“But…” Cassie thinks back to the other night, when she had the anaphylaxis from her dinner, even though she’d eaten the same food the night before without a problem. “I think the person who broke in might be trying to kill me.”
“Kill you?”
She tells Anna all about the obscene calls she’s been getting. And she explains about the peanuts in her food and how she’d nearly died when she couldn’t find her Epi-pen. She no longer believes the peanuts were just bad luck. And she no longer believes the missing Epi-pen was from her own carelessness.
“Oh my God,” Anna breathes. “That’s… insane. If someone really did that…”
“Yeah,” Cassie manages. “Insane.”
“Listen,” Anna says. “Don’t move. I’ll be there soon… there’s just one thing I need to do first. Okay?”
Cassie is too spent to argue. “Okay.”
After she hangs up with Anna, she’s itching to call Joel. She remembers how comforted he made her feel the night she was scared someone was in her apartment. On a whim, she punches on his number. She grips the phone as she hears ringing on the other line.
But he never picks up.
