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Larry was still fiddling with the lobby door when Kat and Andrew parted ways. She was careful not to bother him as she reentered the building and boarded the elevator. Upstairs, she stopped to ring Lucy’s doorbell on her way to her own apartment.
Lucy answered with her coat on and her purse strap hitched over one shoulder. “Oh, hey, Kat.”
“Are you leaving?”
“I’m on my way out to lunch.” Lucy stepped into the hallway and pulled her door shut. “Why? What’s up?”
Kat had wanted to discuss her morning encounter with Melody, but she wasn’t about to share anything standing here in the hallway, where Melody could overhear. Instead, she said, “There was a break-in downstairs.”
Lucy’s jaw slipped open. “A break-in? Whose unit?”
“The burglar didn’t get that far. Larry scared him off before he made it past the lobby.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
The door behind her banged open, sending Kat’s heart rate spiking. She whipped around to see Melody standing in her doorway.
“You said there was a break-in?” Melody asked. She had obviously touched up her makeup since Kat had left that morning. The bruise around her eye was no longer even slightly visible.
“Somebody managed to get through the front door,” Kat informed her.
Melody gripped the doorframe. “When was this?”
“Less than thirty minutes ago.”
“Are you Melody?” Lucy asked.
Melody didn’t respond right away. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.
Kat decided to fill the silence. “Melody’s our new neighbor.”
“What?” Melody’s eyes darted toward Kat before landing on Lucy. “Oh, right. Hi.”
Lucy gave her a congenial smile. “Welcome to the building.”
“Melody has a cat, too,” Kat told Lucy.
Lucy’s eyes twinkled. “So, you’re saying this is turning into the crazy cat lady floor?”
Kat laughed. “One cat doesn’t admit you into the crazy cat lady club.”
“No, but spending every weekend night cuddled up next to a pet instead of a man does.” Lucy turned toward Melody. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Tabitha—that’s my cat—but waking up to salmon breath every morning is getting old.”
Melody stared at Lucy as though she were an alien life form.
Lucy adjusted her grip on her purse. “So, what about you, Melody? What’s your status?”
“Status?” Melody echoed.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
Melody’s knuckles turned white around the doorframe. “Why would you ask me that?”
Lucy glanced at Kat, a puzzled expression on her face. Kat gave her head a slight shake. She would have to explain her suspicions about Melody escaping from an abusive relationship later.
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Lucy assured Melody. “I just thought if you were single, maybe you’d want to hang out tomorrow while all the couples are out celebrating Valentine’s Day.”
Melody didn’t reply, and an awkward silence stretched between the three of them. Kat struggled to think of a neutral topic, but her mind had gone blank.
After a long moment, Lucy clapped her hands together and started walking backward toward the elevator. “So . . . I’ve got to get going if I don’t want to be late for my lunch. See you later.”
“Bye, Lucy,” Kat said. “Have fun.”
Melody hesitated a second before she said, “See you.”
Lucy mashed the elevator button, seeming to heave a sigh of relief when it dinged right away. She stepped inside, disappearing out of view behind the closing doors.
As though he’d heard the elevator chime, Remy poked his nose into the hallway. Melody scooped him up before he could go anywhere, prompting the cat to release a small mew of discontent.
Kat grinned. “Looks like he wants to explore some more.”
Melody stared at Kat, a blank expression on her face. Kat was seized by the sudden urge to retreat into the safety of her apartment. Melody’s unease was contagious. Even Remy had started squirming.
Kat inched farther down the hall. “I should be going.”
Melody jerked forward. “No, wait. You said there was a break-in?”
“That’s right. But Larry chased the guy off before he could get past the lobby.”
Melody buried her face in Remy’s fur and murmured, “He’s here.”
Kat’s brow furrowed. “Who’s here?”
Melody gasped, and her head snapped up. She seemed startled that Kat had heard her.
Kat hesitated a second before asking, “Melody, are you in trouble?”
“Trouble?” Melody squeaked.
Kat spread her palms as she closed the distance between them. “I’m not trying to pry, but, well, you and I both know I saw what happened to your eye.”
Melody didn’t say anything, but her lower lip quivered.
“If you escaped from a bad relationship and the man you ran from is after you, maybe you should go to the police,” Kat suggested. “In fact, I’m dating a police detective. He’ll help you. I promise.”
Melody hugged Remy closer and scooted back into her apartment. She was like a scared rabbit, and her jumpiness made Kat second-guess her decision to bring up her abuse. Melody’s feelings about her situation were obviously very raw.
Kat sighed. “Well, I guess I should get going.”
“Wait.” Melody fiddled with her door for a moment before holding it open. “You can come in if you want.”
Kat did her best to mask her surprise at the invitation. She wasn’t sure she wanted to accept, but it was clear Melody could use a friend. What kind of person would she be if she turned her back on a young woman in need?
As soon as Kat cleared the threshold, Melody set Remy down and closed the door. Kat’s stomach tightened when she observed how Melody expertly flipped the locks on both the doorknob and the deadbolt at the same time. She had a hunch her jittery neighbor was used to securing doors quickly.
Before Melody could catch her staring, Kat redirected her attention to her surroundings. There wasn’t much to look at. The living area didn’t contain a single piece of furniture. Whatever Melody had run from, she must have done it hastily. Kat hoped she at least had a bed.
Melody led her into the apartment. “Sorry there’s nowhere to sit.”
“It’s all right.” Kat dragged her tongue across her teeth before asking, “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
Instead of answering, Melody followed Remy’s progress as the ginger cat jumped onto the windowsill and crawled behind the closed venetian blinds.
“I mean, I’m not sure what I can do, but I can listen at least,” Kat said.
Melody picked at the choppy ends of her bob, and a vision of the hair dye she had spotted in one of Sheila’s grocery bags flitted through Kat’s mind. Come to think of it, Melody’s hair color looked an awful lot like Ravishing Raven. Did that mean she and Sheila did, in fact, know each other? Kat hoped so. Melody looked as if she could use all the allies she could get.
Melody lowered her hand and twined her fingers together. “I don’t really know where to start.”
“You can tell me who you’re running from. If you want to, that is.”
Melody paused to draw in a breath. “It’s my boyfriend. Or, I guess he’s my ex-boyfriend now.”
“Does he know you’re here?”
“No. At least, I don’t think so. But if he broke in . . .”
“It might not have been him. There was another break-in this morning, at a floral shop a couple blocks away.”
Melody’s face brightened. “Really? So this has nothing to do with me?”
Kat lifted one shoulder. “Nobody knows anything for sure at this point.”
“CJ wouldn’t rob a shop. He’s only interested in me.”
The way she said it gave Kat goosebumps.
Melody paced around the empty room. Her movement must have caught Remy’s attention. The cat poked his head through the blind slats and meowed.
“Except, if CJ did find me . . .” Melody halted in the center of the room and looked at Kat. “But how could he have found me?”
“Larry said you emailed him your rental paperwork,” Kat said, her mind churning through the possibilities. “Could CJ have gotten into your email?”
Melody shook her head. “Nothing was sent to Larry from my usual account.”
Kat figured that meant Melody Jones really was an alias. She had probably established a second email under her assumed name to facilitate her getaway.
Remy slithered out from behind the blinds and hopped onto the floor. He scampered over to Melody and meowed, more urgently this time.
Melody lifted him up. “Remy’s a fraidy-cat. CJ used to . . . Well, he wasn’t always nice to him.”
Kat couldn’t prevent her gaze from drifting toward Melody’s left eye. Makeup might have successfully concealed the damage there, but Kat had already seen what lay underneath all that foundation. Clearly cats weren’t the only creatures in danger of being on the receiving end of CJ’s cruelty.
“Melody,” Kat said gently, “you need to tell the police about CJ.”
Melody grimaced. “Don’t you think I have?”
That surprised Kat. “And they didn’t help you?”
“They granted me a restraining order once.” Melody rubbed her cheek against Remy’s fur. “Fat lot of good that did. CJ just got all his friends to harass me.”
Kat leaned against the windowsill. “You should talk to Andrew, Detective Milhone. He’s one of the good guys. He’ll know what you should do to make sure CJ doesn’t hurt you again.”
Melody lifted her head. The sight of tears streaming from her eyes wrenched at Kat’s heart. Having never been in an abusive relationship herself, she couldn’t imagine what Melody must be going through.
Remy tipped his face up and licked Melody’s damp cheeks. She kissed his head before wiping the rest of her tears away with the back of one hand.
“The police can’t help me,” she said. “They have to obey the law. CJ doesn’t. And he’s determined. He’ll do whatever he wants and whatever he thinks he can get away with to keep me with him. My best bet is to make sure he doesn’t find me.”
Her dull tone turned Kat’s stomach into a hard, leaden ball. “But you can’t run forever. If he’s as determined as you say he is, he’s bound to find you eventually.”
The scrape of the deadbolt turning brought their conversation to a screeching halt. When the doorknob rotated a second later, Kat froze in disbelief.
She didn’t know who was letting themselves in, but from the look on Melody’s face it was clear she wasn’t expecting anyone.
