Running back to my bedroom, I grabbed my phone and ran back to the living room with the phone to my ear.

"911, what's your emergency?" the operator asked.

"My address is 3332 Point Dunes Road. Apartment 1C. Shreveport. Someone's trying to break into my apartment," I blurted out.

"How do you know someone's trying to break in?" The operator asked.

I looked at the door, and something silver caught my attention.

A knife.

On the floor.

What the f.u.c.k?

"I went to open the door and the chain was still on. That stopped him from bashing my face in with the door. I broke his arm, though," I explained quickly.

Why she couldn't just dispatch units first, and ask questions later, was beyond me.

However, I wasn't a dispatcher, and what the h.e.l.l did I know?

"You broke his arm? How are you aware it's a male?" The woman asked.

I could hear her fingers moving on the keyboard on the other end, so I hoped she sent someone.

Quick.

I swallowed quickly, trying to keep our late dinner down as I watched the door warily, too scared to actually go check to see if the man was gone.

"He yelled at me to 'open the door, b.i.t.c.h' but I didn't," I explained.

Sirens started to wail in the distance, and I started to breathe again.

"They're coming," I said gratefully.

"Yeah, honey. They are," she said soothingly. "What's your name, sweetie?"

I blinked, surprised at the abrupt shift in her demeanor, and tone of her voice.

"I'm Rue Loden," I said softly.

"Alright, Rue. Well, just stay on the line. The police should be there any second. Okay?" She asked softly.

I nodded even though she couldn't see me. "Yes, ma'am."

She giggled. "Good. What do you do?"

I knew she was just trying to keep my mind off of what was going on, but it worked. I calmed some.

"I'm a nurse at Christus Health," I said.

Which reminded me that I had less than an hour before I needed to leave for work.

Mother f.u.c.ker.

A scratch outside the door made me freeze, and I started to get scared all over again when a flashlight's beam of light swept over my window, door, and the porch area.

"Are the cops here yet?" I whispered as softly as I could.

"Yes, they are. There's a police officer at your door right now," the 911 operator said.

I felt relief pour through me. "Thank you."

I could practically feel the other woman on the other end of the line smiling. "You're welcome, dear. Just stay there until he makes sure the scene is secure. He'll announce himself when he's ready for you to open it, okay?"

I agreed, and waited for a good ten more minutes before I heard what I'd been waiting for. "This is the police, you can open up now, Ms. Loden."

I walked slowly to the door. "Can I see your badge?"

A shiny metal object wormed its way through the door, held by a man with black sleeves covering his arm all the way to the wrist.

"Ask the operator what my badge number is," he said soothingly.

I followed directions. "He wants me to ask you what his badge number is."

"916464. Officer Ray Murano," she said quickly.

I flipped the entryway light on, and read the numbers that were on his badge.

"Thank you for staying with me, the right man is here," I said to the woman.

My legs started shaking as respite coursed through me.

"I'm glad you're all right, sweetie. Take care now," she said as she hung up.

I opened the door, and was surprised to see a nice looking older man in his late fifties standing at the door, badge still in his right hand and holding it up for me to see.

"Hi," I said opening the door wide. "Thank you for coming so quick."

He winked. "It's my job, ma'am."

I smiled. "Still. It means a lot to me."

"No problem, honey. That's what I'd want if my own daughter was in trouble. Now, I want you to stay back and let me get some fingerprints. He wrote something on your door, too. So just stay away, and let me work, okay?" He instructed.

I nodded, and turned to the TV, clicking it on.

The sound of 50 First Dates started to drone in the background as I watched the older cop start casing my door for prints.

An hour and a half later, the cop was finished with the front door, and the surrounding area.

"Property is clear. Her car is trashed, though. Needs to be towed to the yard. Already dusted it for prints, but we'll see if we can't find anything better," the youngest of all the cops said.

My heart sank. Mother lover, I just got that b.i.t.c.h back!

"Are you needing to tow it into the police impound yard, or can I tow it somewhere I can have someone fix it for me?" I asked, causing all three men to look at me.

I blushed when I had all of their attention.

Thank G.o.d I was wearing my jeans still!

"You can have it towed anywhere you want. We'll just need to run a crime scene crew through it. Shouldn't take very long, though. You'll need to call the insurance provider as soon as you can. That bad boy's gonna need some work," the second cop said.

He was huge.

His skin was the color of ebony, and his hair was cut tightly to his scalp. The edges perfect.

He was extremely good looking.

He wore that uniform well.

"Uhh, thank you. I'll just give him a call right quick, if you don't mind," I said as I backed away to the kitchen where I'd left my phone.

They all nodded and went back to inspecting whatever was written on my door, the knife on the floor, and the area surrounding my front porch.

I walked to my phone and dialed the number I knew by heart.

It rang five times before a husky female voice answered. "h.e.l.lo?"

I hung up, knowing I had no desire to deal with Molly's s.h.i.t right then.

"Okay, well change of plans. Take it to wherever. I'll figure it out tomorrow after I get off work," I said as I shoved the phone into my pant's pocket.

"No problem. It's there when you're ready. Can I give you a ride anywhere before we go?" The older cop asked.

I looked at the time on the stove and nodded. "Yeah, actually, if you don't mind. I need to be getting into work here shortly. If you'll give me about fifteen minutes to get ready, I'd appreciate it. You can make yourselves some coffee, and you're welcome to the m.u.f.fins on the counter."

I'd made those to take to work this morning, but it seemed like a better idea for the cops that had helped me out when I most needed it.

Rue "So what did your door say again?" Cody asked as I took a bite of my sandwich.

"Keep your mouth shut. Or something to that affect. I didn't really look. It was too dark," I said around a mouthful of food.

Cody blinked. "And you're not the least bit worried about this?"

I shook my head. "Not really, no. I've had this happen before. It probably has something to do with the trial that's coming up next month."

He blinked again.

"You got something wrong with your eyes?" I worried.

He shook his head. "No. You're just being really flippant about it. You nearly had someone break into your apartment last night. I'd think you'd at least call someone and tell them instead of just letting it slip out when you tell me why you didn't bring the m.u.f.fins you said you were going to bring."

"I'd like to know that, too," I dark, menacing voice said from behind me.

I tensed, sensing the anger in Cleo's voice before I even turned around to look at his face.

I swallowed thickly, choking down the partially chewed piece of bread and meat like it was a rock.

I turned slowly to see Cleo standing behind us in jeans, a black shirt, and his motorcycle vest.

He had on his aviator gla.s.ses and a blue ball cap that said Life Flight on it in red embroidered letters.

It was me not being able to see his eyes that really set the tone, letting me know that he was extremely p.i.s.sed off.

However, I didn't know what for. I'd tried to call him.

Once.

Kind of.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He stared at me for a few long moments before his gaze moved to Cody. "Give us a few minutes, please?"

Cody stood and patted my shoulder. "I'll cover for you for another half hour or so."

I watched him leave with reluctance.

"You wanna know what I heard today on the way to work?" He asked with a deceptively soft tone of voice.

I shook my head. "No, what?"

"My sister called. Told me she answered my phone this morning at five, saying that you'd called while I was on my run. Stupid me, but I didn't call you back because I was running late for work. However, then I got another call from a cop buddy on the Shreveport PD who said you'd had your place broken into, and your car vandalized. I probably wouldn't have known at all if I hadn't asked the man to keep an ear out for your name," he snapped.

"I tried calling you!" I accused.

"Really? You tried? Or did you just go through the motions? 'Cause if you'd wanted me to know, you would've left a message instead of hanging up as soon as you'd heard my sister's voice," he growled.