Heartbreak 'n Heels

Chapter 34

Erica couldn't wait to get in the house to soak in the tub. Every one of her muscles ached from work today. She'd just put her key into the lock when someone called her name. There was a tall white man walking toward her wearing a white baseball cap, the brim low on his face, and sunglasses. Panic caused her to freeze for a second as she thought of the man she'd seen breaking into her studio and sending her the flowers. Once he walked a little closer to her, she recognized him and scoffed.

"Clint, what are you doing here?" she asked and watched the man drag his bottom lip through his teeth and then huff.

You could hear the irritation in his reply. "That's Detective Davis to you."

"And that's Ms. Benz to you. Again, what are you doing here?" She was not in the mood for this man. Since their first interaction, because he'd made an erroneous assumption about her relationship and she'd checked him, he'd been difficult and rude. He was the one in the wrong, but leave it to ego to make this man feel like he's the wronged party.

"You need to come with me." He reached to grab her arm and Erica stepped back. He stepped forward, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Where?" She didn't trust this man. Officer of the law or not, he gave her the creeps. She wasn't necessarily scared of him, but she was wary of him.

He took another step toward her and though he wasn't right up on her, he was close enough that she wanted him to get back. "To Jonathan's house.

***

Det. Bendle met her and Officer Davis at Jonathan's front door. He nodded his acknowledgement of Davis and stuck his hand out for Erica to shake.

"Afternoon, Ms. Benz. Sorry to have you come here, but we need you to walk through the place," he said.

"Okay, but why?"

"We have officers driving by every once in a while to see if Mr. King shows up or if there's any sign he's returned. We got a call about an hour ago that Mr. King's door was open. Det. Davis and I have checked to make sure no one is here. Now we need you to tell us if anything is missing.

Jonathan had a thing for art and photography. There were paintings and pictures on most of the walls. He also kept a neat house, so when Erica saw the frames on the walls by the door were askew she knew something was wrong. As she stepped into the living room, that feeling of wrongness intensified.

The couch cushions from the two couches were thrown around haphazardly. Some were sliced open and the cotton insides were spilling out. Pieces of the cotton had been thrown around the room. There was a photo of her and Jonathan in the middle of the mess. It had been blown up and was propped up in the middle of the floor. Scraps of paper had been scattered all around it. Davis picked up a few of the scraps and read them aloud. They were typed confessions of Jonathan's love for Erica, needing to get her back, and what would happen if he couldn't. It sounded like the ravings of a lunatic. The things on those papers didn't sound like Jonathan at all.

"Is there anything missing from here?" Det. Bendle asked.

"There," Erica pointed to the mantle above the fireplace, "used to be a picture of us with his parents on that corner."

"Maybe he threw it away since you dumped him," Davis offered his unsolicited opinion. Erica made a point to roll her eyes at him before she responded.

"Seeing as there's a photo of us sitting in the middle of his floor, I doubt he threw any other picture of me away." She turned her back to Davis and sighed. Det. Bendle shook his head and motioned for her to follow him to the bedroom.

It was chaos. His dresser drawers were open and clothes had been thrown everywhere. She told Det. Bendle that a photo of her and Jonathan was missing from the dresser. Laid out on the bed was a dress she'd left behind. There were more scraps of paper with more ramblings. He'd also thrown rose petals onto the dress. Erica shivered as she thought about what was going on in Jonathan's head. Could their break up have caused him to take such a drastic downturn?

"Are you alright, Ms. Benz? Do you need a moment?

"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "This just doesn't seem like Jonathan. He doesn't leave messes; doesn't do things like this. The last time I saw him, he said he was in therapy. This is just weird."

"He should get his money back," Davis mumbled. Det. Bendle gave him a look that told him to shut the hell up.

Next, Det. Bendle opened the closet door and asked her if anything was missing. She told him Jonathan's suitcases were gone. Davis scoffed as if to say, "Duh, dummy." Erica rolled her eyes and had to stop herself from giving him the finger. He wanted her to react and she refused to give him the attention he seemed to crave.

There was a plume of nervousness in her stomach when she reached to move aside the clothes hanging on the right side of the closet. She prayed that she wouldn't find the door open. Det. Bendle and Davis came up behind her when she groaned.

"What is it?" Det. Bendle asked.

Erica pointed to the open safe. Davis placed a glove on his hand and plucked the note card from the safe. He read the red font sprawled across it, "I'm coming for you."

That was a punch to the gut. She'd never thought Jonathan to be capable of something like this, taunting and torturing her, but all of this showed he was. This was out of character for him, but maybe she never really knew him. She hadn't thought he'd cheat on her, but he'd definitely done that.

"It's gone," Erica said, more so to herself than the officers with her. The safe being empty changed everything and now Erica was more concerned than before.

"Excuse me, Ms. Benz, but what's gone?" Det. Bendle asked.

"His gun."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: UH OH! A missing man and a missing gun. Seems like Erica might need to watch her back! Do y'all think Jonathan is capable of hurting her? Things are heating up, and not in the fun, sexy way.