You Belong to Me – 41

 

 

Corey returned to his apartment late that afternoon after a police officer brought his keys back to him at the motel.

 

He couldn’t repress a shiver of panic when he opened the door and disarmed the security system. What if he’s here… waiting? Naw, the cops and the cleanup people were here all day. He’d be stupid to venture back so soon. Wouldn’t he?

 

Knowing that had to be the truth, he stepped inside, locked the door and armed the box again. Then he turned to look at the spot where Brad’s body had been.

 

“If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be alive,” he murmured, feeling the press of tears in his eyes. He wiped them away before they could fall, half expecting his stalker to call and tell him he was right. Glancing around, he wondered where the bugs were hidden and decided it was just as well he didn’t know. I’d probably be tempted to tear them out if I did. The bastard!

 

As he walked toward the bedroom, he realized he’d circled around the spot where Brad had died. How long before I stop doing that?

 

Cautiously he entered the bedroom and flipped on the light. It was empty despite Corey’s lingering fear it might not be. He took his bag off his shoulder, set it on the bed, and unpacked. He’d just finished and was headed to the kitchen when his phone rang. When he took it out and checked the caller ID, he saw what he now thought of as the ubiquitous Payphone with a number.

 

Tamping down on his anger, he answered.

 

“Welcome home,” the stalker whispered. “Did you learn your lesson?” Then he hung up.

 

“You son of a bitch!” Corey swore. He snapped his mouth shut, realizing the stalker might be listening to him even now, and turned on the TV to the local news. “Damn,” he muttered in dismay when he saw one of the lead stories was about Brad’s murder. Pacing, he listened, then smiled tightly. According to the reporter, the police were theorizing that Brad had walked past Corey’s door on his way to visit someone else on the floor and saw it was open. He must have decided, foolishly, to make certain the tenant was all right and walked in on a burglary in progress. The burglar had killed him and left, taking a laptop and a video game system with him, according to the “unnamed” tenant of the apartment.

 

That works, and thank God they left my name out of it.