of all vulnerable. Knowing she should be doing something but unable to make her body function.
Her brain shut down. It was unable to issue instructions. Normally she was a quick, decisive person, years of training in medicine and in the armed forces had instilled that in her, but since returning from Afghanistan she had lost that ability to make a swift decision under pressure, unless it was in a medical context. The slightest bit of stress or anxiety outside work rendered her incapable. And the thought that she was vulnerable in those situations terrified her even more, which only served to worsen her predicament.
Damien showed no such hesitation. He stepped in front of her as she remained standing, rooted to the spot. He unlocked the door and Jonty raced past him as it opened and tore up the stairs, barking madly once more when he was thwarted again by another closed door that led into the apartment.
Damien followed Jonty. He made no attempt to climb the stairs quietly but, Abi supposed, there was no need for stealth. Her dog had well and truly announced their arrival.
He reached for the handle. She wanted to tell him not to open it, to be careful, but the words lodged in her throat and although she opened her mouth she couldn’t get the words to come out. Fear rendered her speechless but she had recovered control of her limbs and was able to follow him up the stairs. Even that was driven by fear. She was more afraid of being left alone at the bottom of the stairs than confronting whatever was at the top. She needed to stay close to Damien, even if it meant closing the gap between her and danger.
As he turned the handle and pushed the door open Abi heard the sound of glass breaking. His back blocked her view so she craned her neck and stood on her toes to look past his shoulder, just in time to see a figure disappearing through her balcony doors and onto her deck.
Jonty dashed across the room and Damien followed, crossing the floor in four strides. Abi was close behind him, her heels crunching through the fragments of broken glass that had fallen out of the balcony doors as they had been slammed open and which now lay strewn across the deck.
The balcony was empty. Abi’s heart was beating at a million miles an hour but she breathed a sigh of relief when she realised they were too late. She hadn’t stopped to think about what might happen if they confronted the intruder but, thank God, they weren’t about to find out.
Whoever had been in Abi’s house had leapt over the railing of the deck and dropped eight feet to the lawn below. All they saw was a figure in dark clothing land awkwardly and run across George and Irma’s lawn at a fast limp.
Damien had both hands on the top of the railing as he watched the retreating figure hobble away. ‘He must have twisted his ankle when he landed. Shall I go after him?’’
This time it was Abi’s hand on Damien’s arm as a precautionary gesture. ‘No!’
‘But I can catch him.’
‘And then what? What if he has a knife? Or a gun?’ Abi could feel herself shaking as adrenalin flooded her system. Her heart was racing again. She couldn’t put Damien in danger. It was better just to let the man go. She wanted to avoid danger and minimise harm at all costs. ‘He wouldn’t have found anything worth stealing, I have nothing of any value. Let him go, it’s not worth the risk.’
Her wrap had slipped off her shoulders and caught in the crook of her elbows and Damien reached over and lifted it back around her. The touch of his fingers made her tremble even more.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
She had no idea.
Damien insisted on checking the rest of the apartment to make sure there was no accomplice and Abi insisted on going with him. Even though her apartment was small with very few hiding places and wouldn’t take long to search she didn’t want to be left on her own. There was safety in numbers. There was safety with Damien.
She and Jonty followed behind him as he cleared the upstairs, a task that didn’t take long as besides the kitchen and living area there was only Abi’s bedroom and the bathroom. Coming out of the bathroom, Abi noticed that Jonty was protecting his front paw. She was torn between sticking close to Damien or checking the dog, but once they had finished investigating the upstairs Abi decided to tend to Jonty, letting Damien check the garage and utility room downstairs alone. There had been no more noises. It appeared that the intruder hadn’t had company and she felt it was safe to stay upstairs.
She knelt on the kitchen floor and picked a piece of glass from Jonty’s paw. It took her a while as her hands were shaking but once she was confident it was out she retrieved some first-aid supplies from the bathroom cabinet and washed his foot clean with antiseptic solution. She didn’t bother to bandage it. Now that the glass was out it didn’t appear to be worrying him and she knew he’d only gnaw at the bandage until it came off.
Damien reappeared from downstairs. ‘There’s a broken window in the garage,’ he said. ‘He must have come in that way and then locked Jonty out. Do you want to see if anything is missing? You might want to make a police report.’
Abi was certain that nothing would be missing and if there was she doubted it would matter to her, but some of the items in the apartment belonged to George and Irma. She’d have to let them know. ‘I’ll do it tomorrow when I’ve spoken to George and Irma,’ she said as she folded her arms in a vain attempt to stop her body from shaking.
‘Are you cold?’
Her apartment was warm and she had closed the drapes over the balcony doors to keep the draught out. She shook her head. She wasn’t cold, just shaken up and probably in shock.
‘Do you have any whisky?’ Damien asked, as he opened cupboards and searched the contents. He couldn’t seem to stand still. Was he on edge too?
‘No.’
When the search of her kitchen cupboards proved fruitless he wandered back over to the balcony doors. He opened the drapes and inspected the damage. ‘Would George have anything I could use to board up these windows to make them secure overnight?’
‘I’m sure he would. He has a whole shed full of carpentry stuff.’
‘Would he mind if I took a look? Should I wake him up?’
‘He and Irma have gone away for the weekend but I have the key to his shed.’ Abi opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out a bunch of keys and handed it to Damien. Her fingers brushed his and the keys jangled as her hand shook.
‘Are you going to be okay in here while I check the shed?’
‘I’m fine.’ She was far from okay but she was coping. Her heart rate had been settling now that she knew the house was clear but the briefest of touches from Damien made it skyrocket again. Two different triggers, one pleasant, one definitely not, but both had the power to set her heart racing. She doubted she’d be able to sleep tonight so a glass of whisky sounded like a good idea, but she’d worry about that later.
Damien disappeared again but within a few minutes Abi could hear him hammering downstairs and then he went to work on the balcony doors, using some bits of plywood he’d found in George’s shed to fashion a makeshift repair job.
‘I’ve managed to weatherproof your apartment but it’s not terribly secure. I was going to suggest that you stay over at George and Irma’s but if they are away I think you should come home with me. I don’t think you should stay here alone.’
‘I’m
