Forever Young: Blessing or Curse (Always Young Trilogy) (15 page)

The
Taurus cut back in front of the jeep and loomed menacingly behind her. More
traffic merged, forcing the Taurus back.

Her
target loomed three blocks ahead. Could she get there in time?

The
Taurus drew closer. She wove in and out of the surrounding cars, praying she’d
not hit anyone. Luck was on her side as she finally pulled up in front of her
destination: an aged brownstone. The Taurus slowed down next to her, enough for
her to glimpse the driver’s features. Oh, my, God, that had to be a mask. No
one looked that hideous. The Taurus’ owner frowned, gunned the motor and
swerved away.

 Dorrie
jumped from the Hyundai and darted to the entrance.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Inside
the building, Dorrie dashed up to the glass partition, where a uniformed woman
sat behind a desk. “Someone just trashed my home and followed me when I got in
my car,” Dorrie gasped out.

The
officer nodded. “You’re safe here. Now, take a deep breath and slow down.
First, did he hurt you?”

“No,
thank God.”

“Okay,
tell me what happened.”

“As
soon as I walked in my house, I could tell something was wrong. The place
looked a wreck. I could hardly take it in when I heard footfalls on the stairs.
That scared me so much, I ran out and jumped into my car. Good thing, too. The
burglar almost grabbed me before I closed the door.”

“Do
you know who it was?”

“No
one I’ve ever met, as far as I could tell, but I don’t know for sure. The
person had to be wearing a mask, the face looked so hideous. It might have been
a man. The features were terribly distorted with the nose almost gone, mouth
twisted. The whole face seemed unreal.”

The
officer gave Dorrie a quick glance, as if to confirm she wasn’t inebriated or
on drugs. “What else do you remember?”

“Whoever
it was had a short, squat build. I couldn’t tell more. The person raced away as
soon as I pulled up here.”

“Did
you get a plate number?”

“No,
I couldn’t. We were going too fast.”

“Have
a seat, Miss. Sergeant Dunlop will be right with you.”

In
about five minutes, Sergeant Dunlop, who seemed more like Dorrie’s actual age,
led her to a small office. “Miss, before we go further, let’s get this straight.
I’ve seen your commercials. This isn’t a publicity stunt, is it?”

“Not
on your life. I could never make this one up. Take a look at my house. You
won’t believe it.”

After
fixing her with a stare, he finally nodded. “We’ll see to that, but first let’s
finish the report.”

When
she got to the description of the thief, Dunlop’s eyebrows shot up.  

“I
know it sounds farfetched, but that’s what the person looked like, as if from a
horror flick or something. Everything happened so fast, I couldn’t tell if it
was a mask or real.”

He
nodded. “Lots of kooks out there. Anything’s possible these days. Go on back to
the waiting room and I’ll get a few officers to accompany you home and inspect
the damage.”

Dorrie
waited on one of the uncomfortable vinyl chairs until finally two officers
joined her. The middle-aged mustached one with graying temples introduced
himself as Detective Willowby. The younger curly haired blond one he called
Townsend.

“Are
you able to drive, Miss?” Willowby asked.  

“Yes.
I made it here under worse conditions.”

“Fine.
We’ll follow you in the squad and have a look-see.”

They
pulled up to the front of the house. The gray-haired Willowby examined the
front lock and nodded. “Those scratches are where our burglar gained entry.”

He
took a few notes, then opened the door. “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here.”

One
look at the chaos and he frowned. “Any enemies, young lady?”

“Not
that I know of.”

“All
right then. Townsend here will see to the prints, and I’ll check for other
evidence. It’ll take a while, so you may wish to call your insurance company in
the interim to set up an inspection.”

She
took his advice, and went into the hallway to call the insurance company on her
cell.  After a wait on hold, she got connected to an adjuster who said
he’d send an outside person to her house about noon the next day to check the
damage.

After
she’d hung up, questions and doubts swirled through her mind. She couldn’t
think of anyone who’d be angry enough to wreck her house. Sure, Roman had been
displeased about her revelation and decision to keep the child, but he had no
need to resort to such tactics as tearing her house apart when all he had to do
was withhold her pills to get even. Not only that, the timing was way off. He
couldn’t possibly have gotten all this arranged on such short notice.

So,
who had done this, and why? Could it be a misguided individual who’d seen her
commercials and didn’t approve, or a random act from a drug crazed person?

Willowby
of the gray temples joined her, interrupting her introspection. She filled him
in on what the insurance adjuster had said. 

He
nodded. “Fine. Let me know if he needs anything and I’ll place it at his
disposal.”

“Thanks,
I appreciate that.”

“No
problem. The electronic age does have its advantages. Sure you don’t know
anyone who might have done this?”

“No,
it’s a mystery to me. Whatever I come up with seems way off base.”

“Tell
me anyway, just in case.”

She
reiterated her role in promoting Forever Young, but didn’t include her
conversation with Roman. That connection seemed too farfetched.

“It’s
possible someone traced your whereabouts to your home. People have seen your
face and you’re popular, which could make you a target. Who knows the workings of
criminal minds. They constantly tend to surprise me, though by now they
shouldn’t. I’ve seen almost everything.”

“Maybe
it was jealousy. I don’t claim to be Miss America or anything, but the person
who did this and chased me in my car had a horrid face, unless he or she was
wearing a mask.”

“Hmm,
I see mention of that in the report. It’s possible.”

“There
are so many nuts out there. One of them ran over my husband in a parking lot in
November. The person didn’t even stop to see if Larry was all right, but just
sped away.” She shivered at the memory.

He
shook his head. “We run into that sort of thing all the time. Human decency is
a lost commodity. I’m sorry for your experience. My condolences to you on your
husband’s death. Now, I know with all this mess here it won’t be easy, but why
don’t we take a gander and see what valuables are missing.”

“I’m
kind of afraid to look, but I may as well get it over with.”

With
Officer Willowby beside her, Dorrie walked down the hall to the living room.
Fighting back tears, she avoided the couch stuffing and the shattered bits of
dear objects haphazardly strewn about the floor, end tables and other areas.

Swallowing
hard, she picked up the broken pieces of the mother and daughter Lladro
figurine which Mom had ordered as a Christmas present a few years back. Knowing
that even in Mom’s condition she’d made the effort to find something nice for
her daughter had meant a lot to Dorrie. Now the cherished gift lay in shards.

She
brushed tears from her eyes, but more followed as she spied the remains of
Larry’s last birthday gift to her, a Hummel of a boy and girl which he’d seen
her admire at the gift shop and had snuck back later to buy. The statue was
hopelessly destroyed, as was her husband.

Sure,
insurance might cover the costs of the items she’d held dear, but replacement
of such mementos would never be the same as the originals. Their destruction
didn’t make sense. Even someone not a connoisseur of collectables could guess
these items held resale value.

She
took another swipe at her eyes and continued with the inspection. The family
room she’d fled from before showed more elements of destruction. Swallowing
hard, she took in the broken glass of the television screen, plus the gouged
cushions and chairs. The photos from her albums lay torn in tiny pieces on the
floor. Those were items she could never replace. A sick feeling settled in her
stomach at thought of what she’d lost.

Willowby
gave a low whistle. “Seems the perp had an ax to grind. Good thing you got
away.”

Dorrie
swallowed hard and nodded. She had no idea why anyone would hold such a grudge
against her, but the evidence was clear.

Upstairs
in the bedroom, more destruction awaited her, with the mattress ripped, bedding
partially torn and thrown across the floor. Dresser drawers were flung every
which way, leaving bras, panties and other personal items in plain view of the
detective’s eyes. The burglar had seen them also, an even more disturbing
possibility.

On
top of one pile, her broken jewelry box rested. She bent down to see if
anything from inside had been spared. Surprisingly, her dress watch, favorite
necklace and rings lay unblemished, as did the charms and earrings.

Every
piece of jewelry appeared accounted for and left intact. Strange, you’d think
he or she would have grabbed them to pawn or give away. Perhaps the burglar had
been too impatient to bother with such small items, or possibly he’d been
looking at them when she arrived home.

An
examination of other bedroom belongings confirmed everything to be either in
the wrong place or broken, yet nothing appeared missing.

She
proceeded downstairs to the kitchen desk. Papers lay everywhere, but gone were
the notebook computer and the CDs she’d used as backup. More precious photos of
Larry and Mom were gone. She’d thought she’d been through crying, but fresh
tears welled up. “I can’t believe this.”

Officer
Willowby turned to her. “Don’t worry. Insurance should get you a new computer,
probably a better model.”

“Insurance
can’t buy the pictures and memories they represent. They’re gone, like they
never existed, along with the financial records I’ll need to reconstruct. I
wish I’d gotten around to backing them all up online, but I thought the CDs
were enough.”  Her voice trembled at thought of what she’d lost.

“Are
you all right, Miss?” the officer asked.

Taking
a tremulous breath, she said, “I don’t really know. This whole thing is such a
shock. I’ve never had anyone mad at me like this before.”

An
understatement to be sure. It chilled her to realize that same mean person had
been right here in her home when she’d stepped inside. Anything could have
happened to her or the baby. Thank God, she’d made it out in time.

Shivering,
she glanced at what had turned into an alien landscape. Her home was no longer
a haven. Would it be safe to stay here once the police had left? 

The
officer waited patiently for her to recover, so they could continue with the
inspection. Taking a deep breath, she moved her suddenly wooden legs toward the
downstairs bathroom. There couldn’t be anything there worth destroying.

Apparently
the burglar thought otherwise, judging from the broken mirror of her compact
which she barely avoided stepping on. Mascara and eye liners lay beside it,
with the tops thrown into the toilet. Her lipsticks, broken into halves and
other dimensions, littered the sink and ceramic floor.

The
detective raised his eyebrows. “Not your garden variety crook. Definitely a
frustrated perp.”

“Thank
goodness this is the last room. I can’t take any more of this.”

She
handed the paper to the officer. “Here’s my list. I don’t think I’ve missed
anything, but I can’t tell for sure. It’s hard to think with all this going
on.”

“As
we discussed, I’ll be sure to email a copy of the report, digital photos and
other items to the insurance company,” he said, as they left the room.

“Thank
you. I’d appreciate that.”

They
re-entered the living room.

“Townsend,
how are the prints coming along?”

“Done.
Let’s hope the perp didn’t wear gloves, though I suspect otherwise. Not many
differing prints.”

Willowby
nodded, then turned to Dorrie. “Given we don’t have a clear physical
description, you say a Taurus followed you, but you couldn’t get a plate
number, unless we get a good match on the prints, this case will be tough to crack.
We’ll do our best, but I can’t promise you anything. For safety’s sake and your
own peace of mind, I’d advise your staying elsewhere until you invest in a new
deadbolt.”

She
nodded in agreement.

“Once
Townsend gets the rest of the photos done, we’ll be on our way. After the
insurance adjuster comes along, you have our permission to start the cleanup.
I’ll advise you of any leads.”

“Thanks,
officers, I appreciate your assistance. My cell phone will be on if you need to
reach me. Let me know, please, if you find anything, no matter how small.”