Unhinged

It was early evening when another knock, this time the clonk of bony, nicotine-stained knuckles, pulled my consciousness outward again.

Randall.

His booze-tainted breath curled offensively against my front as he leaned much too close, speaking into the doorjamb. “Tana? Hey, Tana! It’s Randall honey. I know you’re home, I saw your car in your parking space. Hey, did the cops talk to you today?

I slid my perception around to see the defeated slump of Tana’s shoulders, the steadying sigh she allowed herself and the momentary pinch at the bridge of her nose as she called back. “Hey Randall, one second.”

She pulled a robe around herself, covering the delightfully braless tank top and sleep shorts she was still dressed in. If it wasn’t for the unwanted visitor at my front, I’d think it was a terrible waste to cover up her beauty. Considering who’d come to call, however, I wondered if additional layers would have been a better choice.
 

Tana tugged me slightly open, and I was glad she hadn’t opened me all the way. Better to keep more of myself between Tana and Randall, so I could at least try to keep the predator out of her safe sanctuary.

Behind Randall’s too-curious lean into the apartment, ominous thunder rumbled, clouds thick and heavy with a swiftly-moving stormfront. Tana cleared her throat softly. “Yes, Randall, the police were here. They asked if I’d heard or seen anything suspicious lately. I told them no.”

Smart girl, Tana. She couldn’t have known what I did, of course: that Randall was exactly the man they’d been searching for, and that he likely killed the girl they were looking for. Even so, Tana’s choice to gloss over the few details she’d been given put me at ease – the less Randall knew about the police hunting him, the better.

“Did you – uhm, need anything else?” Tana raised an eyebrow, her fingers pointedly resting on my edge, ready to close and lock me soon as the lingering super was out of earshot.

But right now Randall was looking at Tana too hard, a beat too long, sizing her up like a meal rather than a tenant.

“That’s all for now, honey. Just trying to keep an eye on the complex, you know? I’d hate to think there was a dangerous man out here that could hurt one of my favorite tenants.” He winked salaciously as he straightened, patting my door frame with a firm, possessive palm as he left.

I strained at my hinges, wishing I could fly out in the wrong direction and break the man’s nose.