Intruder spoke before the dispatcher could, “I’m standing in the hallway. How have I broken in? I didn’t even make it inside.”
Now that he was saying more than a couple of words at a time, I could hear his accent more clearly. The way he enunciated certain words was familiar and set off a bell somewhere in my head. But I didn’t have time or energy to spare for bells right this moment.
“Attempted break-in,” I amended.
“Okay, miss,” the dispatcher answered. “I’m going to need your name and the address to your apartment.”
“I get it,” Intruder said, loudly enough for me to take a step back. “This is one of those pranks. I’ve seen that show on TV back home. What was the name of that guy? The host. The one with the good hair.” A pause. “Never mind.” Another pause. “You got me! It was a really good one. See, I’m laughing,” he added before breaking into a loud cackle and almost shocking the phone out my grip. “Now, can you please open this door and be done with it? It’s past midnight and I’m exhausted.” The humor had left his voice. “Tell her she’s hilarious. We’ll remember this as one of the best pranks in history.”
Tell her?
Tell who?
Frowning, I lowered my voice and spoke right into the phone. “Did you hear that? I think he might be deranged.”
“Deranged?”Intruder scoffed. “I’m not crazy, just… tired.” Something dropped to the floor with a thud on the other side of the door and I prayed it wasn’t him because I wasn’t up for dealing with an unconscious man on top of everything.
“I heard,” the dispatcher said. “And, miss, I’m—”
“Did I get the wrong door or something?” Intruder interrupted.
The wrong… door?
That caught my attention.
“Miss,”the emergency dispatcher hissed. “Your name and the address to your home, please.”
“Rosie,” I said quickly. “I’m Rosalyn Graham and… And, well, technically this is not my home. I’m at my best friend’s place. She’s away at the moment, and I needed… a place to stay. But I didn’t break in, obviously. I had a key.”
“And I have a key, too,” Intruder offered.
A record scratched in my head.
“Impossible.” I scowled at the door. “I have the only spare that exists.”
“Miss Graham.” The dispatcher’s voice was laced with annoyance. “I want you to stop interacting with the individual outside your door and share your location. We’ll send a unit to check on things.”
My mouth opened but before any words came out, Intruder spoke again, “She really outdid herself.”
She.Thatsheagain.
Neither of us said anything for a few seconds. Then, the silence was broken by a heavy thump. One that sounded a lot like he had just slumped against his side of the entrance door.
“She?”I finally asked, ignoring the“Miss Graham?”coming from my phone’s speaker.
“Yeah,” Intruder said simply. “My very funny and highly creative little cousin.”
A breath got stuck somewhere between my rib cage and mouth.
Little cousin.
She.
The intruder’s thick accent that is so terribly familiar.
The only possible explanation took shape in my head.
Had I—