The woman sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Please answer me truthfully. Would you trust them again if your bank did this to you?”
The woman looked around and shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t stay with them either.”
Ella nodded. “Thank you. I’ll get that report done now.”
“Again, Miss. Smith, we are truly sorry.”
“I’ll talk to you soon.”
Ella made it outside and walked a few blocks, but the shaking in her limbs grew, so she had to stop and lean against a building. That bastard. He thought he could do that to her and get away with it.
One of the first things she needed to do was change her apartment locks and then go to the police department to press charges. The locksmith said it would be done by the time she got home, and he’d give the manager the keys.
The police department took a lot longer than she thought it would. Nearly two hours later, she walked out more depressed than when she went in. They made out a report but told her that Teddy Sutton didn’t exist, and it would be next to impossible to find him. The female officer explained that these men had been doing it so long that they knew what steps to take to avoid getting caught. She explained that he would probably be at her apartment when she got home, and they could arrest him then.
“Unfortunately, we’re so busy we don’t have an officer to wait with you at the apartment. I know you feel like your case is bad, but we’re dealing with rapists, murderers, and child abusers. We don’t have the funding to get the people we need. I’m sorry. I’ll file the report and send it to the bank, but that’s all I can do at the moment.”
Ella stood and shook the woman’s hand. “Thank you.”
Ella looked up at the sky when she stepped out of the building. How could a person that spent the last four years building a life have it taken away so quickly? God, would her whole life be this difficult? She was alone in the world without anyone to care about her. Now, she’d have to wait for college another year because of this. She made a decision right then. After she got her money back, she would move away from the city because she didn’t want to chance running into Teddy.
That was one good thing the officer said—thatshe probably wouldn’t see the man again. Once they got all they wanted, they went on to the next victim. She felt sorry for the next idiot who fell for him but was glad she would never have to see him again.
Chapter Three
She had been so wrong. It had just gotten worse. When she returned to the apartment building, she stopped at the manager’s office.
She smiled. “Hello. I stopped by to get my keys.”
The uncomfortable look on the man’s face was a sign her bad day wasn’t over.
“I’m sorry, Miss Smith. Since you haven’t paid your rent for the last three months or called after you received my letters, I had to evict you. A service I have comes and packs up everything, and they take it to a storage building until you’re ready to come get it.”
Ella stumbled back and plopped down on a chair. “Mr. Watts, I’ve always paid my rent and never received any letters.”
“They were sent and received. I made sure of it. I pushed them under your door, so you’d see them immediately. You’ve always been a nice tenant, so I gave you an extra month.”
A thought popped into her head. Teddy. That fucker had done this to her. Ella went through her story with Mr. Watts, and although the man was sincerely shocked and sympathetic, her apartment had already been rented out. He had a long list of people that wanted to rent a place in the building.
“Here’s the information for the storage place. If you can get your things out of it within a month, they won’t charge you.”
Ella stood and shook his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Watts. You’ve always been a nice man. I hope you stay safe.”
“Thank you, Miss Smith, and I am truly sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s mine for trusting a person.”
“That’s only one person. There are plenty of trustworthy people.”
Ella almost snorted. God, if he only knew the people that disappointed her in her young life, he’d be shocked. “I just have to find them, right?”
The man nodded.
She nodded. “I’ll work on that. Have a good night.” Ella walked out with her head down.
“Having a bad day, babe?”