Her thoughts were a jumble, her body numb. She could only reach behind her and push the door closed. No one could see inside. No one could see this.

A bang at her door made Alicia jump. Though she had no memory of retrieving it or making a call on it, her cell phone clattered out of her lap onto the floor. She blinked. How long had she been sitting there? Another bang and a familiar voice called, "Alicia! Alicia, are you hurt? Alicia, if you dont answer, I'm going to break the door down!"

She wanted to tell him that it was open, but she couldn't. Her mouth wouldn't work, her throat wouldn't work, her tongue seemed stuck to the roof of her mouth. But she heard the door knob jiggle and she turned to see him step inside. His key was in the knob. Apparently, they both had forgotten he still had one.

"What the h--" He went silent and dread choked the air between them.

He dropped to his knees beside her and turned her face around so that they were eye to eye. "Are you okay?"

She blinked.

He patted her cheek lightly, "Alicia, baby, are you okay?" He checked her over by gently running his hands over her skin.

She was sure she nodded.

"Did you see him?"

She murmured something unintelligible.

"The man who did this, did you see him?"

She shook her head and a shudder rippled through her body.

"Did you check through the rest of the house? Did you see if he, he--"

Her eyes watered and tears dotted her cheeks and she felt absurd. She had cried more in the past twenty-four hours than she had when shed gone through puberty. "No."

Tommy nodded then rose. He pulled a handgun from the holster under his leather jacket then slowly, carefully made his way deeper into the apartment. Alicia watched him disappear into her kitchen. He came out again, then rounded a corner and disappeared again into her hallway. In ten minutes, he came back and dropped to her side, his eyes studying the walls. He ran a hand over his face and looked truly shaken. She hadnt seen him drained of color and sickened this way since his mother died. Finally, he told her, "I believe he was long gone before you got home. From the looks of it, you haven't been here yourself for a couple of days. You were in Borneo, right?"

Because the possibility that the perpetrator had still been in her apartment when she arrived had not occurred to her, the knowledge that he was gone only inspired a second bout of alarm. Her eyes widened and she began to shake.

"He's gone, baby," Tommy soothed her and pulled her into his embrace. "He's gone and I'm here and you know I'll never let anyone hurt you. You know I'll always keep you safe."

Alicia clutched him close, desperately.  And he held her just as hard, his lips pressing to her brow and into her hair. In his arms, she did feel safe, and she did believe that he could always keep her safe.

If he wanted to.

The problem was Tommy didnt want to.