Free Cited to Death by Meg Perry

I had a new issue of the Journal of Scottish Historical Studies and a stack of books that were calling to me. I gathered drinks and snacks, propped pillows behind me, and settled in for an evening of reading.
     
    I had dozed off with a book propped on my chest when a sound woke me.

    I didn't move, listening to see if I heard it again. There was nothing for several seconds. Then I heard it again, a soft scratching sound, coming from our balcony.

    We lived on the fourth floor of our building. It was dark out, but our balcony, like all the others at the complex, overlooked the small courtyard, if you could even call it that. Theoretically, no one should have been able to climb up without being seen…

    I heard the sound again. I turned off the light behind my head, let my eyes adjust, and waited to see if I heard it again.

    There it was.

    I eased off the sofa as silently as possible. We had vertical blinds covering the sliding glass door. The blinds were closed, and I knew the door was locked because no one had been out there since we got home from the mountains.

    We had two doors to the main balcony, the one in the living room and the one in my bedroom. There was a second, private balcony outside Kevin's room. I went there, slid the blinds open, and looked out the door. I still couldn't see anything. We had guns, but they were locked in a safe, and I didn’t want to take the time to open it. I picked up the baseball bat that Kevin had propped in the corner of his room. I moved the bar that prevented the door from being opened, unlocked the door as quietly as I could, and stepped out onto the balcony.

    I had to look around the corner from Kevin's balcony to the main one. There was a figure crouched at the base of the door that led into my bedroom.

    I eased back into Kevin's bedroom, slid the door closed as silently as possible, got the phone from the bedside table, and dialed 911.

    "911, what is your emergency?"
     
    "There's someone trying to break in my apartment."

    The dispatcher read off my address then asked for my apartment number and the details of what was happening. She kept me on the line until I saw the reflection of flashing lights in the parking lot, then hung up. I went to the door and let the officer in. His partner and another pair of officers were on the ground below our balcony. The officer in the apartment went to Kevin's balcony and looked around.
     
    The guy was gone.

    The officer holstered his gun, which he had pulled out when entering Kevin's bedroom. "He probably got scared off when he saw our lights. We'll search on foot down there." He went into my bedroom, opened the blinds and the door, and stepped out. "Yep, here we go. He was trying to use this cutting tool." He held up a thing that looked like a protractor from high school geometry and pointed to a set of circular scratches beside the door handle. "It still wouldn't have gotten him in because the bar is in place, but it would have gotten him started." He called for forensics. "We'll have the evidence guys come and see if they can pull up anything. You never know. Maybe he's not a very bright burglar." He pointed at the baseball bat, which I was still clutching. "You know how to use that thing?"
     
    "Yes, sir. I was a Little League home run champion."

    He grinned. "Where'd you play?"
     
    "Oceanside."

    He looked puzzled. "I'm from eastern Oregon. Where's Oceanside?"
     
    "Just north of San Diego, just south of Camp Pendleton."

    "Ah." He looked around the apartment and spotted a picture of Jeff, Kevin, and me on the mantel. "Hey. That's Detective Brodie."
     
    "Yeah. He's my roommate. And my brother."

    "Oho." He looked back at me, appraising. "I can see the resemblance now. Where is he?"
     
    "Out with his girlfriend. They probably went to the movies. Do you want me to call him?"

    "Yeah, if you would."
     
    I got my cell and called. Kevin and Abby had gone to the movies and were now in the car on the way home. Abby answered. I