The Intruder

Bang bang bang...

Anna turned grudgingly and threw a pillow over her head.

Bang bang bang...

"Anna is not home," she called out in a fake voice. "Go away."

"Anna, I know you are in there. Please let me in," the voice called. It was Tori, Anna's bestfriend. Anna kicked into the air in frustration and dragged herself off the bed. How can you knock on your someone's door by 3am? Once she met her friend at the door, she knew she could not return to sleep. Tori's eyes were puffy and her hair was a huge mess. She looked like one who had seen a ghost. Anna led her to the kitchen without saying a word and pulled out a bottle of water from the fridge. Tori stared at it for a little while before uncapping the bottle and taking a big gulp. Anna noticed that her hand was shaky and new tears had formed in her eyes.

"Start talking," Anna commanded.

"Someone entered my bedroom through my window," she finally said.

One look at Tori and it was clear that she was not hallucinating. Tori had always been a candid person. When she passed the bar, she swore she would tell the truth even if she hurt her client in the process. Somehow, she had been able to get by in her world which was dominated by crime and a lot of men who constantly tried to trample her. On a normal day, she was brilliant, confident and most importantly, honest. Anna did not doubt her for a second.

Tori went on to narrate her experience. She had woken up to a strange sound and her  window was wide open. In her drowsy state, she had just assumed that she left it open the previous night. When she staggered sleepily to the window to shut it, a flash of black caught her attention and she saw someone's silhouette on the wall near the door. Without giving it much thought, she jumped out through the open window and over her low fence. She did not care that it was too early in the morning or that her kneecaps could have shattered. She just wanted to get out. Anna's house was a few blocks away and since her husband had gone on a business trip, running to Anna's house was her only option.

Anna reached for her phone and dialed 911 while she placed her palm flat on her friend's back. The waterworks had started again and Tori buried her face in Anna's flimsy nightshirt. Anna could not imagine what waking up to such a fearful sight could feel like. After various failed attempts at sleeping,  Tori finally drifted off with Anna laying by her side.

The next morning, Tori's apartment was torn apart by various uniformed officers as they searched for fingerprints and any evidence of breaking and entering. The window had clearly been forced open and a few things had been moved around in the kitchen. Tori had not lost anything in the attack and that scared her more. She was a criminal lawyer who could have offended anyone. It had been a good year for her with various clients singing her praises, but there had been failures too with her clients getting convicted despite her struggles.

"Are you in a relationship, mam?" the lead detective asked her. She was married. Roland, her husband was out of town at the moment on an important business conference, and she did not want to bother him. Still, the man advised her to stay with a friend she could trust while investigations were ongoing. After the police left Tori's apartment, she made a poor attempt at putting things back in order. She had called work to report the incident and she was advised to take the day off. Her next appearance in court was two weeks away and she could afford to work outside the office.

She pulled out her legal pad and looked through the cases she had handled in the past three months. There was a murder which she had handled. Her client, the husband of the deceased had been ruled not guilty and allowed to mourn his wife in peace. The gun possession case had been a walk over since no one had ever seen her client holding the pistol. There was the case of drug possession and another of destruction of property for which her clients had not been able to make bail. There were countless other cases for which one could have wanted vengeance, but she could not pick out the most plausible one. In frustration, she left the room in its upturned state and went to find breakfast.
Her apartment was too quiet for her to be alone. Every sound reverberated. The ding of her microwave almost gave her a panic attack and the coffee machine could have stopped her heart. She made a sandwich as quickly as she could manage and rushed to the bathroom to take a shower. A few minutes later, she was out of her house. She would rather be anywhere else.

Roland called her at midday. She was sitting near a small food truck which she had discovered three months ago. They served the best hot dogs she had tasted and she needed comfort food at the moment.  She had taken the only empty seat available, gobbled three hot dogs and was making a list of possible suspects. She had narrowed it down to twelve and she was losing her mind. When her phone rang, she jumped and spilled half of her juice. Roland wanted to know how she was doing. He sounded stressed and she did not want to bother him for something that was already being handled. He told her all about the conference and all the know-it-alls that were in attendance. For a short while she was grateful for the distraction and her fake giggles had quickly become real ones. After he ended the call, she was once again overtaken by gloom and returned to her list.

Tori took the advice of the police once again and returned to her daily routine. A policeman had been posted to her house to guard it. Anna moved in with her that weekend and for a while everything returned to normal. Then one morning, Tori noticed someone lurking in her bushes. He wore dark coloured clothes and a weirdly familiar Gap cap that completely covered his face. There was a small tuft of brown hair that could be seen from the back of his head and he had a slight limp. Tori screamed to alert the policeman, but the intruder got away before he could get caught.

Tori had to breath into a paper bag for a few minutes before she could utter a word.

"I cannot drive like this," she whispered as she raised her trembling hands to Anna. She had to be in court in the next hour and she had no idea how she would be able to manage.

"I could call a taxi for you," Anna told her as she passed her a strong cup of coffee. Tori took a sip and dropped the mug forcefully on the counter. She was angry that someone was trying to make her life miserable. She had never done anything shady in her work and she made an honest living.  She did not deserve to be treated like a criminal on the run. She took a deep breath and picked her handbag from the table. She had a job to do after all.

A cab had dropped her off at work and she was in the courtroom trying to get her client the minimum sentence. He had pleaded guilty of car hijacking,  but all he wanted to do was get his pregnant wife to the hospital. Luckily, he got out on bail and community service for two months. It was better than jail time. As Tori left the court room, she received a call.

"Mrs. Darson? It is Detective Han," the voice said. She recognized it immediately.

"Yes. Any leads yet?" She was too anxious for a preamble.

"We were hoping you could answer a few questions for us. Are you free to come over or do we come to you?"

Tori took a cab to the station and met with the detective. A man, Drew Johnson whom she had defended years ago had just been released. She had lost the case and he had to serve a five-year sentence.

Apparently, he was still angry and he had sworn that he would pay back once he got out. They had questioned some prisoners and guards and they had similar stories. He was a violent man who was true to his words. Unfortunately, Tori could not give any helpful information that linked Drew to that morning's ordeal. The man had brown hair, but so did her husband and half of America. His height could not be ascertained and the questioning had only increased Tori's frustration. The detective promised to get an arrest warrant as soon as he could pin anything on Drew, but they both knew it would be difficult. As Tori stepped out of the building, she received another call. Anna was in the hospital.
Tori arrived at the hospital in a frenzy. She had not waited for details on the phone. She just wanted to see her friend. As she ran towards the help desk, she was directed  to her friend's bed in the emergency room.

"What happened?" she asked in confusion. Tori could not believe her ears. Anna had borrowed Tori's car to go to work and the brakes had been tampered with. In an attempt to save herself, she had driven into a lone park bench and totaled the front of the car. The air bag had been destroyed too. Anna got away with a few bruises,  but she had to stay back for observation in case she had a concussion.

"This is very serious, isn't it?" Tori asked. She knew it was, but she needed someone else to say it.

"Yes it is."

Tori called Roland that night and listened as he uttered countless swear words into the phone. The conference was going to last for two more days, but he promised to be back as soon he could to keep her safe.


Tori woke up gasping. She had dreamt that the intruder had made it into her room dressed in the same dark clothes and had tried to strangle her. It was a very disturbing experience and she did not recover fully until she had taken a shower. As the two women sat for breakfast, Anna tried to distract Tori with silly stories from work. Tori attempted a fake laugh occasionally, but it was too obvious to pass as manageable and she was too distracted to make a real effort. All she was thinking was that she had seen that Gap cap before.

During Tori's lunch break at work, she decided to eat at her favourite food truck. After getting herself a hotdog and cranberry juice, she made her way to a seat at the corner.

"Tori? Tori Darson?" Tori turned and saw Dan, her husband's colleague. It was such a relief to see a familiar face. She stood and hugged him. Then she made room on her table. He dropped his paper plate he was holding and bit into his burger.

"How is Dan?" he asked cautiously.

"He is alright.  Shouldn't you be at the business conference with him?"

Dan looked at her sadly and took another bit. He seemed to be stalling.

"My wife took in and I had to cancel, but Roland should not be at the conference either," he said quietly.

Tori looked confused. "Why?"

"He was fired a week ago for mishandling of funds," he told her and Tori choked on her hotdog.

The rest of the day was a complete blur for Tori. She had so many explanations for Roland's lies. Maybe he wanted to mourn the loss of his job alone. Maybe he was trying to get another job before telling her. Maybe he had gone to cry on another person's shoulder. She was so confused. Dan had no reason to lie to her as they had been friends long before she even married Roland. He was already married then. There was no way Dan could have been jealous of them.

As her taxi arrived in front of her house, she got out like a zombie and made her way to the building. Anna was not home yet, but the police car was still parked outside. She walked in through the backdoor, and almost immediately, she knew that someone else was in the house. She quickly dialed Anna's number and advanced slowly towards her living room.

The Gap cap was laid on the glass table at the centre of the room. A familiar frame was seated on the brown sofa and he was pointing a nine millimeter towards her.

"Hey Tori," the voice said and Tori knew exactly why the cap had seemed so familiar. It had belonged to her father and old man had forgotten it in their guest room on his last visit.  Roland must have taken it. Tori took a deep breath and walked towards her husband.

"Hi Roland," she replied. "How did the conference go?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"I guess you know now. I lost my job. Not everyone is perfect like you." Tori could not believe her ears. She had never demanded perfection.

"I just want to know why you are trying to kill me," she said. Tori was trying to stall although she did not expect help to arrive at any moment. Maybe she could grab the vase at the other end of the room and smash it on his head. If she could reach it.

"Tori darling, don't flatter yourself. I don't hate you that much. I just need your insurance money."

Tori looked confused. What money?

"Silly little Tori," he said and clucked his tongue when he noticed her confusion. "Your father started a life insurance for you a long time ago. You are worth two million bucks." He turned away from her and briefly and toyed with the gun. "At least your death is."

Before she could make any move, he turned back to her and stood up. He took a few menacing steps towards her without taking his eyes off hers. Tori feared that she would empty her bladder on her living room floor.

"No one will ever believe that I did this. I'm such a perfect husband," he said aloud and laughed.

"Why do you need all that money?" Tori asked him. She had to know.

"Just a little gambling problem I want to fix. I tried not to involve you, but my stupid company caught on and fired me. Some crazy guy is after me now and I need to pay up. You are my best bet."

"You owe that much?"

"The extra cash won't hurt."

Tori looked at the man she had once called husband and wished that her client had been the culprit. How could she have married a gambling, thieving murderer?
Suddenly Anna called out to her and fear rose to her throat.

"Oh boy," Roland said sadly. "Now I have to kill her too."

He waited until she had entered the living room before grabbing Tori by the neck.

"Should she go first, darling?" he whispered in his wife's ear. Tori was trembling uncontrollably. It was her fault that Anna was in her house in the first place. All she wanted was company and a sense of protection. Anna froze at the door and looked from her friend to Roland and back to her friend.

"Surprise!" he announced without moving. Tori was choking under his tight grip but he did not notice.

It all happened so fast. One second, Tori was coughing under her husband's arm and in the next, she was on the floor covered in blood. It took a full minute for her to realize that it was his. Anna had heard a strange voice over the phone after she had dialed her and had alerted the policeman outside. The plan was to distract the intruder, but Anna had not expected it to be Roland. The police officer had come in through the back door which Anna had left open and had shot Roland without asking questions. He feared that the man would lose control and kill someone.

The house was surrounded by police cars in less than  ten minutes and Tori sat outside with a blanket wrapped around her. She was still covered in Roland's blood, but they needed her to make a statement.

"Did you ever suspect that he was the one?" Anna asked as she sat beside her friend.

"Not until I saw him."

"How do you feel?"

Tori took a deep breath and looked at the bland sky.

"I can barely breathe. I married a monster," she sobbed quietly. For the second time in that month, Anna wrapped her arms around her best friend and watched her cry.

"You still have me," she whispered. "Always."



#TheRitaSide

(Decided to try thriller. Still rusty and needs work...I know...)

(Thank you for reading. It means a lot to me🤗🤗)