7. THE TREASURE JACKET

There was something eerie about my place as I approached it. 

The entrance door was ajar.

I walked closer and stepped foot into the rooftop apartment. Since we didn't have a living room, I walked through the lobby between my room and Jake's and I was in my room instantly.

I knew it when I saw it.

I had been mugged.

It was obvious from all indications. The littered papers all over, the upturned shelf of books, and opened drawers told of a person's frantic search.

I quickly threw my bag on the floor and ran into Jake's room. It was the same. No difference at all.

Whoever came in here must have been looking for something.

This surprised me because what could anyone be looking for in a house like mine? I did not own a lot of valuables but I began checking for stuff that could have been taken away.

I could not find anything missing so I returned to my bag and fished out officer Steve's card. He did say I should call whenever something suspicious happened and this, this was hella suspicious.

He picked on the third ring. 

"What da actual... are you okay?!"

 He said when I told him what happened. 

"Yes, I am fine. Just a little bit disoriented." I told him.

"Hold on a second. We will be there in a few minutes."

He ended the call after that.

I waited for a few minutes and then I began to second guess calling him. What if he thought I did it? As a cover-up for what occurred the night before? 

I fished for my phone and put a call through to Jake. It was unanswered. So I left him a message after the beep.

"Jacob Matthews! It's been a week since I last saw you. Call me when you get this. I just found out that we've been mugged and we're moving!"

It was not exactly a lie. It was a potential truth for we will have to move soon if it is discovered that Leo was behind this. Even though I do not know how I was to begin looking for a house so suddenly.

Sophia came to mind and I wanted to call her and update her on the happenings but remember she has work to do, so I decided not to. I sat down on a bench outside the house and waited. It must be taking them long because the station was a central one and so, it was located in the main town. A few more minutes passed by before I began to hear wailing sirens.

They parked at the bottom of the building and climbed their way up to my place.

"Are you okay?" Was the first thing officer Steve asked when he saw me. I gave him a firm nod. Then he asked, "is there anything missing?"

"Not that I noticed."

"Get in there. Try to see if you can get anything." He ordered the men with him and three of them went inside the building. He turned to me and said, "Did you call on the community police?"

"No." I shook my head. "You already told me to call if anything was suspicious so I simply called you. Although, I didn't expect anything to happen so soon. Do you think he did this?"

"Leo? Well, I can't put it past him. But the question is why."

"Exactly. Why? I do not have a plethora of gems stacked away in my basement. Grap, I do not even have a basement."

Officer Steve laughed. 

"Don't worry. We're going to find out who did this. You just relax."

I nodded and sighed. Just then, one of the men came out of the house. I and Steve looked towards him and he shook his head slowly, from side to side.

"Nothing at all?" Steve probed.

"Blank. Not even a single hair strand." He replied. 

"It's clean. As usual. Typical of Leo." Steve said, frustration written all over his face. I looked at the reporting officer, in a black jacket and it hit me.

"Oh, shit!" 

I hurried inside the house with a startled Steve on my tail. Ignoring his questions, I ransacked the messy room for the black jacket I brought home with me from Sophia's place.

It was gone.

"Can you tell me what it is you're looking for? Are you missing something?"

"It's gone."

"What's gone?"

"The jacket. The jacket he covered me with."

Steve grimaced and his jaw clenched. "It was him. It was Leo. He came to retrieve his cloth. Damn!"

Amused, I said, "if that is the case, then he did not have to do this. Why turn my house into a bird cage when the jacket was lying pretty on my bed?!"

"Right? He could have just taken it and left. Maybe, that's just why he came but seeing the state of your house, I can't help but say someone else broke into your house. Crap, this is running me mentally."

"Someone else?"

"Yes. Because Leo doesn't visit the likes of you, no offense. He has nothing to take from here." I heaved a relieved sigh. If what officer Steve was saying is true, then I need not worry anymore. I just needed to be careful in case of common thefts by neighborhood thieves. "Well, except if his jacket is the treasure he sought after here." 

"Alright then, I guess this is settled. He simply came for his jacket. We can hope he won't be coming back." I said, picking up one of my neurology books from the floor. 

The nerve of the guy to upturn my house in this manner and render my treasured books helpless on the floor.

"That scumbag!" I screamed.

Officer Steve laughed before he said, "take it easy. I am going to inform the county police about this and have men watch here for a while. You, on the other hand, fix your lock or get a better one. Since he got what he wanted, we can hope that this doesn't happen again."

I gave him a nod and began to arrange my books.

"Thank you, officer Steve. I'll call you if anything else happens." 

He left after that with his boys. 

It took a lot of time to clean up the house. While I was arranging Jake's room, I saw that his personal computer had been smashed. 

Not knowing how to explain it all to him when he got back, I sat down on the floor and cried. I had been holding it in all day and I just could not believe that a guy I met at the club was the cause of all this.

No, not him. I was the cause. I brought this upon myself. 

When I was done wailing and cleaning, I informed the building owner of what happened and without one of his usual grumblings, he said he'd call a locksmith. Surprised, I thanked him and walked to work, drowned in my thoughts.

At the hospital, nothing of great significance happened. It was one such night that we did not get any emergency patients and all the in-patients were without many problems.

So, instead of working, I spent the night relating to Beverly what happened the night before.

"Girl! That's unlike you. You should have hosted a rooftop party at your place and brought together some friends to celebrate. I bet that would have been much more fun." She stated sincerity in her eyes.

I agreed with her.

Better still, I should have stayed at home and slept off.

"I know right? But well, it's happened but there won't be a repeat." I told her, just before I went to make my third run on the wards.

It was dawn soon and I clocked off work, drained and tired. I walked back home, trying to shake the past few events off my mind. I wondered what the director would say when he saw me. Once again, my subconscious said it was to scold me sternly and I tried to mentally prepare for it. I do not like being scolded or chastised and it was why I always played by the rules.

When I got home, I took a look at my phone. Jake hadn't replied to my voicemail nor did he call or leave me messages. 

"That brat!" I said, in frustration, dropping the phone. 

I sauntered into the small bathroom in my room to take a bath before I hit the bed.

It took me a while, as I washed off the stress of the past few hours. I hoped earnestly that the thief stayed away and for my life to get back to normal. Back before Sophia convinced me to go to the club.

When I was done bathing, I wore my old bathrobe and walked to the mirror. I took my face cream and proceeded to apply it to my face when I saw the image. 

Fear gripped my throat and I ceased moving.

He was here.

Right behind me.