Three Years Later, He Came Back Begging novel Chapter 148

By the time the building manager showed up, Bonnie and the girl from next door had already taken care of everything. The hallway was spotless again. Bonnie was busy spraying the bottoms of their shoes with rubbing alcohol, doing her best to get rid of any lingering germs.

She’d handled the trash and even the dead cockroaches, wrapping everything up tight in five layers of garbage bags, making sure not a whiff could escape. The nasty smell was gone, replaced by a heavy scent of alcohol and bug spray drifting through the air.

The property management at Fairview Estates didn’t waste any time. After checking the footage from Bonnie’s digital peephole, they caught a delivery driver crouching suspiciously outside her door. It had to be him.

To be sure, they pulled more surveillance—from the hallway, the elevator, even the building entrance. It was definitely that driver. At first, the trash was hidden in a delivery bag, but when he saw the coast was clear, he took out the garbage, used a small knife to slash the bottom, and slipped away.

Deliveries could be brought right up to the door in this building, but every driver had to scan in. Tracking this guy down wouldn’t be hard.

The manager was convinced this was intentional and asked if Bonnie wanted to report it to the police, promising they’d help however they could.

Immediately, Bonnie thought, Hannah’s fans have found me. Panic shot through her, but she did her best to keep it together. She called the police, then remembered she was in Aiken’s district and sent him a quick message to ask what she should do.

Aiken didn’t make her wait long. He sent a voice message right back, saying, “I’m on duty tonight. I’m coming over.”

Relief crashed over Bonnie. She thanked her neighbor, then waited by the door with building management, feeling jumpy and gross as if she could still feel cockroaches crawling on her skin.

She and her neighbor had already gone along the hallway with flashlights, checking every corner. It looked like there were only two roaches and they hadn’t missed any, but Bonnie still felt uneasy. She grabbed a mop from the bathroom and scrubbed her hallway over and over, paying extra attention to the floor right outside her door.

Aiken showed up to find her in the middle of cleaning. He called her name, and she actually relaxed a little, the tension leaving her shoulders. When she turned around, she looked composed, but her face was pale as paper.

The hallway went quiet except for a faint gust whistling in from outside.

Bonnie glanced at the two officers standing with her—one of them was Aiken—and felt her nerves start to settle. She waited for the man’s answer.

He must have been spooked because he stammered about being in the middle of a delivery and wanted to know if he could finish the job before coming over.

Aiken was still all business. “We get that you’re working, but every citizen is required by law to cooperate with police investigations. Please come as soon as you can.”

There was a short pause. Then the man agreed. Aiken ended the call and, for the first time all night, Bonnie looked like she could finally breathe again.