by Kori Hart
5150Oh
A Chasing Dreams Romance
Kori Hart
5150Oh Copyright © 2020 by Kori Hart.
All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover designed by Kori Hart
Editing by Horus Proofreading
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Kori Hart
Visit my website at www.korihart.com
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
About The Author
Chapter 1
Natalie
“Roger, I’m home.” I kicked the front door closed with the heel of my foot. I balanced my take out and purse on top of my portfolio. The smell of Chinese was filling the room and my stomach growled–ready to eat as soon as possible.
“Roger, where are you?” I asked as I entered my small kitchen. I put my portfolio down and moved my things off the top of it.
The large black case had been with me since freshman year of college. I was determined not to be lured by other careers–especially when I found out how much other degrees would pay. Art was my goal and my passion.
Several people at work teased me about going old school, but it never stopped me from getting the job done. My supervisor doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, I think he prefers seeing my sketches before I jump behind the computer screen and spend hours working on a design.
I push the case to the end of the counter. I wouldn’t be needing it for a few days. The weekend was finally here, and I planned on catching up with some of my favorite shows, sleeping and taking care of my cat. My plan was to give him a bath and I suspect that’s why he’s avoiding me.
After getting a diet cola out of the fridge and a fork from the drawer, I grabbed the brown paper bag containing my food and went to the living room. I put everything down and grabbed the remote. My fingers automatically punched in the numbers to the channel I wanted to watch. It showed true crime stories 24/7 and I loved it.
I took the top off of my fried rice. Steam rose, and the smell hit me. I ate a bite. From the corner of my eye, I could see movement and smirked as Roger came sauntering into the room.
“Of course you would show up now that I’m eating. I know what you’re really after,” I said.
He walked under my legs, letting his tail drag against my skin. It made me laugh. The tickling sensation was almost too much.
I looked back at the cat, and he lifted his head at me. “No, you will not get my dinner and yes I wore shorts today. It was too warm to make the walk to the office in pants and I thought I could brave the air conditioning. At times, I didn’t think I would make it. Thank goodness for my jacket. I had to drape it over me.”
Roger meowed.
“We can talk later. My show is about to start and I’m hungry,” I told him.
He meowed again.
“I’ll feed you during a commercial break,” I added.
Another meow.
“It’s not up for discussion,” I scolded.
Roger moved from beside me and walked to the TV. He sat down right in front. Sometimes, I wondered about him.
I leaned back against the couch and ate my rice as the show started. The narrator gave some history on the family and I mindlessly reached for an egg roll.
The narrator started discussing the clues before announcing another body had been found. I couldn’t look away. The police were hot on the suspect’s tail, but they didn’t know his name. My heart was pounding in my chest as I listened to the mother of one of the victims speak to the camera. Tears built in my eyes and I silently prayed that they caught the man who hurt her child.
By the time it was over, I was stuffed and bawling like a baby. The murderer had killed another two young women, but they finally caught him. At the end of the day, I was glad for that. It was still terrible to hear about the lives lost.
“I have a problem. I know,” I told Roger. He had moved to sit at the end of the couch. His eyes watched me, judging me. It probably made little sense while I continuously tortured myself with these crime shows. It was an addiction, one I didn’t want to fix.
The commercials played, and I collected everything off of the coffee table. I threw away the trash and put the leftovers in the fridge.
I paused for a moment when I heard sirens growing louder. Many people said I was crazy for wanting to live down the street from a police station, but I never felt safer. It also didn’t hurt that I purposely jogged by there every morning before work. Sometimes the officers would linger outside by the vehicles at shift change, talking to one another. I'd never turn the view of a man in uniform.
My plan for the rest of the evening was to watch some more of my show, but I needed something sweet. I opened the freezer and frowned when I remembered I had eaten the last of my ice cream during my last binge of crime TV. There was one last place to check for sweets and I went to the cupboard.
“Thank goodness!” I reached in and grabbed the container of generic brand chocolate chip cookies. It was nearly gone but there were enough to satisfy my craving. I stuffed one into my mouth as I walked back to the couch.
I put the cookies down on the coffee table and grabbed a blanket. Roger jumped onto the armrest when I put my head down on the throw pillow he was using. I snuggled up with the blanket and looked back to the screen. The new show was starting, and I studied it for a moment, hoping I hadn’t seen it before.
As it continued on, I reached for another cookie. I was chewing slowly as the screen showed a reenactment of a woman sleeping in her bed and a man wearing a ski mask inching toward her. My heart raced once more, and I held my breath.
A scratching sound caused me to jump. The production on this episode seemed to be more intense than usual.
The lead investigator appeared on the screen. He explained the steps they were taking to catch the criminal. The sound happened again. I quickly reached for the remote and hit mute. It was louder than before.
I sat up on the couch. The hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. I tried to be as quiet as possible to figure out where the noise was coming from. Then the knob on my front door twisted and my eyes went wide. I grabbed my cell phone and Roger before I rushed to my bedroom in the back of my apartment.
Frantically, I dialed 911 as I made it to my closet. I pushed past my clothes hanging up and tried to hide myself behind them.
“Someone is breaking into my apartment,” I whispered. Fear was taking over, but I knew I had to be as calm as possible. I gave the operator my address in one breath.
“Please hurry!” I said before hanging up. I know I probably should have stayed on the phone, but I didn’t want anyone to hear me. The fear of someone breaking in and knowing I called the police was too much for me to handle.
I turned off my ringtone, dropped my phone to the side and snuggled Roger close to my chest. I closed my eyes and tried to think of something happy.
I don’t know how long I was in my closet. All I could hear was the beating of my heart and the erratic breaths I was taking. I didn’t want to freak out. I knew I couldn’t. Roger depended on me. I had to depend on myself, and him, if it came down to it.
I smiled to myself, picturing a man in a ski mask–much like the one I saw on the TV earlier–getting knocked out. I’d have to repay my guy as thanks for saving me and for protecting no matter what.
Every girl wants a knight in shining armor. I preferred mine in a uniform and a badge. He’d have a pair of handcuffs on his duty belt, a firearm on his hip and a short buzz cut. It has to be long enough for me to run my fingers through.
The daydream seemed to help. I relaxed a bit but was still conscious of what was happening. I had no idea if the person was still trying to get through the door or if the scraping sound was continuing. I didn’t even know where it came from. A window, perhaps.
My thoughts were interrupted by banging on the front door. I froze, held Roger a little tighter and prayed that the hinges held together.
“This is the police! Please come to the door!”
I let out a shaky breath and crawled out from behind my clothes. I held onto Roger as I slowly made my way to the door. The pounding started up again, and it made me jump.
I looked through the peephole at the door, saw small versions of two men standing in uniform. I let out a deep breath and moved to undo the deadbolt.
When I opened the door, I gasped. The man I pictured moments before in my daydream was pretty much the same one standing on my front porch.
Chapter 2
Jordan
As soon as the door opened, I slipped into a daze. The most beautiful woman in the world stood before me, frightened and shaken up. I wanted to push my partner out of the way, take her in my arms and protect her from the world.
“Are you okay?” my partner, Sam, asked. It brought me out of the fog. I mentally shook off the rest.
“Can we come in and check around? Make sure everything is secure?” I asked before she spoke.
The woman looked between the two of us, nodded her head and then took a step back. Sam walked in and I followed in after him.
As she closed the door, I turned to her. “So you’re all right?”
She nodded. “I’ve never been so scared in my life but I’m fine.”
It relieved me to hear she was all right. A little frightened, but hopefully with us there, she’d realize she was safe.
Sam and I searched through the apartment. I had a hard time focusing on clearing the rooms when I wanted to be around the woman, reassure her that everything was all right. There were pictures on the walls and knickknacks on the shelves I wanted to inspect. Anything to learn more about her.
“You know who she is, right?” Sam asked me softly when we walked into her bedroom.
I looked in her closet, made sure nobody was there before I looked at him. “She looks kind of familiar, but I couldn’t place where I'd seen her.”
“Remember a few months back, we had a woman showing up all the time to help with the investigations. The chief had to tell her to stop coming around even though he appreciated her enthusiasm. She was too much of a distraction,” Sam explained in a hushed tone. "She still runs by the station all the time."
My eyes went wide as I remembered the event with the chief. At the time, the guys made fun of the woman. They thought she was a wannabe, someone who watched too many crime shows. I felt kind of bad for her. She even stopped being a volunteer. I secretly wondered what had happened to her, having missed her morning jogs because of the evening shift.
“I'd never have guessed it was this woman. She seems too young and..” I trailed off, checking the hallway closet.
“And?” Sam asked.
“Nevermind,” I replied.
We walked back to the front of the apartment. Sam checked a few more closets while I approached the woman.
“We didn't find anyone in your residence and nothing looks out of place either. Can you show me where the sound was coming from?” I asked, recalling dispatch stating there was a scratching sound. I noticed Sam step out the front door from the corner of my eye, but I couldn't take my attention away from the victim.
The brunette pointed toward the windows in the living room. “I’m not sure if it was exactly over there but that side of my apartment. I ran and hid in my closet,” she explained.
I nodded. I went to the windows and looked at the glass. After opening the windows and checking for damage, I closed and locked each one.
“It looks like the sound you heard,” I explained, walking back to the woman, “was a tree branch scrapping against the glass. It’s a bit breezy out there.”
I could see her face fall. She must have felt like a fool to call 911. I felt bad for her.
“We saw evidence of someone trying to gain entry at the front door though,” I told her.
“I don’t know why anyone would want to break in. It’s not like I have a lot of valuables,” she said in shock.
I watched as she walked over and slumped down on the couch. She ran her hands over her face and I pulled out my notepad.
“It’s hard to say why someone would do it. It could be any number of reasons. I’d suggest not thinking about it,” I said.
“Your partner knows who I am and I'm sure he’s told you. I bet you can understand when I say I won’t be able to stop thinking about it,” she said with a shrug.
“He reminded me who you were, but that doesn’t change things,” I said. “May I sit?”
The woman nodded her head and ran her hands over her legs before scooting back. She pressed her back against the cushions and took a deep breath.
“I have a few questions for you,” I said, watching her carefully.
She nodded again.
“What’s your name?”
“Natalie,” she answered. “What’s yours?”
“Jordan,” I said before scribbling her name down in my notebook.
She gave me her last name, and I jotted it down. Her address went underneath her name. I looked back to her, and she was staring at me. I wondered what she was thinking but reminded myself to be professional. I put a few more notes in my notebook.
“I double checked everything outside. There’s nobody loitering around,” Sam announced when he walked back into the apartment.
“Thank you,” Natalie said. “I’m sorry for making you come out here.”
Sam and I looked to one another before I looked back to the woman. “You don’t have to apologize. This is our job, to make sure people are safe. And remember, we saw markings showing someone was trying to break in. I’m not saying that to scare you but to let you know that it wasn’t a figment of your imagination,” I told her.
Natalie nodded.
I stood up and pulled out one of my business cards from my front pocket. “If you think of anything else or have questions, feel free to call me.”
When she reached out for the card, her fingers brushed over mine, and the world stopped. The thumping of my heart was the only sound I could hear and her face was all I saw.
It only happened for a split second but felt like an eternity. I wanted to stay in that haze for as long as possible. To soak up the feel of her and how she made my heart race.
Sam gave me a nod toward the door. He was ready to go, but I wanted to stay. I wanted to make sure she was all right. I had to protect her. Whoever tried to break in would be sorry to try it again.
“We’re all finished here,” I finally said. I was fighting against everything inside me that said to stay and protect her.
“Call 911 again if you hear or see anything suspicious,” Sam added.
“Thank you again,” Natalie said as she walked us to the door. She was hesitant at first and my heart hoped it was because she didn’t want us—more specifically me—to leave.
Sam and I walked away from her door, but I gave one last look to her before we made it to the patrol car.
“What’s with you?” Sam asked the moment we were out of earshot of
Natalie.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied before getting behind the wheel.
Natalie
I stood at the door watching the two officers until they got into the cruiser. I couldn’t stand there another minute in fear that whoever tried to break in would be back.
The door slammed shut, and I made sure the dead bolt was securely in place. I pushed my recliner up against the door. It wouldn’t do much if someone muscled their way through, but it gave me some peace of mind.
With a sigh, I went back to my room and decided it was best to get some sleep. I didn’t know how much I’d get, but some would be better than nothing.
As I got under the blankets, all I could think about was Jordan. It put a smile on my face and I wondered if I’d ever see him again.
Chapter 3
Natalie
It had been nearly a week since someone tried to break into my apartment. The first few nights had been tough when I tried to sleep, but thankfully it happened during a weekend and I was nearly recovered by the time the work week started again.
It alarmed everyone at the design firm when I told them what happened. A few coworkers offered to let me sleep on their couch or in their guest room. A couple more said they were available to come stay with me if I didn’t want to be alone.
I appreciated all the concern. It touched me more than I thought possible. We're definitely a family and it warmed my heart to know so many people cared.
Once I convinced them I was all right and my apartment was secure, they stopped fussing over me. We got back to work and finished up a project we'd been working on.
Thursday was finally over, and I was ready for the weekend. There was one more day left of projects. Hoping to get some more drawing done after work, I carried home my portfolio along with a few other things that filled my messenger bag to the brim.
Thankfully, a coworker gave me a ride, so I didn’t have to walk the four blocks to my apartment complex.
When she pulled up, she nodded to the door. “Do you know him?”