by Ginny Lynn
I turned to see Parker standing in the doorway.
“Hey, bud. What's new?”
“I see that you only behave when someone’s watching over you.”
“Parker, you know that's not true. I was alone plenty of times and didn't hurt myself.”
“Sweetie, we don't take bathroom breaks under consideration,” as he laughed.
“Ha ha, funny.”
“I see you have her in good spirits,” Chastity said as she came behind Parker with a white paper bag.
“Did Auntie Chaz bring me a goodie?” I asked.
“Yes, but I don't know if you deserve it.”
“How could she not deserve rich, yummy, three layer, strawberry mousse cake?” Parker asked as he licked his lips.
“Gimme.” I put my hand out to her.
“I guess you deserve it. You’ve been keeping two men at bay, been kidnapped twice and now get to shove an old flame into a nicely padded cell for messing up your pretty hair. Yeah, you deserve the empty calories,” she said as she handed me the bag.
Conrad sat down beside me on the bed. I happily made room for him. Who cares if the bed was too small?
I dug out my dessert and heard my stomach growl. We all laughed.
Parker stood by Chastity and held her hand as they watched me dig into my treat.
“Is there room for three more?” I heard from the door.
“Always,” I said with my mouth full.
Felicia, Raven and Blake came into the room. Felicia had flowers, Raven had balloons and Blake had his eyes on Raven.
“Thank you, guys. I’ll be out of here before you know it.”
“So where will you go? You have to be watched for a couple of days” Felicia asked as she looked at Conrad.
He laughed. “She can stay with me. The door will be fixed today and I can carry her up and down the stairs.”
“Hey, the danger is over. Can I have my life back?”
“Yea, I guess you’ve earned that too,” Chastity replied.
I winked at her.
Parker squeezed her hand.
“Ok, I’ll stay with Conrad for a couple of days and see what I need to do from there. I’m sure the doctor has instructions for me.”
“Finish your dessert before you try to bring more people in here,” Blake chimed in, while he kept his eyes on Raven.
Raven blushed and then said, “Please tell me you have no more stalkers to contend with. I can't handle much more.”
Raven made a joke. Nice.
“Nope, no plans of kidnapping, sickness, crazy car rides or such nonsense.”
“Thank God!” was heard around the room.
Epilogue
I spent two days at Conrad's cabin before the doctor released me under my own care. My apartment was repaired and I could go back home. I wasn't ready for all of the stairs that lead to my front door, so I decided to stay with Conrad until my ankle was stronger.
We had a small BBQ at Conrad's place that following Friday and everyone was there. I wasn't surprised to see Raven drive up with Blake. He couldn’t stop smiling.
We dined on grilled chicken with all the fixings. The girls had made potato salad, baked beans and fresh bread. Conrad had made a black forest cake for our dessert. I had already added him being an amazing cook to my list of reasons to keep him.
I had gotten a call from Detective Montrose before everyone had arrived. I shared the information with everyone as we piled food on our plates.
“So, he's diagnosed as schizophrenic, which makes sense. The drugs he gave me were his anti-psychotics and some sedatives that he stole from somewhere. They’re checking into his sources. I was lucky to have woken up after that injection.”
“You had to be lucky sometime during all of this insanity,” Felicia said.
I patted Conrad on the hand. I had considered myself lucky on a couple of things and tried not to think on any of it.
“So, Montrose doesn’t see Jason getting released anytime soon since he’s claimed as mentally unstable.”
“That's an understatement,” Chastity interrupted.
“And he admitted to the charges of stalking, breaking and entering plus kidnapping. We even came up with an eyewitness for him being the one to pop the brake on the truck that was parked at the dock door. Apparently, he was a very busy boy. But, he won’t admit to anything else,” I said as I reached for my tea.
“It’s a shame that you can’t get him for the poisoned truffles as well. That could be considered as attempted man slaughter,” Parker said.
I shivered. “No, this is enough to keep him locked up and away from me. It’s bad enough that they dismiss some of it due to his insanity plea, except the truffles were injected with only enough drugs to make me sick. We can thank Parker for the idea of even having the truffles tested,” I said.
“It’s spooky how he came into your apartment at night. How can you sleep after all of this? Will you have to go to court?” Felicia asked.
“I sleep with a huge protector, that’s how. And no, I’ve settled it all with the police. Court isn't necessary. I wanted it over. Jason needs to get straightened out and I want to move on with my life.”
“That's too generous of you.”
“Yes, Raven, it is. But what point would it make to go after everything he has when it won't take back what he did to me? It's down, over and I’m okay.”
“Here's to Samantha, the strongest fighter of us all,” Conrad said as he raised his glass. They all raised their various glasses and saluted me.
I was a fighter and I had made it, with their help.
I looked around me. I had my life and my friends. I cherished it all. I was no longer looking over my shoulder. Evil had left me alone at last.
*THE END*
About the Author
I’m Georgia born, with Alabama roots, so I’m practically related to myself. I’m a mom, grandmother and a part time student who’s sometimes seen in pirate wench or vampire gear. But, no matter how many personas I have, I’m eternally a writer.
I started writing my first manuscript at seventeen and it’s my second book published, Just to be Left Alone. I typically write paranormal, but there will be a few other genres seeping out of my imaginative mental ramblings. I’m a third place winner in the Ozark Romance Writers Weta Awards for the Paranormal Division in 2011 plus a member with Romance Writers of America and Georgia Romance Writers. I currently have fifteen books plotted out and only need to wrangle time to get all of the voices out. My Savage Series will make up ten of those manuscripts, maybe more.
I live and breathe creativity. It doesn’t matter if it’s making the fully boned lacing corsets that I wear or if it’s coming up with wicked one liners, in my sassy southern voice, for my fictional friends. I’m a firm believer in laughter being the best medicine, so I always carry a double dose with me.
)))Corset Hugs(((
Ginny Lynn
Wench Writer
Sweet Cravings Publishing
www.sweetcravingspublishing.com