My Nerdy Valentine

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  "This is the second time she's left," Mavis said as she came to meet him. "Here's the spare key I keep for her."

  Will pocketed the key. "I hope the first time she left included a trip to the hardware store for something to discourage an intruder."

  "Yep," Chester said. "She went to the hardware store with that Gloria person, the one who broke you two up."

  "You're kidding."

  "Nope." Chester unlocked his apartment door and ushered them both inside. "They came back with a boatload of stuff. Mavis and me, we went over later to find out about it."

  "Well, and to return the vibrator," Mavis said. "That seemed only fair, with you being gone and ... and ..." She paused, her cheeks pink. "You know."

  Chester closed the door. "She's trying to say that she doesn't need that thing now that she has a live model."

  "Right." Will didn't want to think that he could be replaced in Amanda's life by a red vibrator, but it could be true. How totally depressing. "So what kind of supplies did they get?"

  "Motion detectors and pepper spray," Mavis said. "They also got some wire and strung up a series of bells in case the motion detectors fail somehow, like the guy figures out how to cut the electricity or something."

  "Good."

  Chester hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. "Much as I hate to say it, Gloria seemed to know what she was doing."

  "But Amanda's never going into a hardware store with Gloria again," Mavis said. "Gloria asked the clerks all kinds of embarrassing questions about ropes, and pulleys, and counterweights. She made it clear she was building a sex gym in her guest room."

  Will groaned. More bait to keep Justin enslaved. But the way Will was feeling about Justin at the moment, he was willing to abandon his buddy to whatever fate he'd chosen.

  "So, this is the place." Chester swept an arm around the living room, which was very similar to Amanda's except that Chester had a TV in one corner and an American flag tacked on the wall.

  "Thanks for letting me hang out here, Chester."

  "No problem. You're welcome to sleep in the bed." He gestured toward the bedroom.

  Will noticed that the floor plan was a flipped version of Amanda's, with the living room on the right and the kitchen, bedroom, and bath on the left. "If I sleep, I need to be close to the common wall between the apartments, so I'll probably stay here in the living room."

  "The middle of the walls seem to be the best for hearing anything," Mavis said. "I think they skimped on insulation there."

  "They skimped on insulation everywhere," Chester said. "But it's worst in the middle of the wall between apartments."

  "But we don't listen," Mavis said.

  "I'm sure not." Will didn't care if they spent all day and night with their ears to the wall, if it meant that he had a way to keep Amanda safe.

  "There's beer and frozen pizza in the fridge," Chester said.

  "I could bring you a nice meal if you'll give me a few minutes," Mavis added.

  Chester gave him a nudge. "I'd advise you to stick with the beer and the pizza, my friend."

  Will held up his duffel bag. "Thanks for both offers, but I brought sandwiches."

  "Sandwiches." Mavis rolled her eyes. "I could make you something hot."

  Chester steered her toward the door. "Leave the poor boy alone. You can make me something hot."

  Will pretended not to understand the meaning of Chester's remark. His life sucked enough without being reminded that the seniors were having sex and he wasn't. "Thanks again for the loan of the apartment, Chester."

  "Make yourself at home." With a wave, Chester maneuvered Mavis out the door.

  Prowling the living room, Will decided to rearrange the furniture so that he could sit in an armchair and look outside. Unfortunately, his view was limited by snow-covered bushes. He'd have to rely mostly on sound, but maybe he'd get lucky and catch a glimpse of the slimeball sneaking around Amanda's window.

  He put his sandwiches in the refrigerator, opened one of the Cokes he'd brought, and settled down with the book he'd grabbed before heading out the door. It had been handy, but it might not have been the best choice under the circumstances. With a sigh, he opened Titillating Trivia.

  Amanda's dedication to her goals had abandoned her. She'd hoped that by immersing herself in academic surroundings, she'd regain her sense of purpose. Instead she'd wasted hours sitting in the library thinking about Will.

  If only she'd taken an acting class sometime in her college career, she might have a better grasp of this lying thing. Then she could have been comfortable sneaking Will into her apartment, because she would have been able to convince Gloria he was no longer there. Instead she was forced to walk into an apartment that felt emptier than she ever remembered.

  She'd picked up a fast food hamburger before heading home, so she ate that without enthusiasm, only because she needed to keep up her strength. She wondered what Will was doing right now. Maybe watching a basketball game with Justin. Sure, he might be angry with his friend, but they'd known each other a long time. They would have patched up their differences by now.

  Then again, Gloria might be keeping Justin busy constructing the apparatus she'd described to a very embarrassed hardware clerk earlier today. Will might be alone and missing her as much as she missed him. That thought should cheer her up, but it didn't. One of them should be happy.

  At least the apartment was more secure. Two motion detectors would alert her if anyone came through one of the two windows. Wires threaded through little bells crisscrossed the windows, in case the motion detectors failed. If someone came through one of those windows, Amanda would know about it.

  Gloria had advised her to run out the front door if that happened. Amanda thought it was good advice, but she would love to catch the guy, and running away wouldn't make that happen. Running was the wisest choice, though.

  Maybe she wouldn't have to make that choice. So far as the guy knew, she still had Will staying here, a man willing to chase a prowler down in the middle of the night. The guy might think twice about taunting a determined protector like Will.

  Except Will wasn't here. She had only a backpack full of books to take to bed with her. And she might as well. She'd hauled them home from the library in hopes that she'd become inspired to study eventually.

  Changing into her flannel granny gown, she picked up the backpack and carried it into her bedroom. The place reminded her of sex with Will, but that was just too bad. She wasn't likely to change residences in the next four months, so she'd have to work through those hot memories.

  Propping pillows against the ancient headboard, she settled in with her laptop and her backpack full of books. She would get something accomplished or know the reason why.

  His heart beating fast, Harvey assembled his equipment. Louise had told him she was going out for coffee, but he didn't think she had. She'd taken the keys to the BMW, leaving him with the Mercedes.

  She'd left with her oversized gym bag, and Louise wasn't the type to work out. Harvey knew what was in it. He'd emptied the shells out earlier, to be on the safe side. She'd never think to check if it was still loaded.

  Now he pictured her parked in an alley where she could see if he left the house. He was definitely yanking her chain and loving the power he had over her. She would soon find out that he was man enough to get someone as hot as Amanda. Maybe Amanda and Louise would fight over him. That would be awesome.

  Not every guy would go this far to have sex with a new woman. Even Amanda should give him some credit for making this kind of effort. She'd taken the easy way out by jumping into bed with the nerd. Harvey was doing all the work in this relationship—in both relationships, come to think of it.

  Feeling virtuous, he carried his supplies out to the Mercedes.

  TWENTY-NINE

  At first Amanda thought the buzzer that woke her up was her alarm clock. Groggy and disoriented from falling asleep during her study session, she fumbled for the clock on her bedside table. In the pr
ocess, she knocked something on the floor. Muttering, she leaned over and picked it up.

  Pepper spray. And the buzzer wasn't my clock. She tried to focus, but something was very wrong. Instead of becoming more alert, she was getting sleepy. Was she dreaming that she'd heard the motion detector? Was this a nightmare or was it real? I have to stay awake. Have to...

  Will jerked awake at the sound of a buzzer in Amanda's apartment. It could be her oven timer, except that she didn't cook. What did a motion detector alarm sound like? Damn it, he had no idea! He'd imagined that he'd know when something was happening next door, but now he wasn't sure.

  Anxiety flooded through him like hot oil. The buzzer kept going. He leaped from his chair and felt in his pocket for the key Mavis had given him. Better to charge into her apartment and find out he'd made a mistake than screw up by not doing anything.

  Last of all he grabbed the butcher knife he'd brought from home. It was dull because he never used it, but it was the closest thing to a weapon he owned. Then he charged out the door and down the hall. By the time he put the key in the lock, the buzzer had stopped.

  But he'd come this far, so he might as well go in. The lock was balky, like always, and he stuck the knife under his arm so he could use both hands to jiggle the key. The apartment was very quiet,

  What if she was in there making taffy and the buzzer was to remind her when to quit cooking it? Or she'd bought a frozen pizza like the kind Chester had offered him, and the buzzer had simply been signaling its doneness?

  Then he heard the tinkle of a bell. Mavis had said Gloria and Amanda had strung bells across the window.

  He went very cold and very still. Although his body felt frozen, his mind heated to the boiling point as a thousand scenarios played out in his fevered brain. Whatever was going on in there, he had to stop it.

  He still had the element of surprise going for him, and if he kept making all this noise with the key, that would be lost. He twisted the key slowly and silently. The lock gave way and he edged the door open.

  The living room was dark, but he felt a blast of cold air. The drapes flapped in the breeze, and he could see the large hole cut in the window. Wires and little bells dangled where they'd been cut. Something about the air in the room didn't seem right, either, so he held his breath.

  The only light came from Amanda's bedroom. He crept toward the doorway. The room was empty.

  At a noise behind him, he spun around, knife raised.

  "Yikes!" Mavis, dressed in a frilly pink nightgown, jumped back and almost dropped the rifle she was holding. "We thought you were him!"

  Chester stood behind her in his red plaid pajamas. "Where is she?"

  Breathing hard, Will stared at them. "Gone." He felt dizzy.

  Something was definitely wrong with the air in here. But he had to find Amanda.

  Shaking his head to clear it, he hurried over to the large hole in the living room window. The light from the street lamp shone on the shiny exterior of a Mercedes parked by the curb. Someone was shoving something floppy into the back. Amanda.

  "No!" Will climbed through the window, the knife clutched in one hand, the broken glass cutting into the other as he steadied himself. Then he dropped to the ground and ran across the snow toward the street, toward the maniac wearing a gas mask who was climbing behind the wheel of the Mercedes.

  Just as he reached the car, he heard the locks click into place. Raising the knife he still held in his hand, he stabbed the nearest back tire. Then he ran to the front and stabbed that tire as the engine growled and the car started to move.

  The car veered away from the curb. Will threw down the knife and jumped onto the back bumper, grabbing the short rubber radio antenna for balance as he wedged both feet against the back fenders. The car swerved, either on purpose or because of the lacerated tires. He gripped the antenna with all his might and prayed for the strength to hold on.

  As the car skidded sideways, Amanda's head banged against the armrest. The pain jolted her out of the fuzzy half-sleep she'd been drifting in and she opened her eyes. When she tried to move her arms to steady herself, she discovered that her wrists were tied behind her back. Her ankles were tied, too. She realized this was not good news, but she still felt too loopy to get excited about it.

  From this angle, she could see in the rearview mirror, and her chauffeur seemed to be a space alien. Besides that, some guy was trying to play Spider-Man by clinging to the back of the car. She couldn't see his face, but his body looked a lot like ... Will? Oh, God, not Will!

  The car veered off the road. The space alien fought the wheel and got the car back on the asphalt, but a loud thump from the back window suggested Will had just smacked his head against it. Panic overrode the fog in her brain. She opened her mouth to yell, but only a squeak came out.

  The space alien ripped off his face, which turned out to be a gas mask. "Are you awake, Valentine? That's good. I tried not to give you too much gas, so you'd wake up quick and we could have some fun."

  She cleared her throat. "Stop this car!"

  "I can't, my sweetheart." The car lurched again, and there was a clunking sound coming from the vicinity of the front and back wheels on the passenger side. "I have to drive until that Wall Street guy falls off."

  She couldn't let that happen. Her muscles weren't cooperating very well, but she managed to gradually scoot around until she was sitting on the seat.

  "I can hear you moving," the driver said in a singsong voice. "I'll bet you're ready for some good sex, aren't you, cuddle-umpkins?"

  Amanda bent her knees and eased her feet up in front of her while trying to identify the voice. She'd heard it before. "Stop the car and see if I am or not."

  "Can't. Not until the nerd lets go."

  The car careened wildly and Amanda lost her balance. Slowly she inched her way back into position. If only she had on shoes. Shoes would make more of an impact than bare feet, but she had to work with what she had.

  "Did you like my valentines?"

  She stared in the rearview mirror, trying to place him. "Harvey Kenton?"

  "That's me." He sounded proud as punch about it, too.

  "And we're finally alone. Well, except for the nerd on the back of the car."

  "I think you have a couple of flat tires, Harvey." And a few screws loose. Rocking back on her spine, she bent her knees and brought her feet up gradually so he wouldn't see what was coming.

  "I know. Louise is gonna kill me when she sees the rims on those tires. But you're worth it, Amanda. I've been waiting for so long."

  "And now I'm here." She brought her feet up. Almost ready. Hang on, Will.

  "Yes. It'll be so good. But we don't have much time. I'm pretty sure Louise is somewhere behind us."

  Ducky. Taking a deep breath, Amanda slammed her heels into the base of Harvey's skull. His head bounced forward, hit the steering wheel with a sickening crack, and the car bounced off the road and rammed into some bushes.

  Amanda was thrown facedown on the floor, and the hump in the middle knocked the breath out of her. As she lay there gasping, Will pounded on the front passenger window.

  "Amanda? I'm going to break this."

  A moment later he'd shattered the window and unlocked the door.

  "Oh, Will." She'd never heard a sweeter sound than his voice. "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine." But his fingers shook as he worked on the ropes binding her hands. "How about you?"

  "I'm good. Check Harvey. See if I killed him."

  A moan from the front seat answered that question.

  "He's alive," Will said. "Who did you say it was?"

  "Harvey Kenton. One of Gloria's clients."

  "Ex-client," Will said. "Once I get this rope off you, then I can tie him up nice and tight for the cops."

  "Good idea." Once her wrists were free, she pushed herself to her hands and knees and took her first look at her protector. "Oh, Will. You're hurt." His glasses were gone and his shirt was ripped. He had a bruise on th
e side of his face and both hands were bleeding.

  "I'm fine." He crouched down and gazed into her face. "Are you?"

  "Yeah."

  Harvey moaned again.

  "Go tic his hands to the steering wheel," she said. "I can get the rope off my ankles."

  "Right." He started to open the front passenger door. "Don't move, either one of you."

  Amanda had never looked into the business end of a sawed-off shotgun, but she recognized immediately what she was seeing. She almost peed her pants. Those double barrels had a mesmerizing effect, but eventually she lifted her gaze in order to identify the owner of the shotgun. "Louise?"

  She sneered at Amanda. "Yeah, Louise. It's bad enough that you lured my Harvey into your trap without wrecking my Mercedes!"

  Will swallowed. "Look, Amanda didn't lure this guy anywhere, so you can put the gun down."

  "Don't worry." Harvey lifted his head and wiped the blood from his eyes. "It isn't loaded."

  "Oh, yeah?" Louise sighted down the barrels. "Let's see."

  Will dived for Louise and knocked her sideways as the gun roared.

  "Damn you!" Louise struggled to her feet and pointed the gun at Will. "Look what you made me do. You made me shoot the side of my car!"

  "I unloaded that gun!" Harvey yelled.

  "Surprise! I reloaded it! Looks like I have to waste this interfering bozo before I can take care of the husband-stealing bitch in the car."

  "Just try it, sister. Make my day."

  Amanda blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but sure enough, there was Mavis in a frilly nightgown holding a rifle that looked to be at least a hundred years old. "How did you get here?"

  "Chester has an old Honda Civic. We followed you." Mavis shoved the barrel hard against the back of Louise's jacket. "Drop that gun. Now."

  Will cleared his throat. "How about if Louise sets the shotgun down slow and easy? Not to interfere, Mavis, but I'm thinking if she drops it, the thing might go off again."