by Vanessa Vale
***
I was home and in bed by ten. Christy, unlike me, had to work in the morning. By the time we paid the check, I was done. Three twelve-hour shifts had me practically asleep on my feet. Once in bed, I didn’t even read as I normally would, but instead, turned the light out. I thought of Gray when I fell asleep, but it wasn’t thoughts of him that woke me.
A crash from downstairs had me sitting up, the orange glow from the streetlight filtering through the curtain. I listened and wondered if I had just heard someone in the alley when the noise came again. This time I was sure it was from inside the house, from the kitchen specifically. Someone must have come in through the back door.
Crap! I’d forgotten to replace the lightbulb back there so it was perfectly dark for someone to sneak in. I’d all but helped the guy!
Footsteps moved across the kitchen. I’d lived in the house over half my life; I knew the sounds it made. My heart lurched and fear coursed through me hot and fierce. Grabbing my cell charging on the bedside table, my fingers fumbled over the screen and I was able to dial 9-1-1. As I did so, I slid from the bed and neared the door, listened.
“9-1-1, what is your emergency?” The neutral voice came through the phone in my hand.
I didn’t respond because I heard shuffling feet, then swearing as the guy—the deepness of the voice was the giveaway—bumped into something in the dark. My parents had night-lights around the house when I was young, but when we moved in, Chris was too big for them and we never put them back.
The house was small enough that if I went down the steps to get out the front door, I would run into the guy. Another crash. Why was he here? I’d heard that people robbing wanted to get in and out without anyone the wiser, but this guy, he was either a bumbling idiot, or didn’t care if I knew he was there. This meant one thing. He wasn’t in the house for my TV. He was in the house for me.
“Hello? What is your emergency?” The voice was low, but it was insistent from the phone.
“Someone's in my house,” I whispered.
I glanced around my room. There was no weapon. My lamp, a shoe. I had no knife, no gun. Nothing! I heard the floor creak between the kitchen and the dining area. That board had creaked forever and I used to step over it when I would come in past my curfew. I knew that sound. I heard the operator talking but I didn't have time to respond. I had to get out of here. How?
I was breathing quickly and quietly and I wondered if the guy could hear my heart beating; it was so loud in my ears. I looked to the window, my only way out. Then I remembered. Chris’ Boy Scout project. Moving quickly, tiptoeing across the wood floor, then the thick area rug, I squatted down by the rolled-up safety ladder. Emergency Preparedness had been his last merit badge before Eagle Scout and we’d had to make the house safe for different dangers. We’d put these ladders by the windows in each of our bedrooms, but with smoke alarms and the chance of fire being low, I hadn’t thought about them since then.
Now, I almost cried in relief at the sight. The window was open a few inches to let the summer air in, but I held my breath as I slid it up, more, more until it was enough to toss the ladder out and me to fit through. The rope was thin and unfurled down the brick to the ground. Chris and I had even practiced going down them a few times, taking pictures of our efforts for his merit badge counselor. Then, it had been daylight and I’d had all the time in the world. There also hadn't been a guy in my living room. With sweaty hands, I climbed out the window and got my feet on the rope. My cell fumbled and I almost lost my grip on it when I saw the hall light turn on.
Oh shit.
He was coming for me and didn’t care if I knew. With the ladder swinging and bumping into the exterior brick, I went down as fast as I could. I hit the ground and ran, my bare feet slapping the sidewalk.
“Hey!” I heard the shout and knew he was at my window. Oh God, he was going to get me. I ran down the street knowing the trees would have blocked me from his view, then ducked between two cars. I squatted down and tried to catch my breath and be as silent as possible.
Would he go down the ladder or go back downstairs and out the front door? Could he even find me?
I needed help. I was in my pajamas, barefoot with a man after me. I had to assume the police were coming. I looked down at the phone in my shaking hand. How had I not dropped it? As I escaped, I must have disconnected from 9-1-1. My fingers were really shaking as I unlocked my phone once again and fumbled to press and swipe to get it to work.
With a shaking hand, I put my phone to my ear. Answer. Answer!
“Emory.”
I almost fainted in relief at the sound of Gray’s voice. While I needed the police, I needed Gray.
“Grey,” I whispered.
“What’s wrong?” His voice went from soft to hard in a second.
“There’s…in my house,” I whispered, unable to catch my breath, looking around. All I could see was the car grill and bumper in front of me, the steps of the house to the right and the empty street on the other side. “Kitchen. He—”
“There’s someone in your house?”
“Yes!”
Gray called to someone, said something, but I was too panicked to follow. “Emory, are you in the house now?”
I shook my head, my hair getting in my face, then realized he couldn’t see me. “No. I ran down the street. I’m hiding between cars. I called 9-1-1 but didn’t get a chance to talk.”
“Don’t move.” I heard car doors slam and I flinched, but it was through the phone. “Baby, we’re on the way. Reed called the police, too. Just listen to my voice. Okay?”
I didn’t know who the hell Reed was, but I didn’t care. Gray was coming. “Okay, but…hurry.”
GRAY
The second dinner with the PR rep went well, as much as a dinner meeting can go. Reed in a suit was hard to wrangle; he was more comfortable in MMA shorts and a T-shirt than a tie. I didn’t blame him. I’d chucked the tie onto the coffee table as soon as we got back to my apartment. With a full stomach, he couldn’t train, so we watched fight videos and talked strategy. The upcoming competition would be in a ring, but training was more than just practice fighting. I’d been relaxed on the sofa, my feet on the coffee table, remote in hand, when Emory called. The rush of pleasure at the sight of her name on the screen still surprised me.
I hadn’t expected to hear from her, knowing she was probably asleep after her third long day at work. I’d wanted to meet her at the ER when she was done, take her out to eat, but I’d had to do dinner with the sponsors of the fight. This was new to me, the excitement I had when I was with her, near her, or even thinking of her. I’d hoped she might be in bed, and wanting to tell me what she was wearing. I smiled as I took the call, but it slipped the instant I heard her voice.
Just one word, my name, and her fear was obvious. Jesus, there was a man in her house. Emory didn’t have any skills, any way to defend herself. I remembered how I'd had to show her how to hold her fists up in front of her. I was in my apartment and she was across town, hiding between parked cars.
I jumped to my feet as if cattle prodded and snapped my fingers at Reed, who immediately perked up from his spot.
“Someone’s in Emory’s house. Came in through the back door.”
Rounding the couch, I told Reed her address to call the police as I bolted for the emergency stairwell. Fuck the slow elevator. Taking the steps two and three at a time, I continued to reassure her while Reed got on the horn with 9-1-1. In the parking lot, I tossed my keys to Reed. By the time we were in the car, I was in a full-out panic for Emory’s safety, the hot rush of fear and the rage at my lack of control had me gripping the door handle so hard it would probably have dents. He’d come in the back door of her house. Had she ever replaced that broken bulb? Shit, why hadn’t I gone and done it for her like I’d planned?
Reed didn’t waste time getting out of the parking lot. For once, I was thrilled he drove like fucking Mario Andretti.
I remembered my dad’s t
ext from the night before. He knew about Emory. From his words, he’d had me followed and knew where she lived. He’d never done something like this before to fuck with me, but I hadn’t had someone like Emory before either. “Holy shit, Reed. Drive faster.”
“The police should be there soon,” he said, his usual fighting focus now on the road. He downshifted and the engine roared.
“Is this the one?” he asked as he steered and skidded around a turn. Thankfully, the roads were mostly deserted because he was breaking every law and I didn’t give a shit. I hadn’t mentioned Emory to anyone but Thor, but it seemed the men knew about her anyway. I hadn’t heard that she was considered The One, though. Was she The One? Hell yes.
I gave a stiff nod as I held the phone to my ear. “Emory, 9-1-1 will send someone to your house since you called and hung up and Reed called them, too. They’ll be there soon. You don’t have to talk, baby, just keep your head down and stay nice and quiet. We’re getting closer. Don’t move.”
I could hear her breathing, quick and frantic. Fuck, I’d known Emory less than a week and she was more to me than anyone before; she was everything. The idea of someone wanting to hurt her had my hands tightening into fists. I wanted to hunt down the bastard and beat the shit out of him. I wanted to grab Emory to me, hold her close, sink into her and never come up for air. I needed her scent, her feel, her taste like I needed to breathe. And we’d only kissed. This wasn’t lust. This wasn’t infatuation. This was so much deeper.
“Go through the fucking light,” I growled when Reed slammed on the brakes when the light in front of us turned. My head whipped back against the headrest when he downshifted and roared through the intersection. It was a solid ten-minute ride, but we made it in a little over five. How we weren’t pulled over, I had no idea.
“We’re almost there, baby. I can hear you. I’m going to call your name when I get there and you’re going to come out for me and everything’s going to be okay.”
“Yes.” Her voice was barely more than a breath in the phone, but I heard sirens in the background. The guy had to be long gone by now but I wasn’t taking any fucking chances.
“Pull up here.” I pointed to a break in the cars lining the side of the street and Reed weaved into the space, tires skidding. I opened the door and dashed out. I could see police lights, but not in front of the row of houses. They’d probably pulled into the alley as that’s where Reed had told 9-1-1 how the guy got in.
“Emory!” I shouted, spun in a circle in the middle of the street. Cars were parallel parked bumper to bumper on both sides for the entire block. Where the hell was she? “Emory!”
As I lifted my cell to my ear to tell her to come out, she stood up. She was like an apparition appearing from nowhere.
“Gray!”
Relief shot through me like I was back in battle and realizing I hadn’t been hit in a firefight. It was a sick combination of adrenaline and sheer relief. She was on the far side of the street, about five cars down. I ran to her, my shoes slapping loudly on the pavement.
I slowed within a few feet of her, looked her over, from her shiny bright toenails to her bare legs, tiny sleep shorts and tank top to her tousled hair. It was the look on her face, a combination of fear and desperate need—not a sexual need, but a longing for someone so great that it was almost fierce—that had me pulling her into me. Her arms went around my waist, gripping me tightly as if she were afraid to let go.
As I planted kisses on the top of her head, the scent of coconut soothed the anger. Her frantic breathing moved my arms and she felt warm, so very warm against me. She was alive and safe and I never wanted to go through that again, fucking ever.
Reed came up beside us, stood like a soldier waiting for an order. I didn’t move but I gave the slightest nod of my head to indicate that she was okay. I watched as his shoulders lowered in relief and he walked away, perhaps to connect with the police who were now coming down the block.
I tried to move back, but Emory wouldn’t loosen her grip. “Is he gone?”
I knew she wasn’t talking about Reed. “Fuck, yeah. He probably left when he heard the police sirens. You’re safe, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you. Baby, let me look at you.” She loosened her grip enough for me to pull back and cup her face in my hands. “Are you hurt?”
Here eyes were wide and bright, her pupils dilated and the fear had not gone away entirely. She shook her head, licked her lips. “No. I’m fine.”
I wasn’t so sure about that.
“I was asleep and I heard a crash downstairs. He…swore and bumped into something. I climbed out the window and then he turned the hall light on. God, he was after me. Gray, he turned the hall light on!”
She was trembling in my hold, her eyes even wider. The panic had not subsided, but she wasn’t freaking out. I pulled her into a kiss, soft yet seeking, as if I could take her fear, her pain away from her. I broke it off with a gasp, then tucked her back into my chest to soothe her, but it was more for me, to know she was in my arms and there wasn’t a thing that could happen to her with her there.
I tried to calm my breathing, to slow my racing heart, but what the fuck? The guy had turned the lights on? That was bad. Really fucking bad.
She climbed out the window? How the hell did she climb out the window? I looked down the long row of houses but couldn’t say in the dark which one was hers. All I knew was that her bedroom was on the second floor and unless she was Spiderman, I had no fucking idea how she got down without breaking her legs.
Reed approached with a police officer. I kissed her head once more. “Baby, the police is here to talk with you. Are you ready for that?”
If my dad was behind all this, the police didn’t need to know about the possibility. I’d deal with him in my own way, in a way he wouldn’t get away with it. He was powerful enough to slip through the legal system without even a slap on the wrist. If he was guilty, I wouldn’t stop with just a slap and it fucking wouldn’t be on his wrist.
She nodded against my chest, then turned so that she faced the officer, but I kept one hand on her. Now that I knew she was safe, I wasn’t letting her go.
CHAPTER TEN
EMORY
Gray stood beside me the entire time I gave my story to the police, his hand warm and heavy on my shoulder. His grip tightened very time I said something especially bad, like when I told about the guy yelling for me from my bedroom doorway or about climbing down the emergency ladder. With the police officer’s permission, he’d had Reed escorted into the house and grab a sweatshirt and flip-flops for me to wear so I wasn’t just braless and in a snug tank top and sleep shorts. When he'd grilled me enough, we’d gone into the house together to see if anything was missing, but other than things knocked off the counter and a chair moved, most likely the crashing sounds I heard, nothing had been taken. The back door had been jimmied and the glass from the broken lightbulb was still on the stoop, although crunched into tiny pieces.
Fortunately, Gray coaxed the officer into having me give a complete statement at a different time. He could tell I was barely holding it together and I was relieved for his presence, for his taking control of the situation.
When the police left and the neighbors went back into their houses, most likely checking the security of their deadbolts and security systems, the fear returned. “Gray, I…I can’t stay here.”
He turned me to face him, bent at the waist so he was my height. “You’re coming home with me.”
Relief made me weak, knowing I wouldn’t have to stay in the house right now. I pointed over my shoulder. “But the back door, the police said it was broken.”
“It’s being taken care of.”
How? “But—”
He put a finger over my lips, looked at me in a way that had me swallowing my words. “It’s being taken care of,” he repeated. “Go get some clothes together and we’ll get out of here.”
I glanced up the steps. “Come with me?”
He nodded and
followed me upstairs and into my room. I watched him as he took in the bed, the old floral wallpaper. Neither interested him as much as the open window. I let him look around as I quickly pulled a few things from my closet. Out of the corner of my eye I watched as he checked out the emergency ladder, pulled it back inside until it was a pile on the floor once again.
Zipping up my small bag, I said, “Ready.” He pulled his head back inside and turned to me.
“Boy Scouts?” He was looking down at the pile of rope that had most likely saved my life.
“Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge.”
“God bless the Boy Scouts,” Gray said under his breath as he held out his hand. I took it easily, reassured by his warm touch, and he led me back downstairs and outside, locking the door with my keys he picked up off the small table.
“Isn’t Simon your neighbor?” he asked as we went down the steps.
I pointed to Simon’s door, the house dark. “That one. He’s in Richmond for work.”
He glanced up at my bedroom window, then led me down the street. We met up with Reed in front of Gray's car, angled illegally into a spot. Gray opened the back door of his Audi for me, jogged around and joined me in the back. “Seat belt,” he murmured as Reed climbed behind the wheel.
I fumbled with the lock and Gray’s large hand covered mine, helped click it into place. He kept my hand in his the entire way to his house, his thumb making small circles and I found the movement reassuring enough for me to relax into the seat. The adrenaline was wearing off and I felt wired yet exhausted at the same time.
When Reed pulled into the lot, Gray undid my belt for me and came around to help me out. He grabbed my small bag and Reed tossed him the keys.
“Besides the door, get the back light fixed,” Gray told Reed, his voice a dark slash in the night. “I want to know where my dad is. Find him.”
“Done,” he said with a quick nod.