by Zoey Parker
She awoke tired, which was not a shock. All morning she dragged. Every step of getting Emma ready and getting them out the door seemed to take twice as long. She was running late and rushed Emma into Lucille’s before speeding off to work.
She was watching now, not only for cars that might be following her, but for cop cars hiding. The last thing she needed was a speeding ticket. But she also didn’t want to be late after Penny had increased her responsibilities at work. Finally, the gift shop came into view and she let out a sigh of relief. Her clock said she was only two minutes late and there had been no cops.
She hurried inside and dropped her things in the backroom before settling to look over her task list for the day. Finish the inventory and start the ordering were at the top of the list. Becca let out a big yawn and rubbed her eyes. Come on, coffee. She took a long sip from her travel mug and hoped the caffeine would kick in quickly. She needed to be able to focus today. She could not mess up her first inventory and order.
Lunchtime came and went and Becca was starting to feel even more sluggish. Of all days, why did she have to end up on the early shift today? But, tomorrow, she was closing so she could sleep in. Thank goodness. She desperately needed the extra hours of rest.
She went to the backroom to get fresh coffee and nearly dropped her mug. Standing there, watching her approach, was the man from yesterday. Her hand shook as she went into the backroom and poured the coffee. She sat for a minute at the table they used for breaks and meals. Her whole body felt trembly. He was back.
But she couldn’t just sit there all day until the end of her shift. She went right to the front counter, where Jenny was. She looked back and the man was still watching her from across the shop.
“Has that man been here long?” she whispered to Jenny.
“I’m not sure, why?”
“He’s watching me and it’s starting to creep me out.”
Jenny looked at the man, who quickly looked away. “Maybe he just thinks you’re pretty?”
“I think it’s more than that. Just keep an eye on him, okay?”
Becca picked up her clipboard and went to do the final item for inventory. She tried to ignore the man watching her. An hour he stayed there, hovering, watching. She thought about calling the cops, but he hadn’t actually done anything except watch her. Was that a crime?
Finally, he left. She felt the relief wash over her and continued on, placing her first ever merchandise order with precision. At least one thing good had come of him showing up. She no longer felt tired or sluggish. The adrenaline had her wide awake and focused.
By the time she left for the day, she was feeling much better. The exhaustion was starting to return, but she was heading home. She could even take a quick nap if she wanted to. As she walked to her car in, she saw him again. At first, she wasn’t sure. The day’s light had faded into evening, and he was in the shadows, but his eyes were on her as she moved across the parking lot. Her stomach plummeted and instantly she was shaking.
She got into her car and drove off, checking her rearview mirror constantly to see if he was still there, standing at the edge of the parking lot, leaning against a black sedan. She did her best to memorize the car. Then, through her entire drive, she glanced in the mirror, panicking, expecting him to show up at any moment and attack her.
Becca pulled into Lucille’s and there had been no one seeming to follow her. She didn’t see the black sedan or the man; she hadn’t felt followed at all. She got out and looked around before going to the door. Nothing unusual. Nothing out of place.
She went to the door to get Emma and hurried her into the car. Again, while driving home, she watched, waiting for someone to appear. But she pulled into her apartment parking lot and there had been no strange cars. Maybe everything would be okay.
She got out of the car and closed the door. She was about to walk around to the other side to get Emma out when she felt a hand across her mouth and something hard press into her temple. A gun, she realized. Someone was holding a gun to her head. His hand was rough against her smooth lips and she smelled the leather of his jacket. But it was too dark to see him, even if he wasn’t behind her. Was it the man from the gift shop?
She stayed surprisingly calm. She couldn’t scream, so she didn’t try. With Emma so close, she didn’t dare do anything to attract attention to her. She went very still, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would jump out of her chest.
“Where is Rowan Luther?” the man growled in her ear.
He removed his hand from her mouth and she said in a wavering voice, “I don’t know. I don’t know where he lives.”
“I know he was here. Now tell me where he is!”
“I don’t know!” The tears ran down her face and she tried to think. Did she know where he was? No, she really didn’t know his address, or where he worked. She had his phone number and that was it. She hardly knew anything about him.
“I’m going to ask you one more time. Where. Is. Rowan Luther?” He pressed the gun harder into her head. It throbbed where he pushed it.
“I don’t know!” she sobbed. “I barely know him.”
The man dropped the gun and grabbed her wrists, twisting them up behind her back and yanking her into him to hiss in her ear. “If I find out you’re involved with him in any way, you will see me again. And next time, I won’t let you go without a bullet in your head.”
He pushed her head hard and she stumbled forward. When she turned around, he was gone. She paused for a moment to be sure, then nearly ripped Emma from the car.
“Mommy, look at what I did to Cuddles!” She held the bunny up, waving her around in her new dress.
“Uh-huh, that looks great, sweetie.” She whipped her head around as she hugged Emma tight and ran toward the building. She took the stairs two at a time, and turned to lock the door behind them.
Emma was staring at her, her little eyes wide with questions.
“I think there was a bee chasing us.”
“A bee?” Emma squealed and looked around frantically. “Did it get in?”
“I don’t think so. I think we’re safe.” She hoped. She glanced out the peephole, but saw no one. “What if we moved the couch over in front of the door so the bee can’t get in?”
Emma nodded her head, hard. “Good idea.”
Becca pressed her back against the end of the couch and shoved. Her mind spun. Emma. She had to focus on Emma so she could think. Were they safe here? If she’d already been attacked and the man didn’t come up and they knew where she worked, was there any point to leaving? And if they did leave, would they only bring trouble on whoever they went to? That wasn’t fair to Penny or Lucille, and she really had nowhere else to go.
Of course, the person she wanted to call was the person she probably shouldn’t call. What would happen if she called Rowan? Would they really come after her? Would they even know she’d contacted him?
“Mommy, I’m hungry.”
Okay, dinner. Let’s focus on dinner and hold it together until we figure things out. She went to the kitchen and pulled packages from the refrigerator without much thought.
She browned the meat on autopilot and mixed in the Hamburger Helper. She needed something easy to cook tonight, so a boxed mix was the way to go, something she’d never have gotten away with if she was still with Nick.
Dinner was on the table and she sat across from Emma, eating like a robot. It was now seven p.m. Emma went to bed at eight-thirty. Another hour and a half until she could sit down and figure this out. An hour and a half until she could totally lose it.
She felt on the verge. Holding it all in was working somewhat because she was likely still in shock. But when she sat down to think this through, when she focused on it, there would be no turning back. And she could not do that in front of Emma.
After dinner, she gave Emma a bath, then got her to watch TV for a little while. She paced the floor, trying to keep her mind on other things. Like what she had to do at work tomorrow.
What new gift item could they add to bring in new customers? How would she set up the display?
She watched the clock and when it was 8:20, she said, “Okay! Bed time!”
Emma groaned and yawned, then followed her mother to her bedroom. Becca picked her up and hugged her tightly before lying her down and pulling the covers up to her chin.
“Sleep tight.” She leaned over and nuzzled her nose against Emma’s.
“Love you, Mommy.”
Emma’s little voice, so innocent and sweet, almost pushed her over the edge. She smiled and kissed her forehead before getting up to turn out the light. She flipped on the night light, then closed the door.
Becca sat on the couch, now off center from the TV, and stared at her phone in her hand. If she called him, would she endanger herself? What about Emma? Would she endanger him? Or was this like in the movies where the bad guy said don’t call the cops and all you want to do was yell at the person to call the cops and it would fix everything?
She rubbed her finger over the place at her temple where the gun had been pressed. There would be a bruise. She looked at her wrists and noticed there was a bruise there, too. Then she thought of all the man said and how Emma had been so close and the tears started.
She was doubled over on the couch, sobbing, trying to breathe, trying to cry as quietly as possible so as to not wake Emma. It took almost an hour for her to calm enough to breathe and think again. When it came down to it, the only person who could help her was Rowan. She had to risk it.
She picked up her phone, blew her nose, and dialed his number.
Chapter 5
Rowan’s phone rang and when he picked it up, he was both surprised and dismayed to see Becca’s number. Why was she calling him so late at night? This couldn’t be good.
“Hey there,” he said.
“Rowan?” Her voice was raspy and quivered.
“What’s wrong?”
Her words tumbled out of her in a rush and she started crying somewhere in the middle of it, making it hard to understand her.
“Wait, wait. Slow down,” he said. “Someone attacked you and held a gun to your head?” He was on his feet, his free hand clenched tight in a fist, his vision going red with rage. Had to be Abram’s guys. No one else would come after her like that. “He asked about me?”
“Yes,” she sobbed, “and he said if he found out I had anything to do with you, he’d kill me. I almost didn’t call you because I didn’t want him to hurt you, too, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“No, you definitely needed to call me. Don’t worry about me. They already tried to kill me, remember? And they couldn’t. Where are you right now?”
“In my living room.”
“Is the door locked?”
“Yes. And the deadbolt, and the couch is in front of the door.”
“Good. I’m leaving now. I’ll call you when I get there so you know it’s me.”
Rowan ran out the door, pausing only to grab his helmet and a second gun, both of which sat on the top shelf of the entryway closet. He hopped on his bike, moving so fast that his body screamed at him in pain. He took off down the street, ignoring the sharp stabs along his back and the aches. He wove between cars, dodging the slower vehicles to keep his speed up.
When he saw her building, he slowed a bit, but only enough to avoid wiping out in the gravel parking lot. He stopped his bike and hopped off, then called her.
“I’m in the parking lot.”
“Okay.”
He heard a loud scraping sound. “What’s that?”
“I’m moving the couch,” she said.
He took the stairs as quickly as he could with his stiff legs. “I’m right outside your door.”
The door opened and she peeked out. Her face was a mess of puffy eyes and splotchy red. He entered her apartment, closed the door, and leaned against it, then pulled her into his arms. She hugged him back for a second, then reached up to lock the door and turn the deadbolt. When she put her arms back around him, she was shaking.
“It’s okay.” He ran his fingers through her hair and squeezed her tighter.
“It’s just…” She started sniffling again, making her words broken. “Emma was so close and…and…”
“I know. But it’s okay now. It’s over. I’m here.”
When she calmed a bit, he led her to the couch. He sat beside her, rubbing her back as she dabbed at her eyes. He wished he could reach inside her and take out her pain. Show her it’d be okay and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
“Can you tell me more?” he asked. “Did you know the man?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“What did he look like?”
“I’m not really sure. It was dark. He had rough hands. He was wearing a leather jacket. That’s really all I got. He was behind me most of the time.”
Rowan took in a breath and tried to steady himself. Getting too angry wouldn’t help anything right now. There would be a time for that later. And oh, would this man pay. Whoever he was. He’d make him hurt so badly he’d beg to be killed.
“I’m sorry. That’s not very helpful, I—”
She started to sob again and he pulled her into his lap.
“No, it’s not your fault. Don’t worry. I’m sure it was the same guys who attacked me. Those are the only enemies I have. And I already have a plan to pay them back.”
“There was this other guy…” She paused to sniff and catch her breath. “In the gift shop. He came in yesterday and followed me and when I went to the back room, he told me to be aware of my surroundings. Then he came back today, but he didn’t say anything. He just watched me. But I don’t think it was him, the voice—”
“Wait a minute. There was a strange man following you at work and threatening you and you didn’t call me? Why?”
“I don’t know; I didn’t want to bother you. I didn’t want to seem all paranoid or anything.”
“Becca.” He rubbed his face, forgetting about his cuts, then wincing in pain. “Please don’t do that. I can only protect you if you tell me what’s going on. Did you get a good look at that guy?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry, I just…” She broke into sobs again.
“Shh, it’s okay, really. I’m not mad or anything. It just upsets me that you were in danger and didn’t think you could tell me. Or should. You should always tell me stuff like that and I will protect you. And, Emma, I will do whatever I have to in order to make sure you’re safe.”
For some reason, this made her cry even harder. He didn’t know what else to do but hold her and wait for it to stop. What had he said to make it worse?
He handed her a fresh tissue and gently slid her from his lap. Then he went to the kitchen to get her some water. He opened the cabinets and looked around. What she needed was a stiff drink. But he found no alcohol. If he’d have known, he would have brought his flask at least. Or a Valium or something to help her calm down.
He handed her the water. “You need to drink something. Try to calm down.”
She gulped at the water and set the glass on the coffee table. Then she took in several shuddering breaths and looked at him through puffy, red eyes. “Thank you. I don’t deserve all this. For you to endanger yourself to protect us.”
“Are you kidding me? Becca, I’m the reason you’re in danger. If you hadn’t helped me, none of this would be happening. Repaying your kindness with my protection is the very least of what I can do. It’s not nearly enough. You have no idea how pissed I am that I brought this on you. You have a daughter to think about. You didn’t need any of this.”
“Should we just leave town? Would that make it easier for you?”
“No way. And where would you go?” He shook his head. “They could follow you and then I wouldn’t be able to protect you. Definitely don’t do that.”
“What can I do, then? How can I make this better?”
“Tell me immediately when anything strange happens. Even if you’re not sure if it’s
strange or not. I’d rather you tell me and have it be nothing than you think it’s nothing if it’s something.”
She nodded and drank more water.
“And,” he said, “if you can get a good glimpse of whoever, that’d be helpful, but I know that’s also not always possible. So don’t worry if you can’t.”
“I will. I’m sorry I didn’t tonight.”
“No.” He took her hand and kissed it. “Don’t apologize or feel bad if you can’t, okay? But you said you saw the guy who was in the gift shop?”
“Yes. He had shoulder-length scraggly brown hair. Going thin on top. Kinda big nose. Wore a leather jacket and jeans. Had a messy-looking beard. Like he just stopped shaving one day. Wasn’t really fat, but wasn’t skinny either. Taller than me.”