by Milly Taiden
She watched him move to the door. She clutched her hand to her chest, not expecting it to hurt so bad if he walked out on her.
“I am sorry.” But she wasn’t sure if she was sorry because she’d cheated on Jordan or because she’d let Vinnie use her like that. Plus, she felt so dirty.
“You’re sorry,” Jordan spit out, slamming the door behind him.
She balled her fist and screamed, kicking the cat food dish and scattering the food across the kitchen floor.
She was too busy crying to hear her door open. A man dressed in dark clothing stood in her living room watching her as she fell apart. He entwined his gloved fingers, pushing them together for a snug fit, then pulled the black mask completely over his face as he moved toward her.
It wouldn’t take anything to snap her neck before she even knew what was happening. He moved closer. And then that damn cat hissed, giving him up before he knew what to do next.
She spun around and screamed at the sight of him. “What do you want?!”
He grabbed her and tossed her across the kitchen. Her back hit the wall before she crumbled at his feet. She lay motionless as he moved around the room. He looked in the box that Quinn’s mother had sent her, finding nothing in it. He turned back around looking down at her to see if she was wearing the locket—the locket that contained information having the potential to destroy so much. Her hair was in the way of his being able to tell at a glance whether she was wearing it. As he kneeled down to take a closer look, she jumped up with a pair of cooking shears, plunging them deep into his chest. She rolled to her side and crawled from him. Once she got to her living room, she jumped to her feet and ran out of the apartment.
The masked man stood, fell back against the wall, and banged against the counter as he tried to get to the door. He groaned and his hand blindly located the source of the pain. With one jerk, he yanked the shears from his chest. Blood immediately saturated his clothing.
Charley
Adrian paced Charley’s apartment. Watching her flit from one room to the other, he could tell she was happy to have him there.
He rubbed the back of his neck watching that damn locket nestled in her cleavage. He really just wanted to yank it from her neck and be done with the whole thing. If he didn’t get his hands on that tiny piece of jewelry, his life was over.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked. She was standing right in front of him and he hadn’t even noticed.
He shook his head. “Nothing. Just glad to see you.” He pressed his lips against her forehead and she moved in, closing up what little space was between them.
She looked down between them when his phone buzzed. “Are you going to get that?”
He pulled away and nodded. “I’ll be back.”
She watched him head out into her bedroom. She was pretty good at gauging people, and right now she was pretty sure that Adrian was very concerned with something.
But before she could give it any more thought, the phone on the kitchen counter rang. She hurried to answer it, just in case it was from work. “Hello?”
“I am so glad that I got a hold of you.” It was Reeves and he was out of breath. “Where are you?”
She made a face and took a seat on one of her bar stools. “I am in my kitchen waiting for Adrian to get off of the phone. He came back to visit again already. Can you believe that?”
“Yes, I can.” Reeves’s voice went up a couple more octaves. “Charley, you need to get out of your house right now.”
Her stomach knotted. She knew when Reeves was being serious. She stood up. “What are you saying?”
“I’ve been having this nagging suspicion for a few days now, so I did some research,” Reeves explained.
Her heart kicked up and sputtered in her chest. Before she could hear more, Adrian was back and standing in the doorway of her kitchen. She did her best to pull it together. “Okay. I will take care of the files tomorrow. I am kind of busy right now.”
“Is he there right now?” Reeves asked.
“Yes, that’s right. The meeting is at one.” She forced a smile, watching Adrian’s every move. “Well, if you really think it’s that important, I suppose I can take care of it now.”
“I think it’s critical, Charley. Call me as soon as you are out of there,” he said. “If I don’t hear back from you, I am going to the police.”
“Sounds fine. I will take care of it.” She hit end on her phone and slid it into the pocket of her dress pants.
“Everything okay at the office?” He wrapped his arms around her. “Kind of late to be going out into the big city.”
She shook her head and quickly recovered. “There were some issues I was supposed to take care of tomorrow that I just found out can’t wait.”
Adrian leaned in, pressing his lips against her neck. “Your heart is racing.”
She swallowed. “It always does when it comes to work.” She did her best to laugh it off, kissed him back and broke away. “It shouldn’t be too long. You can hang out here while I’m gone.”
He shook his head, snagging up his coat. “I’d love to see your office. It’s after hours and nobody is going to notice. Besides you’re the boss.” He ran a hand through her hair searching her eyes. “You sure everything is okay?”
“Just fine.” She couldn’t swallow, she felt like she was choking. Her mouth was dry and her hands and head were tingly. What the hell was going on? And what did Reeves have to tell her?
Ethan
Ethan zipped the duffel bag. He carefully checked his surroundings to make sure no one was lurking about before getting back in his truck and tossing the bag on the seat.
He locked his doors and texted each of his sisters. But not a single one of them replied. He started up his truck and threw it into drive and sped out of the parking lot. He wasn’t sure where he was heading, but he knew it was far away from here.
He remembered an old bed and breakfast about an hour out of town. He’d stop there for the night and take off again in the morning.
This was his out; the break he’d been waiting for. He knew he didn’t want to waste more time in college. Now that he had this kind of money in his duffel bag, he had a better idea of what he’d do with himself.
He ran a hand through his hair and guided the truck easily down the expressway. He glanced down at the watch his mother had gifted him. He couldn’t believe all he’d learned about his mom, and he now held very little respect for her. A flash of a billboard caught his attention in passing. It was a sign for a computer repair store just off the next exit and he had the perfect idea. He put on his blinker and carefully got in the lane prepared to take the exit.
Everly
Everly jumped off her couch when the banging started at her door. It sounded urgent and she was worried something happened to Vinnie on the way over. She hurried to answer it not bothering to check the peephole before she flung the door open.
She was immediately rushed by a man dressed in black. He went right for her, tearing the locket from her neck. She fell backward, his body crashing on top of her.
“What do you want?!” she screamed, as he nearly crushed the life out of her as he struggled to get to his feet. He touched the black face mask and looked down at her like he was contemplating something more.
She moved backward trying to get away from him. She didn’t know if he had a weapon, but she didn’t want to find out.
“Take whatever you want,” she stammered. “Just please don’t hurt me.”
He stepped closer. She squeezed her eyes shut and begged him for her life.
Instead of saying anything, the man screamed in pain. Everly opened her eyes, relieved to see Vinnie standing there and the man at his feet.
“Who is this guy?” he asked her, staring down at the man’s lifeless form. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head, afraid to get any closer. But she wanted to see who he was and why he came rushing into her house.
“He took my necklace,” s
he told him, rubbing at the tender spot on her neck where he pulled hard enough to break the locket chain. It didn’t take Vinnie long to locate the locket wrapped between the fingers of the thief. As he handed it to her, the masked man popped back up and crashed into Vinnie. The two of them struggled in the middle of the dining room.
“Go Everly, call the police. Get out of here!” Vinnie pleaded with her.
She hesitated at first but took off out the door with the locket in her hand. She dashed across the street and ran to the neighbor’s house.
The man was on her heels, quickly gaining speed. She had what he wanted, and he wasn’t giving up until he had it. She pried the locket open and pulled the tiny drive from it.
“Is this what you want?” She wagged the locket at him. The masked man cocked his head to the side daring her to take another step. She steadied her breath and chucked it as far as she could into the street.
Vinnie grabbed her when the man took off after the jewelry. “Are you okay?” He looked her over for even a hair out of place.
Tires squealed behind them. They both watched the driver of the car get out and yell at the man. But the man didn’t care, he dropped down flat on his stomach and fished the locket from underneath the car.
“We need to get out of here,” she begged Vinnie. “Now.”
They raced to the neighbor’s before Vinnie could argue any different and pounded on their door.
“He has what he wants, do you think he still wants to hurt you?” Vinnie asked, trying to catch his breath.
She shook her head banging on the next door when nobody answered the first one. “I pulled the flash drive out. Whatever is on this is important to someone.”
Charley
Charley came to a stop in the parking lot of her office. She held back the urge to cry and remained strong. She unbuckled her seat belt and looked over to him.
“Well, here we are.” He ran a hand through his hair and gave a nod. “It’s exactly what I expected.”
She opened her door and climbed out. He did the same, not sparing even a moment for her to slip away. “It shouldn’t take too long.”
She found her keys to unlock the door.
“I’m really glad I got to see you, Charley.”
She moved quickly in case he wanted to hug her again. She didn’t like his closeness anymore. She wanted him to leave her alone and to forget they ever met. She couldn’t believe that not even an hour ago she thought Adrian was the best thing to ever happen to her.
She started on the lock and he stopped her. “Listen to me.”
She faced him, frozen in place by fear. She just hoped he wouldn’t do anything crazy. She never thought he was a bad person and just looked into his eyes trying to see the guy she thought he was before Reeves called her. She touched his face.
“I never expected to meet someone like you,” he told her. He leaned in, planting a kiss on her cheek. Her heart crashed against her chest, everything slowing down. “And, I’m sorry.”
They broke apart and she searched his eyes for the meaning of his apology. “Sorry for what?”
“For everything.”
She turned around and opened the door to her office. “Whatever is going on we can talk about this when we get inside.” But when she turned back around Adrian was gone. She quickly scanned the empty parking lot, and he was nowhere to be found. It was like he vanished into thin air.
She locked the door behind her and dialed Reeves.
“Oh, thank God! I was just about to call the police.”
She shook her head, her eyes still on the parking lot. “He’s gone. He just left. I don’t know what is going on.”
“Charley, I don’t want to scare you, but Adrian is the son of the man that was arrested for killing your mother.”
She clenched her jaw, stress noticeable in her voice. “How could I have been so stupid?”
Ethan
Ethan paced the floor of the electronics store waiting for the man behind the counter to stop messing with some old guy’s hard drive and wait on him. He kept looking at the parking lot at his truck to make sure no one would take off with it.
After another ten minutes, the man finally acknowledged him. “Can I help you?”
Ethan looked around the store making sure nobody was paying any attention to him. And then he closed the space between him and the employee. “I need a computer.”
The man nodded. “I have a couple that you can take a look at.”
“The best one you have. With a spot for a flash drive.”
The man nodded and moved behind his counter. “These are some of the best I have, right here in the case.”
Ethan pointed at the red one. “I’ll take it.” And he slapped a large chunk of cash on the counter.
The man looked up at him reluctantly taking the money. “Can I get you anything else?”
He shook his head. “No, that would be it.”
He waved his hand in dismissal when the man tried giving him back several bills. “Keep it. You have a good night,” he said as he walked out the door. Ethan got in his truck and headed for the bed and breakfast.
Quinn
Quinn was still shaking when Jordan showed up at the police station.
She could tell he was worried as soon as she saw him. “Babe.”
She stood up and welcomed his hug. The police had no luck catching the guy she’d plunged her kitchen shears into. And she couldn’t believe he’d gotten away after what she did to him. She was sure it should have killed him.
“I can’t believe this happened.” She shook her head. “I can’t go back there.” She never wanted to step foot into her apartment again.
Jordan rubbed her back. “Then you won’t. You can stay with me.”
She looked at him. “Even after everything that’s happened?” She was confident that Jordan hadn’t forgotten about Vinnie.
“When you called me and told me what happened none of that mattered anymore.” He pulled her close and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, Quinn. And if something would have happened to you, I don’t know what I would have done.”
She stroked his face, pressing her forehead against his. “That’s the best thing anyone could say to me right now.”
After they kissed and made up Jordan asked the question she really wanted an answer to herself. “What is going on?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think this break-in was random. I think that guy was after something that he thought I had.” She touched her locket. It was the only thing she had received recently. The one thing she didn’t think she would ever wear because she was so angry with her mother for leaving her to fend for herself. But she put it on and swore she would never forget her mom and all that she was. Her mother was a good person just like herself. They both made mistakes, but that didn’t make them any less of who they were deep down. She knew she was a sweet girl who deserved to have someone like Jordan to love her.
Adrian
Adrian came through the doors of his mother’s home and immediately heard the commotion. Doors were slamming, and he could hear her high-pitched shrieks from all the way downstairs.
“Mother!” he yelled.
Immediately one of her little man servants showed himself and hurriedly led him upstairs. “She is very upset.”
Adrian already knew that would be the case but he let the servant explain it to him anyway.
He opened the doors to her bedroom and he found her sprawled out in the middle of her floor on her bearskin rug, weeping like some lunatic.
“Is there anything I can do?” He knew it was probably the dumbest thing he could say at that moment.
She fell on his leg sobbing. “They found Angelo on the street…dead.”
A little part of him wasn’t shocked to hear that his brother was dead. Angelo had been doing a lot of dangerous jobs for a long time. It was only a matter of time before it caught up with him.
“Someone stabbed him and he bled out right in the middle of s
ome filthy street.” She cried some more, holding onto Adrian’s leg for dear life.
He touched the top of her head. “Someone stabbed him?”
“Yes. The police are telling me they found no weapon at the scene. But they do know from the looks of it that he was stabbed. They are transporting his body as we speak.”
Angelo was after the locket, he knew that to be true. But he hadn’t heard from his brother in hours. He had no clue if he ever got the locket or if he even made it there.
“Did he say whether or not the trip was successful?”
She only shook her head. “I never heard from him. The last thing he told me was that he was there. If we don’t get this figured out, our lives are ruined.”
It didn’t surprise him that his mother was more concerned with staying out of jail than his brother at the moment. That was precisely the woman she was. And then she focused all her attention on him. “What about you?”
He swallowed.
“You went to see her. Did you have any luck getting the locket?”
When he shook his head, she jumped to her feet and slapped him as hard as she could. “You mean to tell me you came back here with nothing?”
He backed away before she could slap him again. “It’s not as easy as it looks, Mother. But if it makes you feel any better I really don’t think she will do anything with it.”
She laughed. “Oh, that is just rich. Once again, my son thinks he knows what a woman he is in love with will do.” She glared at him. “You are just like your father.”
“She’s not like the other ones. She’s honest and …human.”
“Get out!” she shouted, as she pointed toward the door. Then she turned away from him, refusing to give him one more look.