“I think you’ve got it all wrong. Daniel told me that nothing could ever come of us. He told me I’m like a sister to him.”
Harm didn’t know whether to laugh at the sister comment or curse at the whole situation. Instead he just said, “He never acted this way around Jenna. Trust me; he doesn’t see you as a sister anymore!” Before Carly could comment Harm rushed on, “Okay, we have all thought of you as a sister in the past, but Daniel has finally gotten the blinders off. He doesn’t see you that way anymore and he doesn’t know what to do about it.”
“I need to get some space between us. He doesn’t want anything to happen; he likes things the way they’ve always been. I don’t want to be the one to cause the change in our relationship and have him resent it. If he feels anger over the way he feels, then I will step out of the way. With Mike and me going out, I get to experience what it is to have feelings for someone else…” Carly let the sentence falter.
Harm looked expectantly at her, waiting for her to explain, when she didn’t he said, “I take it that means that you haven’t developed any feelings for Mike.”
Tears filled her eyes but none fell. “Harm, I want to feel something for him. He’s a great catch. He’s really nice, sweet and thoughtful.”
“But?”
“But, it isn’t there. We are supposed to go out tomorrow and if there’s no spark, I’m going to let Mike know that it just isn’t working.” Carly looked so downtrodden that Harm couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her.
“I just want to be happy and the man I want doesn’t want me and the man that does, well, I don’t have any special feelings for him.” Carly looked up at Harm, “Why does life mess with you like that?”
“Honey, if I knew the answer to that, I could become a very rich man.” Harm looked at the misery he could see in her eyes, “It’ll work out, trust me.”
Carly had about as much as she could take and didn’t know what to do about any of it. She just smiled and nodded as she pretended to eat a bite of pizza.
Saturday, the day of her date with Mike, was a beautiful day and Carly was miserable. She knew that nothing would come of her relationship with Mike. She just had to figure out what she needed to do with her life now that Jenna was gone and the store didn’t hold the same appeal that it once had.
“I would like it if you would come by and take a look at the store to see what, if I decide to sell, I should or could get out of it.” Carly was on the phone with an old high school friend that was now a realtor. “I’m interested in possibly selling with all the store stock included. The items in the apartment wouldn’t stay.” Carly had been doing a lot of thinking and she felt it was time for a change.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I would like your opinion on what my options are.”
“Okay, today isn’t a good day though, how about first thing Monday morning?”
“That would be great. I open at nine. I can let you in early if you want to look around why we are still closed.”
“Eight o’clock would be perfect.”
“Great, I’ll see you at eight, Monday.”
With that taken care of, Carly set about her day just waiting for tonight. The night she’s going to tell Mike that she just wants to be friends.
“I’ve been watching the store. I started to go in, but there were too many people in there. I got as far as the threshold and turned to leave before I was seen. But I did hear the woman running the store on the phone confirming a date for tonight.” The woman took a deep breath, “We will go into the apartment tonight. We have to find it!”
“Look, I don’t like this. We can get into some serious trouble. It’s not worth it!”
“It is to me!” The woman snarled into the phone. “Come pick me up at seven. We will go in as soon as we are sure she’s gone.”
The day had been uneventful. The guys had quit spending the whole day with her in the store but several times a day, someone from the fire station or one of the Wayne boys would just happen to come by. She was rarely alone.
Her date with Mike was coming up but she still had a little bit before Mike would be there so she decided to relax, as she was turning to head upstairs the phone rang.
“Treasures.”
“Hey Carly.”
“Hi Mike.”
“Listen, I’ve been delayed a bit but I’m still coming if you don’t mind getting a late start.”
“Well, I don’t guess it matters. What time are you thinking?”
“It’ll be a couple of hours yet, how is eight thirty? Can you wait until then to grab a bite to eat? I’ll call ahead and order a pizza. It should be ready when we get there then we can walk across the street to the movies at ten. What do you think?”
“That sounds fine. The store will be locked so just call when you pull up and I’ll come on down.”
“It’s a deal.” Mike said as he hung up.
Carly hadn’t slept well the night before after her strange conversation with Harm. Carly still didn’t have any idea why Daniel had sent her flowers. He’d only come in once since he’d sent them and there were a lot of people in the store at the time so they didn’t talk. Since she was afraid that she might fall asleep during a late movie she had planned to rest her eyes, but now she could take a short nap.
It took Carly longer then she’d expected to fall asleep; she hadn’t been asleep long when she was suddenly awakened. She wasn’t sure what had awakened her, but sure that something had. She had her phone next to her so she didn’t miss Mike when he called but the phone hadn’t rang. Carly looked around the dark living room but didn’t know what had awakened her. She hadn’t turned on any lights when she had come up and with the living room not having any windows, it was dark in there.
Carly was just starting to relax when she heard the door at the bottom of the stairs open and close. Carly held her breath and just listened. All of Jenna’s brothers had a key to the store and could easily be dropping by her apartment, but it was unusual. Plus the footsteps were slow and quiet. If it wasn’t for the creaky stairs, Carly wouldn’t even be able to hear anyone. The stairs came into the apartment facing the kitchen but when you got to the top and turned right, you were looking directly into the living room. Carly stayed very still, it was dark enough that if whoever it was didn’t turn on a light and she didn’t move, they might not see her.
A dark figure came to stop at the top of the stairs. It was a man, Carly knew that, but that was all she could tell. If Carly moved now, he would see her. The man took a step toward the kitchen then turned right and took a couple of steps while scanning the living room, but he turned right again and headed down the hall toward the two bedrooms and the bathroom. Carly heard him going through the rooms and she knew she was trapped. If she made a move for the stairs, all he had to do was look down the hall and he would see her. She would never make it out. The apartment was small and there were no other options.
Carly’s eyes went to the tapestry that covered the door to the alley; but the water stand was still there in front of it. It was Carly’s only chance. It was hidden in the shadows and offered some coverage. But the door hadn’t been opened in years, what if it wouldn’t open.
Carly eased off the overstuffed chair she had been resting on. What time was it? What if Mike picked now to call? Her phone wasn’t on silent and she would be found for sure it the phone rang now. She pushed the phone between the arm and the cushion of the chair to keep it from being heard. She could use it to call nine one one, but the phone beeped every time she pressed a button, so she couldn’t do that without the risk of being found. She needed to move fast but silently. She got up and headed for the hidden door, grabbing both sides of the water stand she lifted it carefully. She had to smother a grunt; the piece of furniture was heavier then it looked.
She carefully moved it out of the way and reached up to pull the tapestry aside. Carly froze in disbelief. There was no door handle. Where in the world was t
he door handle? Carly could hear the man moving around in back, he wasn’t trying to be quiet. How long until he came in here trying to find whatever it was he wanted?
Carly’s eyes came to rest on the slide lock at the top of the door. She quietly released her breath. She reached up and slid the lock open, nothing. The door didn’t open and there was no way to grip the door to open it. Carly started shaking and turned her back to the door and slid down. She would have to try for the stairs. Carly suddenly bit back a cry of pain. She reached behind her to see what had hurt her back and felt another slide lock at the bottom of the door. She quickly slid it and the door popped a bit. Enough that she was able to get a grip on the edge of the door and pull it.
There was a loud groan as the door was pulled open and Carly froze for just a second. There was absolute silence coming from the back of the apartment. Had he heard or was he making enough noise that he missed the sound? Suddenly she heard running coming from the hallway behind her, she pulled the door the rest of the way open and ran out onto a metal balcony. As she turned to get on the ladder that would take her to the ground she looked up and saw the man at the door. His face was still cloaked in darkness, but that only made him look more sinister. He reached out for her as she started down the ladder. She was moving fast. The man had managed to grab a lock of her hair but she didn’t dare slow down. She heard, more than felt, her hair rip out of her head.
She was screaming. It wasn’t that late and someone might still be around. It wasn’t a residential area but there were still people that liked to walk the area looking into shop windows. She was hoping against hope that someone would come to her aide.
The ladder was slick from the fog that seemed to always be around lately. Carly’s foot slipped and she banged her shin on the next rung of the ladder. She felt the pain zing up her leg but it didn’t register to her brain that it should hurt. All her brain was focused on was that someone was after her, it was fight or flight and her brain had agreed with her body, flight was her only option. She got a grip on the ladder and continued down.
She came to the bottom of the ladder and looked up, he was coming, fast. She looked down at the alley and held her breath, and jumped. Jenna had the bottom of the ladder removed to make it harder for anyone to get up to the door, but it also made about a ten foot drop for someone coming down.
She screamed when she hit the pavement. Her ankle twisted but the pain still didn’t register with her brain; that is until she tried to run. Her ankle wouldn’t hold her weight and the pain broke through her mental block. She managed to stumble several feet when she heard the man jump the final distance and she screamed again. She turned to look. The man was so close. He wasn’t more than a few seconds away and she knew she couldn’t run anymore. She turned toward the opening of the alley, still trying to stumble to the street and yelled for help once more. She gave it all she had left. She was out of options.
Suddenly there was a figure at the opening of the alley. He stood there effectively blocking the exit to the alley, not running to the rescue as she had hoped. Carly was trapped. There was one of them behind her and another coming at her from the street. She just stopped. She started crying and fell to her knees where she covered her head with her arms. She looked like a kid at school practicing for the tornado drill. She prayed as she had never prayed before. Her whole body was shaking and she couldn’t stop crying. She was going to die in the alley that Jenna had feared so much.
The sound of running feet coming from the exit to the alley got closer until they were right next to her. Arms that felt like they were made of steel reached down and pulled her up.
“I will not go down this way.” Carly thought. She started kicking and screaming and flailing her arms about. She did her best to head butt her attacker and to scratch at his eyes. She was all but blind with fury and fear. Her head made contact with his; she saw stars but she continued to fight for all she was worth.
The man was strong; he reached around and grabbed her arm, twisting her body until she was facing away from him. He wrapped his arms around her trapping her arms to her body. Her back was now to his chest and she could barely move, barely breathe with the steel grip he had on her. She started kicking backwards trying to hit his shins with her heels and at the same time she let her head drop forward and bit the attackers arm. She tasted blood.
“Son of a…Carly!! It’s me Carly.”
The voice finally broke through her screaming. “Daniel?” Carly managed to say.
“Yes, it’s me honey.” Daniel eased his grip but didn’t let her go, if he had, she would have crumpled to the ground. Carly stiffened and franticly looked around the alley.
“I was being chased.” Carly was alarmed that they would be attacked any minute.
“I know, I saw him…” Daniel didn’t get to finish what he was saying because Carly interrupted.
“You saw him? Why didn’t you get him? Why did you let him get away?”
“Honey, I saw you on the ground and needed to see if you were okay. As soon as he saw me, he turned and ran the other way. By the time I got you to stop fighting me, he was gone. There was no way I was going to leave you her in the alley by yourself.” What he didn’t add was that the man was almost on top of Carly. He had been frozen at the entrance to the alley when he saw that the man all but had Carly. She fell to the ground and that galvanized him into action. He started running and his steps made the man look up. He noticed Daniel running toward him, hesitated a second, then turned and ran.
Carly knew that she was the reason he hadn’t gone after the man but she was glad he was standing there holding her. Carly realized she heard sirens.
“Someone must have heard me screaming and called the police.”
“That would be me. I heard you and while I was making my way to the alley, I called nine one one on my cell. I dropped my phone back there somewhere when I realized it was you screaming.”
Daniel had released his hold on Carly enough that she was able to turn and face him now. She couldn’t get a good look at him but she was glad he was there. She buried her face in his chest and held on for dear life. He tightened his hold on her again and they stood that way until the police and ambulance arrived and they insisted on looking at Carly’s ankle.
She was ticked. He had failed. When she saw him running frantically towards the car, she knew he had failed. He jumped in the car, “Go, Go, Go!” He yelled. She took her ever loving time pulling out of the parking space. She wasn’t going to get pulled over for reckless driving. He was cussing and ducking down in his seat.
“What happened?”
“She was there! You told me she would be out, but she wasn’t!!” He yelled accusingly. His mind going back to what had happened.
When he heard the noise, he’d taken off running toward the stairs trying to catch whoever was there. He came to the end of the short hall and noticed the light was marginally lighter by the far wall. He altered his direction to take him to the door that he hadn’t even known was there. He caught a glimpse of someone running out the door and he’d managed to get a grip on some of her hair but it didn’t do any good, she didn’t even slow down.
Where had she come from? He was sure he was alone in the apartment. He raced out onto the little balcony and started down the ladder. She wouldn’t get away now. He grimaced when she let out a scream; she had a good set of lungs on her. His ears were ringing from her screams bouncing off the alley walls. The walls helped amplify the screaming and he put extra effort into the chase. He needed to shut her up before someone heard her.
He heard her hit the ground and start screaming again. He looked down and saw that he was closing in on her. He jumped the final distance and landed as he’d seen parachute jumpers on TV land, with a roll. He was able to get up immediately and take off after her. He almost had her.
Suddenly she dropped to the ground directly in front of him. A couple more steps and he had her. The sound of footfalls finally penetrated his single mindedness
of getting a hold of the woman. He looked up and saw a man running from the street coming toward them fast. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, trying to determine if he could handle them both and knew he couldn’t. He cursed under his breathe and ran the other way.
Carly was sitting on the stretcher, having given her statement, when Mike came running around the corner. They were still in the alley and he couldn’t see Carly until he had come all the way in and passed a couple of police cars. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw her.
“Carly, are you okay? What happened?”
“Someone broke in to the apartment and chased me out. I’m okay though, just a sore ankle.” Carly sounded very calm but Daniel knew she was in mild shock. He was standing behind her rubbing her back. He didn’t seem able to quit touching her. He had almost lost her tonight and was having a difficult time dealing with it.
“Get a grip. You’re not okay. The jerk ripped a chunk of your hair out, chased you down the ladder causing you to severely sprain your ankle and scared ten years off of my life. What do you mean, you’re okay?” Daniel was incensed. He didn’t know what to do with the fear and the adrenaline that was coursing through his veins.
Mike looked shocked and for a moment he didn’t speak. Just when he opened his mouth to say something, Carly beat him to it.
“I just want to take a bath and go to bed. I’m exhausted.”
“You’re not going to be alone.” Daniel and Mike said simultaneously. Daniel pointedly ignored Mike and Mike glanced over at Daniel.
“Why don’t you come back to my place with me? You can take the bed and I’ll sleep on the couch.” Mike said moving closer to Carly.
“Like that’s gonna happen. She’s coming home with me.”
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