My Soul For You

by Morgana Phoenix

  It probably would have been more convincing if Kaleb hadn’t been right behind her. As it were, Aunt Hannah narrowed her eyes.

  “You could have texted. I was worried.”

  “I’m sorry,” Katie said again.

  Her aunt finally looked past her and focused on Kaleb. “Hello again.”

  Kaleb inclined his head. “Ms. Baldwin.”

  Aunt Hannah snorted a laugh. “It’s just Hannah, but thank you for adding about thirty years to my age.” She said it teasingly and even offered him a small grin. “I guess Katie was with you … studying?”

  The way she said studying brought a deep flush to Katie’s face. It implied they were doing anything but studying, which they had been.

  Kaleb, much to his credit, never blinked an eye. “Yes ma’am.”

  Aunt Hannah chuckled. “Why don’t you wait upstairs, Kaleb? I just need a word with my niece.”

  Kaleb left without a comment.

  Her aunt waited until his footsteps had faded before turning those blue eyes on Katie. “Katie…”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I promise to be more on top of things.” She sighed. “I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

  “I understand, but you’re not usually this scatterbrained,” her aunt argued. “I’m happy that you’ve found someone, but you haven’t been yourself lately.”

  Katie chuckled. “Trust me that has nothing to do with Kaleb.” Realizing her aunt was now waiting for an explanation, she exhaled again. “School’s been extra hard this year,” she half lied. “I’m not doing so great in art and I still need to mail out my college applications and what with what’s been happening with the store…” It was a low blow, but her aunt’s face softened.

  “I know it hasn’t been easy around here the last few days, but you know you can talk to me, don’t you?”

  Katie nodded. “Of course, I know that and I will, but it’s just small, dumb things. I’ll try harder to get back on track.”

  Her aunt moved around the table and pulled Katie into a hug. “Okay.” She drew back. “Oh! I almost forgot. Your boxes came in. I put them upstairs.”

  “Great!” Katie started towards the stairs. “Did you have a look?”

  Shaking her head, her aunt followed her upstairs. “No, I waited for you.”

  Kaleb was standing by the window overlooking the street when Katie walked into the sitting room. He glanced back and offered her a small smile.

  “So, what’s the plan for tonight?” Aunt Hannah asked as Katie hurried to the small tower of boxes taking up most of the coffee table.

  Kaleb looked at Katie, but as she was busy tearing the tape off a box, he answered, “I won’t be staying long.”

  Katie gasped as she eyed the sleek, glossy business cards with the store emblem and information neatly stamped across the front. She looked at her aunt, beaming.

  “What do you think?”

  Her aunt hurried over to examine them. “They’re beautiful, Katie!”

  While her aunt continued to study the cards, Katie tore open the other boxes.

  “Everything’s here, except the pens,” she deduced.

  Her aunt blinked. “Pens? Just how much stuff did you get?”

  Katie shrugged. “I thought we could make little baskets and have a draw.”

  Her aunt shook her head, but was grinning. “You’re having way too much fun with this.”

  Katie snickered. “I am.”

  “Is this for the convention?” Kaleb asked, reminding them he was there.

  Katie nodded.

  “It’s this weekend,” her aunt supplied. “Will you be staying with Katie?”

  Kaleb shook his head. “Girl’s weekend, from what I’m told. No men allowed.”

  Her aunt nodded. “Ashlee called here earlier this afternoon, looking for you,” she told Katie. “She didn’t sound too pleased.”

  Riddled with guilt, Katie set the box she was holding down. “Yeah, I’ve been letting a lot of people down the last couple of weeks. But I promised Ashlee we’d chill this weekend.”

  “That sounds like fun,” Aunt Hannah said. “Well, I’m going to go wash up and get ready for bed. Don’t forget to lock up.”

  At Katie’s nod, she said goodnight to Kaleb and disappeared down the hall.

  “I guess I should go, too,” Kaleb murmured, but he paused to toss another guarded glance in the direction of the window. He moved away at last and went to her. “Be careful?”

  Katie nodded. “I will.”

  She led him to the front door and watched as he went to his car. He didn’t leave until she had set all the bolts on the door, only then did he pull out of his spot and drive off into the night. Katie watched him until his taillights vanished from sight. Then she was left staring at the SUV.

  A chill stole through her and she wrapped her arms around herself in protection.

  It was ridiculous. It was just a car. Why would anyone sit out there, in the cold, in a dark car? It made no sense.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “So I think we need to rent all the movies in the Red Box,” Ashlee decided that Friday as she and Katie walked home from school. “Then have a marathon.”

  Katie laughed. “That’s a whole lot of movies.”

  “Well, we have three days. Oh!” She grabbed at Katie’s arm. “We should go shopping.”

  “I work at a clothing store,” Katie reminded her.

  “It’s not the same.” Ashlee hooped her arm through Katie’s. “We should get something super sexy and go to a club. It is Friday after all.”

  “You can’t get into a club.”

  “I can at an all age’s club,” Ashlee said. “What do you say?”

  Katie thought about the whacko stalking her every move and shook her head. “I like the movie idea. We can order pizza and pass out on the sofa.”

  Ashlee sulked. “I want to go out. It’s Friday night.”

  “Maybe another Friday.” She offered her friend a small smile. “I just don’t like leaving the shop unattended when my aunt’s trusting me to make sure the place is still standing in her absence.”

  It took some coaxing, some bribing, but Ashlee finally agreed as they reached the shop and Katie let them in.

  “So you’re going to spend the entire weekend with me?” Ashlee asked as Katie led the way upstairs.

  “Of course. Why?”

  Ashlee shrugged. “I just thought maybe you’d want to spend some of it with Kaleb.”

  Katie eyed her from over her shoulder. “Are you trying to get out of hanging with me?”

  “No!” They reached the sitting room and Katie turned to Ashlee. “Not really…” Ashlee puffed out her cheeks and exhaled it sharply. “Okay, I might have made plans for Saturday.”

  Katie blinked. “Plans? You made plans when we made plans?”

  “Don’t say it like that?” Ashlee whined. “God, you’re making me feel bad.”

  “Good!” Katie started towards her bedroom to dump off her books. “I should fire you for a change.”

  “Hey, I made these plans like days ago, before we made plans, okay?” Ashlee stopped in the doorway. “I just didn’t want to say anything because I really wanted to hang out with you.”

  “And these plans can’t be unplanned?”

  Ashlee shrugged. “They could, but…”

  “But you don’t want to,” Katie finished for her, amused.

  “No, I kinda don’t,” Ashlee confessed sheepishly.

  Katie turned away to drag out her school books from her bag. “Can I ask who these plans are made with?”

  Ashlee hesitated, not saying anything until Katie glanced back at her.

  “I would kind of rather not say,” she said finally.

  Katie stopped her rummaging and faced her friend fully. “Okay, but now you have to tell me.”

  “You’re going to think I’m a loser.”

  “Kind of too late for that.”

  Ashlee gasped. “Shut up!”

  Katie laug
hed. “Come on. Tell me. I promise not to think you’re a loser … out loud.”

  Rolling her eyes, Ashlee stomped to the bed and dropped down on the mattress. She bounced twice before coming to a stop.

  “I kind of met someone,” she said and bit her lip.

  “What’s so unusual about that?” Katie wondered as she set her books down on her desk. “You meet someone every other day.”

  Ashlee shrugged. “Yeah, I guess, but I met him online.”

  Katie stilled. “What?”

  “Don’t freak out, okay?” Ashlee leapt to her feet. “I know it’s dangerous and blah, blah, blah, but hear me out.” When she was sure Katie wasn’t going to interrupt, she plunged on. “He added me on Facebook like months ago, back in like November. We’ve been talking since. He’s really nice and I’ve been super careful. I only just agreed to meet him.”

  “Ashlee…”

  “Don’t go all Mom on me, okay? Please? I’m not stupid. We’re meeting in a public place and I’ll have my phone on me the whole time.”

  In an age of social media and online dating sites, Katie wasn’t ignorant to the fact that people actually met decent people online. But in no way did that stop her unease.

  “Okay,” she said at last.

  Ashlee perked. “Really?”

  Katie shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, I’m not your mom, right?”

  Ashlee’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the catch?”

  “Let me come with you,” Katie said without hesitation.

  Ashlee’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? What happened to not being my mom?”

  “I’m not being your mom,” Katie said. “I’m being your friend. I want to meet this guy, too. If he’s cool and everything goes well, fine. But if he’s a total creep, I don’t want you to be alone.”

  “Really?” Ashlee eyed her. “You’d come with me?”

  Katie tossed her bag onto the floor next to her desk. “I just said I would, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah…” Ashlee shrugged. “I was going to ask you, but I wasn’t sure if you’d go for it.”

  Katie threw a pillow at her. “You are a loser if you think that.”

  Ashlee caught it and hugged it to her chest. “So do you think Kaleb’d be cool with it?”

  Reaching into her back pocket, Katie removed her phone. “Let’s find out.”

  Kaleb didn’t respond to her text right away and Katie wondered if he was at the jobsite. She left her phone on the nightstand and dropped down on the bed.

  “So what do we do now?”

  Kaleb didn’t return her text until almost an hour later.

  “Sorry. I got held up at the school. What’s up?”

  “Want to go on a double date with me tomorrow?”

  His text took a minute and she wondered if he was still at the school or trying to decide if double dating was how he wanted to spend his Saturday.

  “Would love to, but I have to be at the site tomorrow.”

  “It’ll be in the evening.” She bit her lip as she waited.

  “I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. I get in really late sometimes. I’m sorry.”

  Katie’s shoulders drooped. “That’s okay. Maybe another time.”

  “I really would, Katie,” said his next text. “I just need to finish this for Dorothea. We’re on a deadline by the city.”

  “I know. It’s okay. Really.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Katie sighed. “Yeah, me too,” she mumbled out loud. “It’s okay,” she texted to him.

  She sat staring at her phone for several minutes longer as she tried to decide what to do next. It wasn’t like she could go on a double date by herself.

  “What are you doing in here?” Ashlee walked into the bedroom and eyed Katie on the bed. “Did Kaleb get back to you?”

  “Yeah, he can’t come.”

  Ashlee frowned. “Why not?”

  “Work,” Katie said.

  Ashlee took the seat next to her on the mattress. “That sucks. I guess I’m going alone.”

  “Can’t you postpone for another day?” she pleaded.

  “Hey, it’s fine!” Ashlee offered her a broad smile. “Like I said, public place. You can call me twenty minutes in and pretend something’s come up if things look like they’re going south. It’ll be fine, Katie. I’m a big girl.”

  As much as Katie hated it, she relented. Ashlee would go whether Katie asked her to or not.

  “Just don’t go anywhere with him,” Katie said.

  Ashlee rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Mom.”

  Giving her a shove, Katie ushered her back into the sitting room.

  Come Saturday, Katie came to the conclusion that she hated being alone. Alone meant thinking and having time to rehash all the terror and anxiety she was so good at suppressing any other time. But once Ashlee left to get ready for her big date, Katie was left wandering the shop, idly tiding up and doing nothing of great importance, except worry and try not to jump at every little noise.

  The shop seemed much too big with too many dark corners. Every flicker and shift of light had her spinning around, searching for someone to be standing there, watching her. She tried to put music on, but that only heightened her paranoia. What if she couldn’t hear someone creep into the store?

  She tried texting Ashlee a few times, but when the responses became infrequent, she gave up. She tried Larson, but he must have been out, or sleeping, because he didn’t respond at all. She did talk to her aunt for a while, but then Aunt Hannah had to go set up the booth and Katie was alone again. Alone with her thoughts. Alone with her fears. Alone with the image of sinister shadows watching her.

  She ran a clammy hand over her dry mouth.

  Moving herself upstairs to the apartment, Katie pulled out her sheets on the stalker. She lay it all out across the floor in front of the TV and looked over them.

  There had to be something there, something she was missing, a connection. Someone knew someone who was responsible. She just needed to find the link. But there was nothing there that hadn’t been there the day before. There was nothing she hadn’t connected and cross referenced.

  She called the Grand Majestic again, hoping someone else might be more lenient about giving her information. She was transferred to the events coordinator again. She left another message.

  It was nearly seven when Ashlee texted her, letting Katie know she was on her way to meet the mystery guy. Katie set the timer on her phone to call Ashlee in exactly an hour. Then she went and lay on the sofa to stare at the ceiling, too restless to sleep and too exhausted to do anything else.

  She was still thinking when her phone chirped. Thinking it was Ashlee calling for help, Katie lunged for it, nearly knocking her head on the corner of the coffee table when she tumbled off the sofa.

  “Ash?” she practically shouted into the phone.

  “No. It’s just me.”

  Still breathing hard, Katie frowned. “Kaleb?”

  “Hey.”

  “What are you doing? I thought you were working.”

  She heard the wind whistling behind him and wondered if he was still at the jobsite.

  “I was, but, uh, I left early.”

  Katie sat up. “You’re coming here?”

  “Actually…” He chuckled lightly. “I’m downstairs.”

  Phone still clutched in her hand, Katie hurried downstairs. Kaleb waved at her from the other side of the door.

  “What are you doing here?” she said into the phone as she undid the locks.

  “I thought we could still do that date thing.” He said and lowered his arm when she yanked open the door. “Hey.”

  Hitting off on her phone, she ushered him inside.

  “Ashlee’s already gone,” Katie said. “She’s at the restaurant with her date.” She checked her phone. The timer was still going.

  Kaleb’s shoulders dropped. “I’m sorry, Katie. I tried to get here as quickly as I could, but we had to put the sides up today and that took longer than I anti
cipated.”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I’m glad you’re here.”

  After locking the door behind them, she led him upstairs.

  “So what have you been doing today?”

  “Nothing,” she admitted. “Just cleaned up a little and that’s it.”

  Kaleb eyed the carpet of papers across the sitting room floor. “Any luck?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing.” Setting her phone down on the coffee table, she bent down and began scooping the papers together. “I have no leads at all. It’s pissing me off.” She held up the thank you note and the envelope with the pictures in it. “This is how I know it’s the same person. The printing is exactly the same.”

  Kaleb moved over to her and took both. He examined them closely. Then passed them back.

  “I’m wondering if Joyce got the same thank you note. I know Ashlee never got one and she was with me. But then again, she was my date…” she trailed off and dropped back on her hunches as a thought struck her.

  “What?” Kaleb pressed.

  “Katie,” she said, staring at her name.

  “Yes?” he pressed.

  She raised her head to peer at him. “It says Katie.” She held up the card for him to see. “It’s my actual name and that Leon guy, he called me Katie.”

  Kaleb stared at her. “It’s your name.”

  Katie jumped to her feet. “Yes, but they didn’t know that.” She snatched up the invitation card and shoved it into his face.

  He took it and scanned the back. “Congratulations Ms. Lauffer and Ms. Lambert…” He looked up at her. “Who’s Lauffer?”

  “Exactly!” Katie cried. “The invitation was never for me. I mean, it was, but only after Ashlee accepted it.”

  Kaleb put up his hands. “Whoa, slow down. What?”

  Katie gulped a lungful of air. “This woman came in back in October and dropped off a bunch of stuff that belonged to her daughter, Rebekah. The card was in the box. Ashlee thought it would be fun if we got invited, so she wrote back to them. Oh my God, Kaleb!” She grabbed his arm. “Ashlee!”

  Springing away from him, she scooped up her phone, only to toss it down again.

  “Damn it! She’s on a date.”

  “Baby, you lost me.”