by April Lust
Isabella pulled into Jeanine’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 Sara 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 Sara 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 Sara 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 Jace Peters?” 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. Jace Peters?” 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 Sara 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 Sara tight and ran toward the building. She took the stairs two at a time, and turned to lock the door behind them.
Sara was staring at her, her little eyes wide with questions.
“I think there was a bee chasing us.”
“A bee?” Sara 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 it?”
Sara nodded her head, hard. “Good idea.”
Isabella pressed her back against the end of the couch and shoved. Her mind spun. Sara. She had to focus on Sara 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 Sue or Jeanine, 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 Jace? 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 Craig.
Dinner was on the table and she sat across from Sara, eating like a robot. It was now 7 p.m. Sara went to bed at 8:30. 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 Sara.
After dinner, she gave Sara 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!”
Sara groaned and yawned, then followed her mother to her bedroom. Isabella 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 Sara’s.
“Love you, Mommy.”
Sara’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.
Isabella 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 Sara? 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 Sara 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 Sara. 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 Jace. She had to risk it.
She picked up her phone, blew her nose, and dialed his number.
Chapter Five
Jace’s phone rang and when he picked it up, he was both surprised and dismayed to see Isabella’s number. Why was she calling him so late at night? This couldn’t be good.
“Hey there,” he said.
“Jace?” 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 Lionel’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.”
Jace 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.
Wh
en 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. “Sara 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 that 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.”
Jace 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.”
“Isabella.” 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 Sara. 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? Isabella, 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.”
Jace nodded, trying to picture who that might be and commit the details to memory. “Those are great details. I’m not sure who that is, but I’ll find out. You didn’t happen to see if he had any sort of logo on the back of his leather jacket?”
“I didn’t.”
“Okay.” He nodded slowly. Still had to be Lionel’s guys. Who else could it be? But why warn her like that? Was he just trying to scare her? “Has anything else strange happened?”
“No. Oh, I did see the guy’s car. It was a black sedan.”
“Good. Any idea the make or model?”
She shook her head.
“That’s okay. That’s still helpful.”
They sat for a few long minutes as she continued to breathe deeply and calm down.
“How are you?” she asked, looking him over. “Are your cuts healing okay and everything?”
“Yeah, I’m doing okay. I had someone really great take care of me.” He winked at her. “Oh, I forgot to bring back your towels and stuff. I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly when I ran out the door.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
“You need to get some sleep.”
“I don’t think I can. I haven’t slept well in days.”
He put his arm around her shoulders. “Well, you can sleep easy tonight. I’ll be right here by the door and won’t let anything happen.”
“Oh no, you can’t do that.” She looked at him with alarm in her eyes.
“It’s the only way I can make sure you’re safe.”
“What about your house? Don’t you need to be home to make sure it’s okay there?”
“Why would I do that? There’s no one at my house. If anything happened, it would be just stuff. But you’re here, and you’re far more precious than any material item, so this is where I need to be. To protect you and Sara.”
“Oh.” She looked toward the closed bedroom door. “What will we tell Sara in the morning when she sees that you’re here?”
“Whatever you need to tell her.”
“I’m not sure.” She scrunched her eyebrows, thinking. “I don’t want to scare her, but I don’t want to lie to her either.”
“Can you just tell her we had a slumber party?” He gave her a playful smile.
She chuckled a little. “Right. Maybe.”
She stood up and picked up the glass and her tissues, then took them to the kitchen. When she returned, she said, “Are you sure you’ll be comfortable enough on the
couch?”
He gave her a seductive smile. “Well, if you’re offering your bed with you in it, I won’t turn you down.”
Her face went pink. “I’ll just get you a pillow and blanket.”
She went to a small closet in the hall and took out a blanket. Then she went to her bedroom and got a pillow. She pushed up her sleeves as she spread the blanket out.
That was when he saw the purple marks on her wrists.
“What’s that?” He took her arm gently and inspected her more closely. “Are those bruises?”