"Describe the panties. What flavor?"
"Strawberry."
He smiled, and his eyes glowed as if he could picture her in them. "Red is a good color for you."
Kara couldn't breathe. She didn't like the way this conversation had turned. Why had she brought the panties up? She should've ignored it. The way he looked at her with that intense gleam in his eyes made her stomach hurt.
"Did you send them?"
"Me?" He gestured to himself in exaggerated innocence. "That would have been, what was the word you just used? Inappropriate."
He sent them. But he'll never admit it.
"I'll bet it was Nate. Probably thought you'd jump into bed with him." Daryl leaned forward. "Did you?"
It's none of his business. Angry with him and with herself, she clenched her fists.
"So you thought I sent them." His tone almost purred. One side of his mouth curled slowly. "Did you keep them?"
"No. I gave them away." She turned and went back to her desk.
Kara sat, trying to calm down, not even going through the motions of working.
At five o'clock Daryl entered her cubicle. "I'm taking you to Antonio's."
"No. I'm not hungry." Her stomach growled, betraying her. She stood, heading for the ladies room. "Excuse me."
In the ladies room she leaned on the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. What are you doing? Just tell him no. Take a taxi home.
She closed her eyes. She had to consider her job, but he frightened her. Her pounding headache hadn't left and probably wouldn't. In fact it had gotten worse.
She'd had her car towed to a tire place but with two tires to fix, her car still wouldn't be ready till tomorrow.
What was the right thing to do?
She'd worked through lunch, wanting to be left alone, but also to stay busy. She couldn't lose it at the office. She'd worked here too long to burn bridges.
If I could just sneak out and get away from here.
The ladies room door opened and one of the secretaries stuck her head in. "You okay? Daryl said you'd been in here a while and asked me to check on you."
I don't believe this. Can't escape to the ladies room without him sending someone after me. Is there no way to get away from him?
"Yes, I'm fine. Tell him I'll be a few minutes."
This is unreal. He doesn't let up. There's no privacy. No place to hide. I have to run.
Once the secretary left, Kara opened her purse and pulled out the picture of her and Nate on the Rhino Rider boat.
Nate, I wish you were here right now. You'd know how to handle Daryl.
She hated being without her own transportation and needing to depend on others. But there was a way to fix that, like calling a taxi.
She stepped into a stall, closed the door, and called a taxi service. They'd be here in twenty minutes. She just had to get away from Daryl and wait out front.
She couldn't do this. She couldn't behave as if nothing was wrong, go on with her job, and bide her time till she found something. She had to get out of here. Now.
Peering out the door of the bathroom with her cell phone in hand, she auto dialed Daryl's office line.
The minute he walked into his office to take the call, she slipped from the ladies' room and over into the stairwell. He hadn't seen her. Three flights down and she took them at a run. She had her purse. She left her coat behind.
*****
Outside the window snow continued to fall heavily, coating everything like a huge blanket. The moment she sat in the taxi speeding away, her nerves settled.
In the safety of her home, everything would be fine. Well, as fine as anyone without a job could be because she could not go back in there and work with him. There was no way. She'd use up all her sick days and then quit.
Halfway home her cell phone rang.
Daryl.
She didn't answer it. He left a message, which she didn't listen to. Her phone rang and rang.
The taxi driver looked at her in the rear view mirror. "Somebody you don't want to talk to?"
"Right." She put the phone on silent.
"You in trouble, lady? You don't got a coat."
"I'll be fine once I'm home."
At home, she paid the driver and he drove away.
She unlocked the front door and then paused. The doormat was out of place. Not up against the house but slightly back. She lifted the mat and froze.
Her spare key. It had been there when she left on her cruise. Now it was gone. Daryl. He must have it. And if she hadn't thought to look, she wouldn't know.
She unlocked the door, stepped inside, and then locked it behind her.
Why hadn't Neil installed a deadbolt? With that key, Daryl could get into the house. Any time he wanted to.
She turned her phone back on and listened to the last message he'd left.
"What the fuck, Kara? You just leave without a word? Pick up the damn phone!"
Her heart raced. In a panic, she deleted all eight messages without listening to any more of them. Her hands shook.
She closed the mini-blinds and checked the locks on her windows. She was scared. She needed desperately to talk to Nate. She dialed but it went to voicemail.
"Nate, do you remember the yellow bird that was lost in the song? She's feeling lost and alone and frightened. She's frightened because," her voice started shaking, "Oh God, Nate, I'm really frightened because I think Daryl might do something crazy. Please call me."
Kara hung up the phone. Outside something cracked and she jumped, looking over her shoulder. A tree branch had fallen. Her nerves were on edge. The storm outside could get worse. Ordinarily she would have taken a shower after work and cooked dinner or ordered take out, then settled in to wait out the storm safe and snug in her house with a cup of tea. She couldn't relax enough to do any of those things.
She had no alarm system and didn't know how to shoot a gun even if she had one. She'd thought of getting a dog and taking self-defense lessons but hadn't gotten around to either.
Every sound made her jump. She had to do something to calm her nerves. Tea. That was it. She'd make tea. A cup of tea would be good after running around outside without a winter coat. The cold chilled her through and through. The tea would warm her up and then she'd sit down and figure out what to do next.
She laid her phone on the counter, started the water, and pulled out a tea bag and her coffee cup.
Soon the teapot whistled and she turned to reach for it, knocking her cell phone onto the floor where the glass on the front cracked.
Oh no. My phone.
She picked it up. Dead. She tried turning it back on with no luck. Nate couldn't call her back even if he got the message.
She collapsed onto the kitchen floor and sobbed. There was no other phone in the house. The cell phone was her lifeline.
She'd never felt so alone in her life.
Alone and terrified and with no way to call the police if she needed help or to call anyone else, even a taxi to take her away.
She lost track of how long she cried.
It wasn't safe to stay here. She had to get away, where there were people. She stood and wiped the tears from her face.
The news forecasters predicted it would get much worse outside before it got better.
It was going to get worse before it got better. I have to get out of here and away from any place he can find me before it gets worse.
She prepared to run.
*****
Kara was cold and frightened. She'd knocked on her next-door neighbor's door planning to ask to use the phone before she realized all her phone numbers where in her broken cell phone. She didn't have an address book. Did anybody have those anymore?
How could she call anyone she knew?
She needed a computer and not the PC sitting on her desk in the house. Even if she'd had a laptop she could take with her, she still needed Internet connection.
The library. She could get online there, find Viv then through A
dam find Nate. He'd know what to do. She had to get away from her house before Daryl came. She knew he'd come to her house tonight and he was so angry.
Wrapping her scarf firmer around her head, she passed through the neighbor's back yard and headed for the alley that would lead to the small shopping area with a Laundromat, a Chinese place, and a used bookstore. The bus stop was one block down, and if she hurried she might catch the bus.
*****
Nate noticed the light on his cell phone going off as it vibrated on the bar where he'd left it. He'd forgotten it when he went out for a ride. The fact he'd been missing Kara already and he hadn't been on land with a chance to ride his bike had sent him out for fresh air. He liked riding, getting away from everything and often forgot his phone.
He picked the phone up and smiled when he saw who had called.
Kara.
Her voice came through as he played back his message and he lost the smile. His woman sounded terrified and she was hundreds of miles away.
He called back but got no answer. Again no answer. A third time, but he wasn't getting through to her. He called Adam's cell next, thinking Adam would have Viv's number and Viv might know what was going on in Ohio. Adam's phone was turned off.
Damn it.
Nate dialed his friend, Johnny who ran a small airport in Florida. His assistant, Melba, picked up.
"Melba, you're working late."
"Where else would I be?"
"Melba, I'd love to shoot the breeze with you any day but today I need a favor. I have to get to Ohio tonight. It's an emergency."
"What kind of emergency?"
"The woman I love is in danger."
"I'll find Johnny and call you right back."
"Thanks."
Suddenly he realized what he'd just said. The truth of it sank in deeper.
He loved her. He loved every nervous little bone in Kara's body. He loved everything about her.
Nate grabbed his duffle and stuffed a couple things into it. He'd be out the door in less than five minutes. Hell, he'd traveled with nothing more than a toothbrush before.
His phone rang. Melba. "What have you got?"
"Commercial flights are grounded into Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati."
"I figured that." Nate grabbed his jacket and duffle and headed out the door. "Get me whatever you can."
"I'll see how close we can get you."
"Thanks, Melba. I owe you."
He jogged the flight of stairs down to the parking garage, swung a leg over his Harley, inserted the key, fired it up, and headed for the airfield.
In Ohio he'd find a rental car. He and the Harley and raced off into the wind.
A small plane was ready and waiting when he arrived and then they were off. Halfway there ice formed on the wings and the little plane fought through the weather.
Nate worried about what might be happening at Kara's house.
If Daryl did anything to hurt her, Nate would kill the son of a bitch. His stomach twisted at the thought of anything happening to her. She was no match for Daryl and he doubted she knew how to defend herself.
In the darkness below he saw tiny lights, which indicated the landing field below. They were just about to land at a private airfield in Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati, which was as close as the plane could get in this weather. He reached around behind his seat to grab his duffle and sat it on his lap as he waited with impatience.
The plane had barely pulled to a stop, when he pushed the door and jumped out. Nate yelled over his shoulder to Johnny. "Thanks, man."
"No problem."
Nate sprinted toward the small terminal on the edge of the narrow runway. From this point on he had to travel by car or truck.
Melba had come through for him once again. A truck with four-wheel drive waited in the parking lot, gassed up with keys on the seat.
When he got back, he'd treat Melba to a night at the horse races she loved so much. Hell, he'd give her all his money to bet on the ponies if he could only reach Kara before something happened.
Thoughts of what could happen to her filled his imagination and fueled his worry as he fired up the truck and spun out of the parking lot into the swirling snow.
*****
Nate pulled into the driveway of Kara's house, parked the truck, got out, and slammed the door. He raced up to the front door and pounded on it. "Kara?"
After several minutes of pounding and yelling an old woman shouted from across the street. "She ain't there."
Nate hurried across the street, but the woman stepped inside her house and slammed the door before he reached her.
"Go away or I'll call the police."
"I'm looking for my girlfriend, Kara. Have you seen her?" He shouted through the door then ran a hand through his hair in frustration, knowing he must look like hell. He'd driven straight through, three hours, only stopping once for coffee and gas. He hadn't shaved or showered since yesterday.
"I ain't saying. Now, get on out of here."
"Damn it," he muttered.
"I'm dialing 911 right now."
"You go right ahead. I'd like to talk to them myself."
"They'll be on the line any minute."
"Yes, ma'am. Please listen to me. I need to find Kara. I think she's in danger."
"You leave that pretty young thing alone. She's had enough troubles."
He paced within the confines of the tiny porch. "I know she has. I'm trying to help her."
"She don't need your help. Got herself a nice, new man, dresses nice, has a nice car too. He's a true gentleman. Brings my trashcan down to the curb for me. Always uses her back door so people don't talk. She don't need the likes of you. Come around here pounding on doors."
"I apologize. But this is important. You say this guy has been sneaking around the back of her house? Kara is my girlfriend and that guy has not been visiting her. That guy is her boss not her boyfriend. She's afraid of him. So you go ahead and call the police, ma'am. I'd like to talk to them myself. But in the meantime I need to find Kara and make sure she's all right."
"I don't believe a word of it. Mr. Swinford has always been so nice."
Swinford. So that's the guy's last name.
If he couldn't find Kara, he was going after Swinford.
He stuck a card in the woman's door. "Here's my name and number. Call me if you see or hear from her. It's important."
She probably wouldn't. But maybe she'd have a change of heart if she thought it over.
So the son of a bitch has been sneaking around and there's even a witness. Too bad Kara hadn't called the police. Swinford, you're not as smart as you think you are. You're going down.
The roads were still slick and the truck skidded as he drove away, heading for Kara's office next. He slowed down. Nate found the office building then pulled into a parking garage one block over.
If Kara was at work she'd be safe in the building with security and cameras everywhere. Daryl would avoid doing anything in front of the cameras.
*****
The 24-hour coffee shop was a dive, but she didn't know where else to go. If she used her bankcards, Daryl could track her. He knew his way around the computers at the bank. She didn't trust any of the plastic cards she carried.
There was no point in her trying to find a place to sleep, since she'd never be able to sleep tonight. The library had closed and she had to leave, but not before she sent emails to Viv and to Nate. Too bad she had no way of seeing if they'd responded yet. Daryl had sent her messages too. She'd deleted the rest of them without reading after she'd opened one.
It said, Kara, why aren't you safe at home where you belong? It's not wise to be out on a night like tonight in this storm.
But don't worry.
I will find you.
Reading his message had made her feel like throwing up. She'd had to sign off and run to the ladies room where she squatted, wrapping her arms around herself and rocking back and forth.
Oh God, oh God, oh God
. Please help me.
Fear filled her mind and her body. He was crazy and he'd keep coming after her. He was tenacious that way and he'd decided he wanted her. He was good at getting what he wanted. From promotions to getting his coworkers to do what he wanted, she'd seen his aggressive side at work for years now. Having that turned on her wasn't something she wanted to contemplate.
She couldn't go back to the bank. Ever. Not even to get her things. Not while Daryl worked there. She couldn't face him again.
She couldn't stay in her house. She couldn't go back there. Not alone.
What would Daryl do if he found her?
She tried not to think about that, but it pressed in on her, the imagined things he might do. The unknown, which was even worse because it took no form or shape in the imagination.
She knew this was the source of her fears. Imagining the worst. Ships sinking, drowning, always the worst happening, and all the thoughts that kept her hidden in a routine of work and home. A world of routine she'd thought would keep her safe from the horrors of the unexpected. Yet even here, it found her. Who'd guess a man she worked for and ate lunch with would turn into a threat?
You have to face your fears or they'll paralyze you. Nate is right. And he knew something about facing fear.
Her mind still raced around too much to think clearly enough to formulate a plan and the lack of sleep wasn't helping either. She knew she had to stop being afraid and do something besides hide like a frightened rabbit.
She would give anything to hear Nate's voice right now. To be in his arms again, feeling safe and loved.
The cell phone store. I'll go and get a new phone as soon as it opens and then I'm going to call Nate. He'll know what to do next.
She asked the waitress for waffles and a big glass of orange juice. Breakfast then a new phone and maybe another call to the realtor. There was no reason the woman couldn't come out tomorrow and get that listing started sooner.
How quickly can I get out of town? There's nothing but the house keeping me here if I don't have the job any longer.
She'd never sold a home before. Neil had handled the purchase of the house. Neil handled everything. Viv was right. He'd treated her like a child. He'd picked out the house as well as the furniture. He'd even picked out her car.
Aboard the Wishing Star Page 17