Off Limits

by Vos, Alexandra

That didn’t settle my mind that much. I was her best friend. It was my duty and no one else’s to find out that kind of thing. Still, I could deal with that later.

  The detective continued. “I’m going to have to ask you to tell me everything from the beginning again, if you don’t mind.”

  I shrugged. At least Phoebe’s miscarriage wasn’t such a sore point anymore, it had just been replaced by something else. Luke and I went through the story in as much detail as we thought appropriate. The detective didn’t do a very good job of hiding her judgment when we were finished and I couldn’t blame her. “Thank you. We’ll get on the number plate immediately and see what we can do. Are you safe to go home tonight?”

  “I’ll be fine. He never bothers us at home. He won’t do anything. Besides, he said today was his finale, so I don’t think he’d bother us again anyway.”

  Luke nodded. We both just wanted to get home to our beds and sleep for a week. “That’s fine by me,” the woman nodded. “But I do have to make you sign a form to say that it was your decision to drive home. Is that okay?”

  We exchanged a glance and nodded. “That’s fine.” Probably foolish, but fine. We also left our numbers, so that the detective would be able to contact us with any developments.

  In the car, Luke and I sat in silence for a good few minutes. “I’m not having a baby,” he murmured, leaning his head back against the car seat and closing his eyes. “I was never having a baby.”

  I reached across and squeezed his hand. “It looks like your life isn’t on hold anymore.”

  It was a sad laugh that left his mouth. “I wasn’t allowed to be happy when she had a miscarriage, but this. Thank God, it’s all I can say. I know, that I was a dick and I must have been the one to send her over the edge and I hate myself for that, but I just, I’ll get over that eventually. I don’t know if I could have ever gotten over having a child.”

  I leant across and gave him a hug. “I know. I understand.” I understood enough to see his point of view, anyway. “I just… I just wish I could say sorry to her, even if she wouldn’t believe me. There’s so many things I regret happening.”

  “Do you think we’d have ever been together if I’d not been with Phoebe?” Luke inquired suddenly, weaving his fingers through my hair absentmindedly.

  I shrugged, my cheeks turning scarlet. “Well, I did kind of fancy you for, erm, quite a long while before you started going out with Phoebe.”

  Luke smirked. “I’m glad to hear it. I may have also thought you were kind of hot.”

  Rolling my eyes, I pulled back, but Luke pressed a kiss to my lips. “I liked you. I wouldn’t have told anyone about my grandma. In fact, I didn’t tell anyone apart from you.”

  I hadn’t even required Luke to fancy me beforehand. The point was that he fancied me now. It still made me feel good about myself, though. “Do you think that guy knew Phoebe was lying about her pregnancy somehow? Or do you think he really wanted to kill her baby?”

  Luke knitted his eyebrows and started up the engine. “I really have no idea. I just want to know who it is now,” he admitted, pulling out of the police station and starting off towards our house. “All this time and we still don’t know which one of us he was actually interested in hurting.”

  “It’s so weird,” I commented, holding Luke’s hand once more and smiling at the feel of his warm fingers covering mine. It felt so right, even if everything had eventually come crashing down around us. “I still haven’t come up with anyone I think it could be either. I mean, if he’d been a bit fatter, I might have considered your dad, but they aren’t the same build at all.”

  “I know, it crossed my mind, too. Before I saw him again I thought it might be a possibility, but now I don’t know.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll know soon enough. Do you think we’ll have to go to trial? I’ve never been to Court before.”

  “He surely won’t be able to plead innocent after all this.”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

  My house was relatively close to the station and we pulled up not long after. I undid my seatbelt and practically launched myself at Luke. “I’m kind of hoping we get some kind of compassionate leave from school, but I’ll see you tomorrow one way or another.” Taking a deep breath, I said the words for a second time. “I love you.”

  Luke grinned ear-to-ear. “And I love you, too.” Our mouths met in a sweet kiss. “And I can’t wait for you to come round so we can just chill and cuddle and watch some TV.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  My mum was curled up in a blanket watching TV with a glass of wine when I pulled my suitcase through the front door. Getting out of Luke’s car had burst a bubble as I realised I was going to have to tell my mum what had really been going on.

  “Hiya honey,” she greeted, patting the seat beside her. “You’re a bit later than I was expecting. How was your weekend?”

  I stared at her happy face and found myself breaking down. Taking up her offer, I sat beside her and let the tears flow. “It all got really messed up, mum.”

  “Oh, what’s the matter?” She manoeuvred the blanket so it was covering me, too, and put down the wine to hug me. “Did you fall out with Luke again?”

  “I kind of did the opposite.” I told her everything, only choosing to omit the more intimate parts of mine and Luke’s relationship. By the end, I was sniffling hopelessly and even my mum’s eyes were shining with tears.

  “Oh, sweetie,” she cooed, tightening her arms. “I’m so sorry. I never realised any of this was happening. You should have come to me earlier.”

  “I didn’t know how. When Phoebe said she was pregnant I was just trying to forget about Luke and then I was going to stop talking to Phoebe when I went to university. Then it turns out she wasn’t very stable and I somehow failed to notice that. I’ve been a horrible friend and now she’s in therapy. I messed up really bad.”

  “She didn’t even know until today what happened between you and Luke. It’s not your fault that she went a bit off the rails.”

  There was no point in arguing with her about whether or not I was to blame – I was going to continue thinking that I was. “Mum, can I ask you about something?”

  “Of course,” she replied instantly.

  “What’s going on with dad?”

  My mum frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean. Why is he involved with drugs and stuff?” I’d never told her about what happened with Luke’s dad and took the time to relay the story to her now.

  She sighed. “I was never going to tell you about all this and I certainly never meant to send him back towards that kind of thing. During the early stages of our relationship, your dad was hooked on coke. He cheated on me a few times, but we got over it. He gave it up and lost contact with all the people he’d known involved in that world. That was all. I made some passive-aggressive comments when we were speaking that I shouldn’t have done. Our divorce had nothing to do with that stuff.”

  I nodded. “Thank you for telling me.”

  “I hope it’s not going to affect your relationship with him.”

  “It’s not. I’ll still go and visit him, I just don’t want to go visit him where he’s staying.”

  “Good,” my mum sounded relieved. “You can ask him about it if you want, but I’m not sure he’d be very happy to talk about it, especially considering his situation now.”

  “I know,” I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry for being so mean to you when dad first moved out. I know I didn’t handle it very well. I guess I just didn’t understand.”

  “That’s okay,” my mum gave me a reassuring squeeze. “I knew that was how you’d react. I did do the wrong thing, but your father overreacted, too. It was poorly played on both sides.”

  “I’d like to meet Kevin, properly, if you’d like.”

  My mum twisted in her seat so she could see my entire face properly. “Really?”

  I chuckled,
“yes, really. He seemed nice enough and you’re obviously happier than before. I want to meet him.”

  “Well, I can definitely arrange that. We can go out for dinner somewhere.”

  “I’d like that.”

  My mum rested her head on my shoulder this time. “I am going to miss you when university comes around.”

  “I’ll only be half an hour away,” I assured her. “And Luke is studying in Sheffield, so I’ll be coming up here to visit all the time anyway.”

  “I suppose I’ll have to give him that,” my mum laughed. “I hope he turns out to be a bit nicer than all the stories you’ve always told me about him.”

  Grinning, I shook my head in amusement. Luke and I had been complete bastards to each other for so long. “He is, I promise. You’ll have to formally meet him, as well.”

  “I’d like that, too.”

  A yawn interrupted our conversation and I’d settled so comfortably into the sofa that my muscles had finally relaxed. “I should go to bed,” I groaned, stretching my arms and wondering what Phoebe was doing. The detective had said they’d assigned her a therapist, but that didn’t let me know how extreme her condition was.

  I hoped she was okay.

  “Yes, you should. Are you going into school tomorrow? Will the police need to talk to me at all?”

  “I honestly have no idea,” I admitted, unwinding myself from the blanket and cringing against the cold air of the lounge. “I think I’ll see how I feel in the morning about school. I really shouldn’t miss any since we’re nearing the end of the courses now.”

  “If you need to talk at all during the night, then just come and knock on my door. I know you’re going to be feeling down for the next few days.”

  “I will do. Thanks, mum.”

  I trudged up the stairs, knowing things were getting better from this point onwards, but unable to get rid of the guilt that weighed me down. What I knew for certain was that talking to people made me feel significantly better. I was lucky to have my mum and Luke to keep me propped up until the sadness started to fade.

  Chapter Nineteen

  School was painful. Phoebe wasn’t there, but she’d done a fantastic job of spreading the news that Luke and I were together among her other friends and they’d spread it around the entire school. Even a few people from the younger years gave us funny looks when we were walking through the corridors.

  “I guess I knew this would happen,” Luke admitted as we took our seats on a picnic bench. It was so cold outside that there wasn’t a soul out here with us. “I’d been hoping to just keep the fact we were together silent at school.”

  “I know, me too,” I agreed. “But I knew this would happen, as well. It’s Phoebe’s style.”

  “Can’t say we don’t deserve it.”

  “No, that isn’t what I meant. I know I deserve it.”

  “Jamie isn’t speaking to me,” Luke admitted, rubbing the back of his head with a sigh. “So I guess we both lost our best friends after all.”

  “I’m sorry.” I would have squeezed his hand, but we were both holding sandwiches. I just wanted to eat quickly enough that I could stick my hands back in my pockets before getting frostbite. “But this is what uni is for. Moving on and finding new friends. And everyone always likes you.”

  Luke sent me a gorgeous grin. “That’s true, they do.”

  “How is your mum? I’ll come around and see her tonight.” I was missing Angela a lot. She was definitely bubbly enough to keep me in high spirits.

  “She’s doing well, actually. I explained everything to her last night and I think she was probably so relieved that I’m not having a baby and am with you by the end of it that she’s in a good mood.”

  “Well, as long as she doesn’t think I’m a bad influence I’m happy.”

  “There’s something else I meant to tell you.” The words were slightly sinister, but Luke didn’t seem too concerned about what he was about to say. “I went back to the police station last night, after dropping you off, and told them about what happened with my dad. They might want to ask you about what happened. I don’t know if they do anything about it, but I’d really rather he was kept away from you if it’s possible.”

  “And they didn’t mention anything about you getting arrested for assault?” I double-checked. We were so close to getting to uni, I couldn’t handle Luke losing that because of some silly notion to protect me from what was probably an empty threat.

  “Nope, I’m all good, don’t worry.”

  I grinned, swallowing the last bit of my sandwich between our sentences and hurrying my cold, white fingers to my pocket. “We’re going to have to find a warmer hideout than this. I’ll have hypothermia by the end of the week.”

  “Hopefully it might have died down by then,” he dared to hope.

  I laughed. “Don’t even pretend. Phoebe wasn’t even here today, when she gets back to school we’ve got no hope.”

  “True,” Luke finished off his own lunch and put the sandwich bag back in his bag.

  I groaned when I noticed someone walking straight towards us, but it was nerves that grew in my stomach when I recognised our detective. “Sorry to bother you out here,” she wasn’t wearing nearly enough clothing for the cold weather and was probably ready to arrest one of us for making her walk all the way out here. “But we need to speak to you down at the station. We’ve signed you out of school.”

  Luke and I exchanged a glance before standing up. We’d both assumed the best case scenario.

  They’d caught our stalker.

  My hands were clammy the entire car ride there and I stared out of the window with apprehension swirling relentlessly through my mind. What if it was someone I knew? Someone I cared about? What if they hadn’t really gotten the right person and someone was still out there looking for us?

  Luke reached out and squeezed my hand, pulling a face when he felt how sweaty it was to make me laugh. It worked and I pulled my hand back with a grin. “Gotta live with the pros and the cons, I’m afraid.”

  That managed to quell my anxious thoughts for all of twenty seconds before I was staring out the window with a frown again. Luckily it wasn’t far to drive to the station.

  Inside the building, I tried to revel in the warmth rather than the fact I felt sick to my stomach. “It’s okay,” Luke soothed whilst the detective talked to the one of the receptionists. “This is a good thing.”

  “What if it’s someone we know? What if it’s someone I care about?” I voiced my thoughts again, eyes pleading for some reassurance. I’d never felt nerves like these before.

  “If it is, we’ll deal with it. I’m starting to think we can handle anything.”

  He pressed a kiss to my forehead and held my hand when the detective gestured for us to follow her.

  She halted us just before the door. “We haven’t had time to check any records to see if you know this man yet, so I don’t want you to get an unpleasant surprise when you walk in there. Tyler Rorka, does that name mean anything do you?”

  Luke and I exchanged a confused look. “He’s our boss.” The man who’d been paying our wages for the past few months had been stalking us? It didn’t make any sense. There was no motive.

  There was almost relief at hearing the name. Just an acquaintance. I felt a bit icky, remembering all the time he’d been sat in that backroom whilst we manned the shop. Why on Earth had he been out to hurt us?

  The detective nodded. “You can come in and watch his interview, if you’d like. We’re just about to get started. We wanted you to be here to validate things he said.”

  We slipped in behind her, Luke and I stood with our sides pressed firmly together as we watched Tyler from behind the one-sided window. He was sat, back straight, staring straight into the eyes of the officer conducting the interview. Someone popped their head in and the officer began.

  “Tyler Rorka.”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you harass Carmen Slater and Luke Foster?”

&n
bsp; The solicitor sat at the side of him gave a firm shake of the head and Tyler followed suit. “I can’t answer that question. At least, not to you. Send her in and I’ll tell her why I did it.”

  “Her?”

  “Carmen. Send her in here and I’ll tell her why I made her suffer.”

  My stomach dropped. It was me. It had been me he was targeting, not Luke. Luke grabbed my hand. “You don’t have to go in there.”

  “I want to.”

  Whatever his motive, I had to know and if the only way was to go in there and find out then so be it. I’d dealt with so much stuff over the past few weeks that going into a room and listening to someone talk couldn’t be so bad. Compared to all the other things Tyler had done to me, this was a piece of cake.