Mabel sat down heavily on her sofa, burying her head in her hands and staring at the mauve carpet for a moment. There were so many ways to answer that question, but only one would be the right way. Samantha was scared, maybe a little frantic even. As much as Mabel didn’t want to lay it all out there and show her ass, something about how Samantha was talking scared Mabel. This wasn’t just about Mabel invading her privacy; she was sure of it.
Mabel took a deep breath and looked up at Samantha.
“I’m sorry,” she began, “for anything I did to cause whatever is going on.”
“It’s alright, Mabel. Just tell me what happened.”
“I wanted to see how your date went, so I decided to bring you something from the garden. When I got to your house, the back door was ajar and I went in, thinking you were there. I saw the car outside that wasn’t yours, but I assumed that it was a friend, or maybe even Grant. I don’t know what all his cars look like; he has so many.”
She paused for a moment, but Samantha didn’t interrupt her. She was afraid if Mabel stopped that she might not continue.
“I went to set them on the counter and I saw the dishes in the sink. I knew then that someone had been in your home with you. I still wondered if it was my brother, and I was curious.”
“So you snooped around my house,” Samantha said.
It wasn’t a question.
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
Samantha held up her hand.
“That doesn’t matter now. Truth be told, I would have done the same thing in your position.”
She smiled gently, trying to impart upon Mabel that she didn’t blame her friend.
“I guess, to make a long story short, the florist startled me and I ran out the back door and into the woods on the north end. When I realized my mistake, I was embarrassed. But then, I saw movement on the other side of the field and I watched, wondering what was going on.”
“And you saw me and the twins.”
“Exactly.”
“I should have talked to you after I had lunch with Grant.”
“It’s alright. Grant told me everything. I get it; you had a date already planned and you had to go with them. He was totally fine with it. He’s so very understanding.”
“Is that what he told you?”
“Of course he told me.”
“Mabel, that’s not what happened. I went to lunch with him and he was a complete ass. He treated me so badly, I almost got up and walked out. But he apologized and I decided to have lunch with him since he drove all the way here. But I didn’t make any sort of commitment to him, and I certainly didn’t tell him about my plans and my life after our lunch. I walked away expecting to never hear from him again.”
“Oh,” Mabel said, sounding genuinely shocked. “That’s not what he said at all.”
“I need to know what he said, and I need to know what he thinks is going on.”
“What is going on, Samantha? If it’s just a simple misunderstanding, then can’t you just tell him? He gets his heart broken a lot and I’d hate to see this get heated because of a misunderstanding.”
“How close are you with your brother?”
“I’d like to think we’re pretty close.”
“How often do you see him? Who are his friends? Where does he work?”
“I see him once a month or less. I can’t answer the other two questions.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t go into the city.”
“So everything you know about his life is coming directly from his mouth, then?”
“Yes, but why would he lie? Samantha, I don’t understand.”
“Mabel, he’s stalking me.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“He’s called my cellphone more than one hundred times today, he sent me flowers with a card that was borderline threatening, and he’s somehow managed to get my unlisted number.”
“I didn’t give him that.”
“You couldn’t have. I’ve never told you the number. The only people who have that number are my publisher, my agent and the occasional lucky telemarketer that takes a wild guess and ends up calling me. That’s it.”
“How did he find it, then?”
“I have no idea. I paid for it to be unlisted and unsearchable. There’s no way that anyone should have been able to find my home number, but your brother did it in less than twenty-four hours.”
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know. I turned the answering machine down so I didn’t have to hear it.”
“Can we check it from here?”
“I think I remember the code,” Samantha said, dialing her number on speaker and waiting for the machine to pick up.
“The mailbox is full. Please call again later,” the message said.
Samantha punched in the passcode, and waited for the prompt to load.
“You have twenty-five new messages,” the stilted electronic voice said.
“Twenty-five?”
“I didn’t even have one this morning.”
They listened to the messages; each and every one was from Grant. They started sweet enough, but by the tenth message, Grant’s words were more and more abusive.
“Oh Samantha, I’m so sorry,” Mabel said between messages.
“It’s not your fault. He’s an adult, and the only person responsible for his actions.”
“But I helped him,” she whispered.
Grant’s messages continued to escalate, and finally, Samantha hung up without listening to the rest of them.
“There were at least five more,” Mabel said.
“Yes. And did you really want to hear the rest?” Samantha asked.
“Fair point. So now what?”
“I’m going to go home and pack and stay somewhere else for the night. I don’t know what to do. I want to go to the police-”
“Please don’t do that. It will ruin his life.”
“I know. And with him being a werelion, there’s a chance, however slim, that it will cause unforeseen issues. But it’s not just that. Last time, I called the police right away and somehow, it ended up worse the when it first started. I don’t want things to escalate like that again.”
“Are you saying that you’ve been stalked before?”
“Yes.”
Mabel’s face fell.
“No wonder you’re so freaked out by it. You’re right, we definitely don’t want it getting worse than the last time.”
“It’s already worse. I mean, not worse than the end of the last time, but right out of the gate, this is ten times worse.”
“What happened last time?”
“It started with anonymous emails and calls, and eventually, whoever it was broke into my house and attacked me, but I got away.”
“Oh Samantha, that must have been awful. I can’t imagine how you felt facing him in court after that. Even knowing you were safe, you were probably so scared.”
“There was no court. I never saw his face and the cops couldn’t find enough evidence to bring anyone in.”
“Oh. That’s awful. Is that why you moved here?”
“It is. I couldn’t stand looking over my shoulder anymore. What was the point? Even if he’d been standing right in front of me, I wouldn’t have known it was him. Fighting a known enemy is one thing, but looking at every man that made eye contact with me in public and wondering if it was him was driving me mad. I couldn’t live like that anymore.”
“Samantha, I feel like I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am about introducing you to Grant. I can’t believe you’re going through this again.”
“It’s not your fault, but I need your help. You can’t tell him where I’ve gone, and you can’t tell him my plans.”
“I won’t, I promise.”
“Have you talked to him today?”
“I did.”
“Did he say where he was?”
“He was meeting someone in the city,” she said, looking at her watch.
“He should be there still.”
“That’s good. Then I have plenty of time to pack.”
“Are you going to be gone long?”
“At least until I figure out what to do this time.”
“What did you do last time?”
“I moved.”
Mabel’s heart sank. “I don’t want you to move.”
“I don’t want to move either, but I’m not going to live in fear again. It took me months to finally get fed up last time; I’m not going to waste that much time again. It’s been more than a year. I can’t go through that again.”
“I don’t blame you. What do you need from me?”
“Just don’t tell him that I’m leaving, and pretend you don’t know anything.”
“I can do that.”
Samantha threw her arms around her friend.
“Thank you. I know it’s going to be hard with him being your brother.”
“When you know what your plan is, will you tell me?”
“I’ll tell you what I can. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I know that your brother is manipulative and I just don’t want to take the risk.”
“I understand,” Mabel said. “I really do. I just can’t help but feel like this is somehow my fault. If I hadn’t introduced you two to each other, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“He’d noticed me long before you suggested it, Mabel. He made it very clear at lunch that he’d had his eye on me for a long time. If he hadn’t led you into introducing us this time, it would have been soon.”
Samantha looked at the blinds, noting the softer colors peeking in from around the edges.
“I have to go. It’s going to be dark soon and I need to be on the road.” She hugged Mabel again. “I’m going to miss you, but I think I’ll see you soon.”
Mabel bit back tears as she held her friend.
“Until next time,” Mabel said bravely.
Samantha nodded.
“Absolutely. Until next time.”
Samantha stepped out of her grasp and headed for the door. She looked out the peephole before she opened it, wondering at how dark it had gotten all of the sudden. She opened the door, groaning at the sudden downpour. She stood there taking in the deserted streets while she stood in the safety of the doorway and wishing she’d parked closer.
“Good luck, Samantha.”
“Thanks, Mabel.”
Samantha leaped off the porch and ran full tilt into the rain towards her car. She pushed the remote to unlock it and jumped in, engaging the locks before she even paused to start the engine or put on her seatbelt.
She turned around, going towards her home and cursing the rain. But she did live in Washington, so it really wasn’t a shock that it was raining.
“Maybe the rain will make it easier to run,” she said out loud, instantly feeling better.
At least the rain would provide some cover, and she could leave as soon as she was packed instead of waiting for dark. It was a win-win.
She pulled into her driveway, backing in so that the trunk was as close to the front door as possible. She would have preferred to park behind the house to load up, but the gravel didn’t extend that far. Plus, she drove a little sedan, not a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Hurrying onto the porch and out of the rain, she dug around for her house key. There were so many keys on her chain, she had a hard time finding the newest one in the dark. The car key wasn’t an issue, because her car started when she pushed the ignition button, but only as long as the key was in the car.
It had to be on her person or in her purse to even open the door. That’s the kind of deadbolt she needed. Then, she wouldn’t be in the blowing rain, soaked to the skin and wishing she was inside and warm.
When one of the keys finally slid into the deadbolt and turned, she breathed a sigh of relief. She pushed the door inward and it snapped back with a jolt.
“What the-”
The chain. She’d forgotten about putting it on and then leaving by way of the back door. She tried to pull the door closed, but the chain kept getting caught, keeping it from closing. She gave up, leaving the door ajar and running through the rain and the slick mud to the back door. She unlocked the door, grateful when this one opened with ease and closed it behind her.
She hurried to the front door, pulling the chain out of the way and closing it so that she could undo the chain.
“Wait, what are you doing?” she admonished herself. “Pack your shit, then unlock the door.”
She shook her head at her carelessness. She wasn’t accustomed to locking her doors out here, and it would take her a good amount of time to get in the habit. By then, she would be gone.
Dropping her purse on the kitchen table, she went straight for her room and dry clothes. She changed quickly, throwing her wet outfit into the dryer and turning the machine on. She would come back in a few days – at least she hoped she would – and she didn’t want to deal with a moldy, nasty pile of clothes.
She pulled her hair up and pinned it back, then got to work packing her suitcase. She took her clothes off the curtain rod, hangers intact and folded them over once before shoving them into the large suitcase.
Laying across it, she still struggled to close the zipper. When it finally connected with the other side, she let out a heavy sigh and dragged the suitcase to the front door. She was passing by the kitchen when her cellphone chirped, indicating that the battery was almost dead.
She grabbed it out of her purse, trying not to panic at the number of missed calls from Grant; not to mention the text messages. The most recent one was visible on the lock screen. She tried not to read it, but it was impossible to miss.
You’ll regret this, Samantha.
Shuddering and confident that she was not overreacting, she put the phone on airplane mode and set it on the charger on the kitchen counter, effectively turning it off so that it could charge without the constant influx of data and calls. She didn’t want to take it with her, but until she could get to a store and buy a prepaid phone, she needed to be able to call roadside assistance if she got a flat or wrecked her car. Especially in this weather.
As if to prove her point, there was a loud sound like wood splitting, followed by a heavy clap of thunder. The house trembled and the lights flickered, but they stayed on.
Samantha ran down the hall and into the office, packing up her laptop and adding it to the pile by the door. Then she returned to her room, grabbing some essentials from her bathroom and shoving them haphazardly into a small bag.
Her heart was racing, and her hands were trembling as she hurried down the hallway. She was starting to feel sick to her stomach with the nerves that were building with each passing minute.
This wouldn’t do at all. She couldn’t panic. She had to be smart and stay alert. Taking deep, cleansing breaths, she tried to calm her nerves so that she could focus. She started listed off the things she had by the door, going through a mental checklist in her mind of what she needed to pack for a long time away from home.
Rain was pelting against the front of the house now, the wind blowing so wildly that the rain was flying nearly horizontal towards the door.
Samantha gathered up her laptop bag, taking it to the kitchen table and setting it beside her purse. She would take the purse and the laptop last, putting them in a garbage bag to protect them from the driving rain. She couldn’t carry everything to the car in one trip anyway, so it made more sense to take those things last, when she was less encumbered.
She fished the keys out and shoved them in her pocket. That was the other great thing about her car; with the keys in her pocket, all she had to do was swipe her foot past the sensor and the trunk would pop open.
Confident that she had what she needed in the two jam packed bags in the foyer, she unlocked the door and let it swing open while she hurriedly picked up both bags. The suitcase was so heavy that she almost had to drag it, but she somehow managed to get them both to the porch.
The
car was further away than it had looked when the rain wasn’t as heavy, though Samantha knew that it hadn’t moved. Just a little over five feet from the bottom of the stairs, the heavy storm would surely drench her to the skin by the time she got to the trunk.
She pressed on anyway; there was no use standing there and waiting for nothing to happen. She wrestled the heavy suitcase into the trunk, nearly dropping it once, her feet sliding in the mud as she shoved it in. She closed the trunk, deciding that her computer and purse would ride in the car with her.
She was walking through the door when there was a bright light, followed by a loud boom from the side of the house. She could smell the sulfur in the air and knew that a tree close to her house had been hit. She kicked the door closed behind her, looking around the living room and deciding to take one last sweep of the house before she grabbed her laptop and purse and left.
She hurried down the hall to the mudroom in the back of the house. In the utility drawer, she grabbed a flashlight. She had a feeling that she was going to need it. As if on cue, there was another loud crash. This time, when the lights flickered, they stayed off.
Samantha pressed the flashlight and cursed under her breath when nothing happened. In the dark, she rummaged around in the drawer until her hand connected with an open box of batteries. Triumphant, she went to work, fumbling around in the dark, trying to change batteries in the pitch black night.
*
Ice-cold blue eyes watched Samantha from beneath the dense stand of saplings. The rain dripped on his face, but he was focused, oblivious to the discomfort of his clothes sticking to him. He was right to come now; it was obvious that Samantha was leaving. If he had waited until later, he might have missed her.
He’d beaten her home, but he’d been furious to find that the doors were actually locked. Mabel had often joked about her friend leaving the doors unlocked, so this was apparently a new habit.
His suspicions were confirmed when she tried to open the front door, only to find the chain engaged from the other side. If Grant hadn’t been there under such unpleasant circumstances, it would have been funny to watch her, struggling with the chained door and finally giving up.
Her Tiger Twins Page 9