by Jarica James
His hand fumbles in his coat and I know he’s going for the gun. My main thought is that I can’t let Cole get hurt, so I slam my elbow as hard as I can into his exposed ribcage. He coughs and curses, nearly dropping me right as Cole reaches us. A fist slams into the man’s face, the sound of bone crunching giving me a soul-deep satisfaction.
“Go before you get yourself killed too, kid,” he growls when Cole tries to yank me away.
“Fuck off,” Cole grounds out as he lets go. Despite trusting him, I immediately start to panic. He gives me a wink as he reaches down and grabs a chunk of loose asphalt, somehow calm during all of this.
As the man pulls out his gun, Cole smashes the concrete into his head hard enough that he drops me. Seeing a good opportunity, I go limp with all of my body weight, causing the criminal to drop my arm completely.
Cole grabs my hand and yanks me with him, both of us running faster than ever before. Cursing follows us as the man gets his bearings and likely blinks past a concussion. As soon as we reach the corner, the ear-splitting sound of gunshots sends us lurching forward, desperate to get out of his sight.
“If you get away this time, I will find you. You will never be safe, you stupid girl. You should have been shot the night they put bullets in your family. You were stupid enough to go snooping and now you’ll give your life for it. The boss didn’t like being questioned, and he knows it had to be from you. The cops know too much for it to be random. We will always be watching, and we will find you!” the man yells after us, sounding completely unhinged, and a few seconds later I hear the squeal of tires. He must have managed to reach his waiting car and sped off.
Turning around now that we’re in front of the shop windows, I try to catch a glimpse of the getaway car, but I'm too late. It's just a blur of red before he’s gone, but his words are replaying in my head and it feels like ice is running through my veins.
Cole pulls us into the music store and checks me for injuries. Each breath is like lava being poured in my throat, and I have bruises already forming on my upper arms from the man’s grip. But I’m alive, and right now, that’s everything.
“Call the cops, she almost got kidnapped in the alley,” Cole shouts at the worker. The guy looks shocked and quickly grabs a phone to make the call. Needing my foster mom, I pull out my phone that’s somehow still in my pocket.
Me: Sophia. Music shop now. They almost got me, Cole stopped them. The same people who killed my family.
She doesn’t respond, but I knew she wouldn’t. She'll just grab her keys and drive here as fast as she can. Cole can’t stop staring at me, his eyes boring into me as I type. I gather up what courage I have left and look up into his eyes.
“I’m fine,” I manage to croak out. The pain and the sound of my voice makes me wince, and my cheeks flame as I rub at my throat like that will help. My once smooth voice is reduced to a raspy mess and I know that the scream did me no favors in that regard. His mouth falls open in shock. I never wanted them to hear it, but I guess I owe him this much at least. He saved my life.
His face softens as his eyes drop to the hand rubbing my throat. “Did he damage your vocal cords worse than they were?” I shake my head no, but honestly I can’t be sure. Exhaustion settles into my bones, but I know the day isn’t over yet.
The door to the record store opens, and two detectives walk in. Sophia is right on their heels within seconds and the sight of her nearly makes my legs give out. She rushes forward and crushes me in a hug, running a hand down the back of my head as she whispers that I’m safe. And oddly enough…. I believe her.
“You were almost abducted?” The male officer turns to me. I nod and his eyes narrow, but thankfully Cole jumps in to explain that the man dragged me into the alley. Even giving a detailed description. “Check the alley, and there should be a bullet casing somewhere,” the officer says into his radio.
“Can you tell me what happened?” he asks, and I turn to Sophia. She squeezes my hand and steps up to the officer.
“She can’t speak, so she will need to do a written statement.” She's talking to him but faces me while looking me over. Her eyes lock on the bruising before she continues. “It looks like he grabbed her arms pretty tight and her neck. Do you need to see a doctor, Charlie?” I shake my head no, and she frowns before leading me outside, looking over her shoulder to tell him we’d meet them at the station. I notice that they already have officers checking out the alley and the sidewalk, their cars forming a blockade to ward off the forming crowd.
Cole calls his mom on the way to the station, which was the only reason they let him come with us. Of course, as soon as we get there, they separate us. The detectives have me write down the details of what happened. I mention the blur of a red vehicle and write down every detail I can think of through the whole thing. We each have to work with a sketch artist as well, Sophia telling me we both get the same results.
“Don’t walk alone anywhere or linger outside. I doubt that will be the last of them,” the officer lectures me before turning his attention to Sophia. “I’m not sure they know where she lives, but they could be tailing her. I will make sure we have the officers add you to their routes. Do you have a security system?”
“Of course I do,” she says, not defensive but trying to rush him. I've never been so thankful for the extra locks and security system Sophia insists on.
It’s late by the time they finally give us permission to go home. Cole wraps me up in a reassuring hug before leaving with his mom. It all still feels so surreal, like a bad nightmare or something. But having Cole there meant everything to me. He held me together more than he knows and he literally saved my life. If he hadn’t been there, the man would have overpowered me easily. The thought sends a shudder through me that Sophia notices right away.
She quickly takes the cop’s business card before walking me to her bug so we can finally leave. I can’t stop looking around as we walk, half expecting to see the man’s angry face each time I look around.
As soon as we get home I go upstairs and straight to bed, though I know I'm going to have the nightmares again. They've gotten a little less frequent, but no doubt that evil man will bring them back full force. There’s no way I can nearly be killed in public and not have some fallout, even if I’m too shaken up to realize it fully right now. The icing on the fucking cake is that we’re only days away from the anniversary of my family’s death.
As I lay in bed, I stare at my family picture, tears falling as I try to reassure myself that he can’t get me in here.
Saturday
Early Afternoon
Charlie
I'm hiding behind the dresses in my closet, praying that the men don’t hurt my family. I hear footsteps on the stairs, and I hold my breath. Big hands reach out and clamp down onto my arm, dragging me down the stairs. I look up at the evil man, begging him to not hurt them. He pulls out his gun and aims it at me, this time the gun pressing into my forehead. The click of the trigger...
I wake up screaming and the fire in my throat intensifies. Sophia is already on the bed next to me. She sits up and pulls me into her arms. It must not be the first nightmare I've had tonight, but I'm so groggy that I can't remember. She doesn’t even hesitate before she rocks me and pulls me close, sleep taking over again.
The next time I wake up, I'm alone. Grogginess still tugs at me, so I decide to be lazy for a bit longer. The nightmares make it hard to get decent sleep and I feel like this nightmare will never end. I lean over and grab my phone off the charger and my eyes widen at the notification for sixteen missed text messages.
Abby: OMG you almost got kidnapped?
Alice: Did you know who they were?
Trent: How are you holding up?
Cole: She’s probably still asleep, we didn’t get back until late.
Adam: Cole’s a hero!!!
Cole: Shut it, Adam!
Adam: I’m serious, dude! You saved her. I’m genuinely grateful.
Alice: That is instant
hero status.
Abby: Text us when you wake up, Sweets! <3
Trent: We should probably plan something to keep her mind off of things.
Adam: Paintball?
Alice: Arcade?
Cole: Indoor pool?
Trent: Sleepover and scary movies?
Abby: Pool and sleepover????
Adam: Charlie, you're the deciding vote ;)
Charlie: I’m ok, let me think on the plans for a second, my brain isn’t online yet.
Trent: She’s awake!
Pulling myself out of bed, I decide to go talk to Sophia and see if she's okay with me making plans. She might want me to stay home with all that's going on, and I don’t know that I’d be opposed today.
After checking each room, I start to worry, each one empty and quiet. Relief filters through me in a rush when I find her on the patio drinking coffee. Grabbing a bottle of water for my sore throat, I decide to join her.
“Hey sweetie, how are you holding up?” The look of concern is intense. She must be really worried still, and I’m sure my nightmares are only making it worse.
I give a shrug and an apologetic look.
“Don’t be sorry. We will get through this. Your nightmares will get better, in fact they were so much better. I hope with the new leads they can catch these men and you won’t have to be so scared all of the time. Just let me know what you need.”
‘I need a distraction, I think,’ I type out as I take a seat, showing her my phone.
She reads it and nods. “I’m glad it’s fall break, so you and your friends can relax and get you back where you need to be. I’ll try and come up with something to keep us all occupied. I actually decided to take a step away from my caseload for the week. I have people who work under me for a reason,” she says, giving me a wink.
My answering smile is huge. Here I am, afraid again that she'll give up on me, and she's making plans and taking time off to make sure I get better. Tears prickle at my eyes and I rush forward and hug her. The scent of her light floral perfume has my nerves calming even more and I realize that she’s quickly becoming home to me.
I haven’t exactly told her yet, but she's been a great mother. Nobody could even begin to replace my mom, but I don’t think there's anything wrong with having two. I think my mom would approve of her. They both are so different, it’s incomparable. But that doesn’t make me love Sophia any less, in fact it makes it easier.
I'm even more surprised at my ability to openly think about my mom and not break down. I guess I’m finally facing my past and it’s thanks to all the new people in my life. The next big step will be to share it with my friends, I just don’t want them to pity me or see me any different. Something tells me I need to give them more credit than I do. But it's not going to suddenly be too much for them to handle... at least I hope not.
After we both relax and finish our drinks, enjoying the cool morning breeze, I pull my phone back out and open the group text, turning it so Sophia can read it. She appears thoughtful as she reads it over before giving me a serious look.
“Do they have sleepovers often?” she asks, though she looks like she doesn’t believe it. I pull open the notes app and explain they have them frequently and how they all grew up together. It's something that Abby told me last week. She didn’t want me to feel left out, but figured most parents wouldn’t approve so they didn’t want to rub it in. “Can you get me the numbers of their parents? And yes, if their parents agree then I’m okay with a sleepover, but you all stay in the living room,” she finishes with a stern look.
I quickly make my way back inside and grab a bowl of cereal. When I finally glance at a clock, it's almost noon. I'm shocked for a moment but then remember how late it was when I finally got to bed. Sitting at the table I text my friends back.
Me: Sophia wants your parents’ numbers. I guess she wants to double check on a sleepover. If your parents are cool with it, she said we can have it here.
Abby: YES! I’ll send her a text with our parents’ names and numbers for you.
Adam: So what should we do before?
Me: I haven’t been swimming in years. If I can find a store with a bathing suit, I vote that. Abby and Alice, want to come with? I’m sure Sophia wouldn’t mind, and I hate picking out my own clothes.
Alice: I hate shopping. I’m out.
Abby: You know I’m in.
Trent: Why aren’t we invited?
Abby: Because you guys complain that I take too long and she loves me the most.
Me: Exactly.
I grin as I wait for their answers to come in, already feeling way better.
Trent: Hey! That hurt.
Abby: Told you!
Cole: Even after I saved you, babe?
Me: checkmate
I write a quick note to Sophia and just as I’m ready to take it to her, I hear the door of her office open. She strolls into the kitchen with her coffee cup in hand, and I let her fill it before handing the note over.
“I think the mall might have some on clearance from summer,” she muses, eyes unfocused as she thinks. “We can always order you one later, as long as you find one that can work for today. If I’m going to take a few days off, then I need to finish up a few things. You can go, but please have one of the guys with you at all times; strength in numbers. Add this to your keychain too, keep it in your hands or close. And I don’t want you outside alone at all though.” In her palm she thrusts toward me, is a can of pepper spray. I nod solemnly and take it once she shows me how to use it, before running upstairs to get ready.
Me: She said I can go shopping, but she has to wrap up some work. She also said I can’t go unless one of the guys goes with us.
Cole: I’m watching the twins while Mom runs to the store. Sorry, babe.
Trent: I was just kidding before. I don’t have the patience for Abby. Haha
Abby: HAHA, Trent. You jerk!
Trent: You love it.
Adam: I’ll pick you guys up in fifteen minutes.
Me: Thanks, Adam!!
I'm showered, dressed, and on the porch in ten minutes. I know Adam well enough to know he'll be here any second. Sure enough, he pulls up about a minute later and I hurry down the steps and jump in. Abby is already in the truck, so she scoots to the middle to make room for me.
“Where to, ladies?” he asks as he pulls away from the curb.
“Mall. It’s our only hope,” Abby declares dramatically. I can’t help but give Adam a playful smile. She's making it sound like we’re going into battle, not shopping. He chuckles at her, and she openly pouts at being mocked.
Adam ends up being a better shopping buddy than I expected. The dude deserves a medal, he has more patience than I have ever witnessed in one person, especially an eighteen year old guy. Abby, on the other hand, is a shopping machine. We haven’t even made it to the swimsuits and she's dragged us into four different stores already and her arms are piled with bags.
I spot a department store and link my arm through hers to keep her on task. She sighs dramatically but allows me to drag her, leaning into the touch. The store already has the winter stock out, but I manage to find a small section of swimsuits on clearance. They're a bit more revealing than I'm used to and I freeze, eyes wide. Abby sees my hesitation and giggles.
“You don’t like showing skin, do you?” I shake my head no and wrinkle my nose at the selection. The only thing leading me to try one is how much I want to go swimming. “Want me to pick?” Abby offers as she glances from my body to the selection and back again. I just nod yes and point at the size chart to show her my size.
It's not that I'm unhappy with my body, it’s that I just don’t like feeling that exposed. Plus, after watching it happen to Lizzie more than once, I'm always afraid my bikini top will come off if I jump in the pool. The last thing I want is to flash my friends.
Abby, however, has no issue shopping for me. After flipping through them with a serious intensity, she hands me a few choices, giving me a gentle
shove in the direction of the dressing room already noticing the panic on my face.
“You’re going to look amazing and we get to swim!” she says excitedly, gesturing at the door again.
I reluctantly try the first one on. It's the one that has the most coverage on the top, so it seems like a good place to start. One of them I'm not even going to take off the hanger, the bikini top is just two small triangles that would barely hide my nipples. Yeah, no thanks. Essentially, it's a disaster waiting to happen.
I leave on my bra and underwear and tug the suit on over top of my clothes. It’s a retro style with a high waist and is about as modest as I’m going to get, though the blush pink color does complement my hair. When I open the door a crack to see if Abby's there, she jumps up from the bench eagerly and rushes over.
“You look amazing, Charlie! I'd definitely date you,” she teases with a wink, though her eyes run down my body again. There’s some truth to her words and in all honestly, despite us not saying it specifically, I am kind of dating her, and Cole and Adam. Trent seems to be on the fence and I respect that.
When she glances back up, I blush and start to step away but she moves forward, her fingers running lightly over the scar on my side.
“What gave you that scar?” she asks quietly. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Her blue eyes flicker up to mine, and I can’t lie to her. I mime a gunshot and her eyes go wide. She brushes it off but wraps her hand in mine, though I think she needed it more than I did.
We hurry and pay for the bikini before going to the front of the store to find Adam. After shopping all afternoon, I’m ready for a break. He glances up and I give him a pointed look and rub my stomach. He'll be my only ally, since I don't think even hunger could part Abby from her beloved shopping.