Protagonized

by Shannon Myers

  A soft whimper escaped my lips and the scraping sound stopped. I wasn’t alone and suddenly Jake’s warning to stay sober seemed like sound advice.

  “Hayden?” Jake yelled from outside the bathroom door. “Open the door!”

  How was I supposed to make it to the door in complete darkness without encountering a serial killer who sported a hook for a hand?

  Because what other rational explanation was there for the sounds that were inching closer to where I was hiding. Suddenly fearful that the killer was going to come in from underneath the stall, I felt around for the toilet seat and quietly climbed up onto it.

  I immediately realized that the killer could now just lean over the top of the stall to hack me to death. If anything, I’d just made myself more accessible.

  Crouching on top of the toilet, I used the handrails on either side to balance myself. Both physically and mentally.

  You are safe. You are balanced. You are calm. You are grounded. You are Zen.

  You are not about to be gutted…

  “Hayden!” What sounded like Jake’s fist hitting the door and I jumped, nearly losing my balance and toppling into the floor.

  The scraping turned to a crunching sound; like the disemboweler of the dark was grinding something into the tile with their shoes. I needed a plan.

  I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, but it was only a matter of time before the killer found me. I wasn’t even wearing my nice underwear. That alone was reason enough to stay alive.

  The bathroom was unnervingly quiet, but fear kept me glued to my perch. Maybe it was a trick to lure me out. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, listening for movement.

  The lock on the door clicked, followed by a sliver of light and the heavy tread of boots.

  “Hayden?” Jake’s voice was laced with panic.

  He hit the light switch and I blinked against the sudden brightness before weakly calling out, “Over here.”

  As an afterthought, I added, “Be careful, Jake. There’s a murderer in here.”

  Janet, I knew that running would’ve just exposed the killer to more people. So, I stayed put in the stall and created a diversion so that others could escape safely. My only thought was of them.

  Jake reached the stall. “Open the door.”

  I kept my death grip on the safety rails. “I… I can’t.”

  He peered through the crack between the stall and the door. “You’re not naked. I can see you, Hayden. Just unlock the damn door.”

  I shook my head and hissed, “I can’t let go. He’s still in here. I can hear him!”

  Jake rested his forehead against the stall with a sigh. “That’s Bryan, the owner. Now, let me in.”

  I reluctantly released the bar and slid the lock back before resuming my stance. Jake looked me over; no doubt preparing his lecture on drugs and their effects.

  I knew that what I’d heard was no hallucination though.

  “Are you okay? Are you—are you hurt?” he finally asked.

  I shook my head and looked down to see that my knuckles were turning white from my grip. “Someone was in here with me,” I squeaked. “They, they turned off the lights and scraping. There was a scraping sound!”

  I began laughing as if the entire thing had just been some elaborate prank that I’d been unfortunate enough to get caught up in. I laughed until tears ran down my face and the giggles turned to sobs.

  Now, who was the lunatic in the bathroom?

  Jake’s eyes widened and he reached for me. “Come here.”

  I brought one foot down and then the other before reaching for his hand. I continued hiccupping my way through another round of crying and, instead of running away like a normal person, Jake pulled me into his side.

  He patted my back awkwardly as I whispered, “I’m telling the truth. Someone was in here. It wasn’t the drugs.”

  “We’re going to walk to that door right there.” He pointed. “And then we’re going to go downstairs and get you some water.”

  I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when it came to Aaris’ lecherous boss, but the man that stepped out from an open stall was not it.

  I’d pictured Bryan as overweight with stringy hair that he greased back every morning; not the muscular Adonis that he clearly was.

  Not that his good looks excused his behavior; if anything, it made it worse.

  He exchanged a glance with Jake before shaking his head. “It’s empty. I checked.”

  He looked me over and my spine stiffened in response. There it was. The sleazeball, unmasked. He was mentally undressing me.

  “I’d guess she’s under the influence of something, Detective Hopper. If you need to use my office—”

  Jake gripped my shoulder to the point of pain before biting out, “It’s Hopkins and I can take it from here.”

  I wasn’t under the influence of anything. I knew that what I heard was real. I wrapped my arms around myself as Jake dragged me away from Bryan toward the door.

  “But, but.” I dug my heels into the tiles as he propelled me forward.

  The bathroom looked much like it had when I entered. There was no trail of blood leading to a body or a masked man with a knife poised high above his head, ready to strike some unfortunate soul.

  In other words, there was absolutely nothing to back up my claims.

  Jake ignored my protests and flipped the lock on the bathroom door, opening it up to a long line of seriously pissed off women.

  One was squatted over a large metal planter, apparently having made the decision to make lemonade out of lemons. Literally. She yelped in surprise as we appeared and began yanking her dress back down.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” another asked. “We’ve been waiting out here so you two—” Bryan must’ve been right on our heels, because she added a whispered, “Three,” while looking both men up and down approvingly.

  One woman began clapping as she swayed unsteadily on her feet. “You go, girl. Get it!”

  They thought that I did… with Jake… and Bryan. At the same time. I made the mistake of looking up at both of them and my ears grew hot.

  Thinking of Bryan turned my stomach, but Jake—I could clearly picture him holding me up against a wall and the way the sweat would bead on his brow as he…

  A flush crept up my neck, quickly followed by a tingling sensation.

  He blinded me with a panty-melting smirk, and I sucked a ragged breath, knowing what was about to happen. Jake wasn’t going to let me off the hook that easily; no, he was going to go for my jugular.

  His hand moved down to rest against my shoulder and, as if on cue, he drew his badge. “Ladies, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. We’ve apprehended the suspect and should be out of your way shortly.”

  “What did she do?” one asked with wide eyes and I realized it was the girl who’d been doing blow off the counter. Like she had any right to judge me.

  “Public lewdness. Isn’t that right, Bryan?” Jake growled.

  Holy hell.

  Bryan reluctantly looked up from where he’d been ogling my ass. “Uh, yes. Lewd acts in the, uh, in the bathroom.”

  Instead of threatening to disembowel us, the women grew louder. Not with threats of violence, but with offers to be frisked and handcuffed, among other things.

  “Ma’am, I’m going to need you to come with me.” Jake pinned my bicep in his gargantuan hand.

  I pasted a fake smile onto my face and dutifully let Jake lead me back downstairs, amid a crowd of very thirsty women. My claws were just itching to come out every time one of them approached him.

  I found Aaris hovering near the bar and offered a hesitant wave. She frowned and turned away in response. A man chose that moment to approach the bar and palm Aaris’s ass, much to the amusement of his buddies seated nearby.

  Jake’s jaw clenched and he gave me a pointed stare as we moved past the bar and out onto the patio.

  “What?” I yelled. “What’s that look for?”

&nb
sp; He flashed his badge at a group of people and took over the newly vacated sectional next to a large fire pit. “I think you and I both know.”

  I looked around the nearly empty patio. “Where’s Bryan? Wasn’t he right behind us?”

  The vein in his neck jumped. “If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll stay in his office. What’s going on with you and Aaris?”

  “Sounds like you like Bryan about as much as Aaris does.”

  He flagged down a cocktail waitress and ordered another dirty martini for me and a beer for himself. “I thought I was supposed to stay sober… keep my wits about me.”

  He frowned and tapped at his phone. “Yeah, well, now might be a good time for you to lose your wits.” When he finished, he looked up at me. “What happened back there? You suddenly can’t handle your drugs?”

  The waitress walked back up and I snatched the martini from her tray before taking a loud slurp from the glass.

  Jake sat back with his beer. “Nice, Hayden. Real nice.”

  “Sober as a judge, officer,” I mumbled into the briny liquid. “Public lewdness, that’s a new one. And here I thought murder was my only crime.”

  He propped his feet up on the table between us. “What would you rather I have said? That you got high and locked yourself in the bathroom because ‘someone was out to get you?’” His phone vibrated and he glanced down at it, his smirk fading slightly.

  I cleared my throat and he looked up in a daze. “Where was I? Oh right, getting high and making bad decisions…”

  I tuned out of his lecture and focused on his facial expressions. He was hiding something from me. His smile was forced, and his eyes went grim every time his phone lit up with a text.

  I took another long drink of martini and nodded when it seemed appropriate, trying my best to channel the correct level of shame I was supposed to be feeling.

  “So, do we have a—” Jake’s phone buzzed, and he began scanning the patio. There were only a handful of people brave enough to withstand the cold air and none of them looked the least bit threatening.

  It was funny. Jake’s heart to heart almost made me forget that I hadn’t imagined what happened in that bathroom. Almost.

  “What’s the matter,” I teased. “Did you see one of your exes?”

  He continued watching the people, both inside and outside the bar, not even cracking a smile at my joke.

  “Jake?” I tried again.

  “Not now, Hayden.” He tapped something into his phone and placed it face down on his thigh.

  I strained to see what he’d seen, but the inside of the bar was packed. “Did you see someone? Do you believe me now?”

  He scratched absently at his temple before making eye contact with me and I swore that he’d grown another foot since we arrived. Maybe it was just the menacing look on his face that made him seem ten feet tall.

  “Hayden,” he chided. “Just sit back and enjoy your drink like I am.” With that, he took a swig of beer and screwed up his face.

  I sucked an olive into my mouth and chewed it happily. “I am enjoying myself but, as much as I’d love to sit and watch you choke down another beer that you absolutely hate, I kinda need to go talk to Aaris.”

  “Just, uh, stay where I can see you. I don’t want to have to go searching for you when I’m ready to leave.” He tipped the bottle back, looking completely at home on the sectional.

  I couldn’t help but notice the way his hand moved down to his waist. Guns weren’t allowed inside the club, but the Jake I’d written had a holster hidden in the back of jeans. I suspected that the man in front of me did as well. He wasn’t going into any situation unarmed.

  I needed to find Aaris and apologize, but then, I was absolutely going to find out what Jake was keeping from me. I slipped around the horde of people stacked three deep at the bar, standing on tiptoe in my search for her familiar face.

  My stomach gave an anxious lurch when I found her behind the bar with Jack and I suddenly needed the ladies room again.

  “I tried the one upstairs. No, it’s got little yellow placards outside the door and a sign that says out of order.”

  I froze at the conversation. Why would the bathroom be closed off? Hadn’t Jake made it clear that he didn’t buy the whole ‘murderer in the bathroom’ story?

  I checked to see if Jake was watching and found him pacing the patio with his phone held to his ear. Knowing I wouldn’t get another opportunity, I ran upstairs.

  The girls hadn’t been lying. Not only had the bathroom been cordoned off with caution signs, there was also a line of yellow tape blocking off most of the hallway too.

  The music still pulsed beneath my feet, but it was quiet. Too quiet. I ducked underneath the tape and padded toward the door, resting my cheek against its cold wooden surface.

  I jumped at the sound of a low groan. Someone was in the bathroom… again. A smart person would’ve booked it downstairs, but I’d never been accused of being one of those.

  Besides, what if the person moaning was just the latest victim of The Hooker The Hook Hand Killer The Killer With a Hook for a Hand?

  Well, it needed some work, but I had time to come up with something clever later. Right now, someone needed my help.

  “Yes, Janet, I did put myself in grave danger despite everything urging me not to. Even when the world disagreed, I knew that danger lurked in that bathroom and I wasn’t going to rest until everyone was safe. I just asked myself, what would Jessa Hopkins—”

  I pushed at the same time someone opened the door from the other side and I ended up falling right into a broad body.

  Fourteen

  “Max?”

  His hands went to my shoulders. “Hayden? Are you okay?”

  “I thought…” I struggled to see around him. “I thought I heard something. What are you doing here?”

  “Uh, taking care of a few things. Who’s Janet?”

  I frowned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know a Janet.” Even as I said it, my cheeks heated.

  Max gave me a bemused smile. “You sure about that? You seemed to be having quite the conversation with her out in the hall.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I laughed easily, but my relief at finding a familiar face was short-lived as another low grown sounded from somewhere near one of the back stalls.

  “Uh, Max?” I questioned as I tried to move forward. His wall of a body prevented my efforts. “Max, what’s going on?”

  What if it had been him this entire time? He was there when I got the email and now he just appeared from nowhere after I was almost gutted. It didn’t leave me feeling very Zen.

  He casually drummed his fingers against his leg and smiled at me, like we were waiting in line to buy movie tickets, not hiding out in the women’s bathroom. “So, how’s Jake doing?”

  I stepped back, colliding with the tile wall that I’d found so mesmerizing only a few hours ago. Now, it was nothing more than a barrier.

  He placed an arm on either side of my head. “Why’d you come up here?”

  “Please…” a voice whispered harshly. “Please, help me.”

  Max gave me a half shrug and a grin that seemed to convey he was just full of secrets. He had Nicolas Cage-level crazy eyes. How had I not seen that before?

  I wondered if Jake would even notice that I was gone again. Would he come looking for me a second time or had this been his plan all along?

  Maybe he and Max had been working together to take me down. I bet they’d formed some fictional character alliance, destroying the authors who’d given them a voice.

  I glanced toward the door and then back up at him. There was a slight chance that I could slip under his arm and make it to safety before he murdered me to death, but was I willing to leave Groaning Greg behind?

  I chewed at my lower lip as I debated the pros and cons. Surprisingly, Max seemed content to remain standing by the wall. That was probably what Jake had meant when he said that Max wa
s good at what he did.

  An efficient killer had to be patient above all else.

  A quick, high-pitched burst of laughter escaped, and I clapped a hand to my mouth in horror. Now was not the time to crack up. “I think I need to go back downstairs,” I mumbled against my fingers.

  Max nodded. “That’s a good idea. Go find Jake.” He gestured for me to go ahead of him, but I’d seen enough thrillers to know how that was going to end. I wasn’t getting capped by some fictional character I barely knew.

  I waved my hand. “Oh no, after you. Please.”

  Once he turned his back, I bolted across the bathroom to where the sounds of moaning had emanated. When I rounded the corner, I stopped in my tracks.

  The man lay in a heap on the tile. His wrist was cuffed to the doorjamb of the stall above his head, twisting his arm at a weird angle. His face was bruised, and both eyes were almost swollen shut, but surprisingly, there was very little blood. I took another step forward before stopping again.

  I knew him.

  “He’s the guy who grabbed Aaris,” I said dumbly while pointing.

  Max hadn’t run after me. No, he’d simply strolled over and was leaning against the wall with his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans.

  “Yeah,” he stated in a flat voice.

  Nothing seemed to phase this guy. He’d been in this bathroom for who knew how long, methodically torturing Groper Greg, yet he stood against the wall as casual as could be.

  Someone could burst in and excitedly shout that the building was on fire and Max would probably just give a brief nod before moseying down to the exit when it suited him. There was just no reaction. The man was a stone-cold killer.

  “I thought… I thought that you were in here because of what happened to me,” I breathlessly stated. My stomach had gone fluttery on me and I was instantly regretting that second martini.

  He shook his head. “No. Well, partly. I wasn’t able to find the subject.”