Exponential

by JM Addison

  *

  On the ride back to Mara’s place, they stopped by the apartment manager to pick up a spare key. They both went in together. Will actually did the talking, Mara just came in wearing the obviously too-large sweatpants to show her face so that the manager would recognize her and cooperate with Will’s request for a spare key.

  When they arrived at Mara’s place, she asked Will to drive around to the back off-street parking. Her car was still where she had left it, however, there was no sign of her purse or keys shat she must have dropped during the attack last night. Will accompanied Mara upstairs to her door and came in to check the place out for her to be sure it seemed safe. She noted from the indicator, there was a voicemail waiting, but she wanted to listen to it in private.

  Will finished up his inspection and said, “Everything looks clear. Will you be alright?”

  “Sure. Thanks so much for taking care of me this morning. I really appreciate your help.” She looked up at his rugged good looks and again considered for a moment their relationship. Having him back in her life seemed awfully good at the moment, but then she remembered her reasons for breaking off with him. Having him as a trusted friend was really all that she wanted and she did not want to mislead him in any way so she simply said, “Thanks again Will. I don’t know what I would have done.”

  “If you need anything, call me at the office. If my secretary gives you a tough time, tell her it’s an emergency. And by all means, be careful,” he replied.

  She led him to the door and they embraced. After a moment she let go and looked away, not wanting him to make any attempt to kiss her. He turned to leave and she closed the door. She went to her bedroom to get into some of her own clothes. It felt a little odd still in Will’s sweat clothes but not wearing any underwear.

  She washed up again and considered what to do next. The place seemed disturbingly quiet after last night’s ordeal, even spooky. She discovered as she attempted to apply a little makeup, that she was trembling. What a night! She couldn’t calm down.

  She tried to review the situation. Somebody wanted to play rough. However, they didn’t try to kill her, at least not yet, so what did they want? To send three kidnappers meant they were pretty serious and she somehow was successful in evading them. But they would not, no doubt, simply give up. So she had to be on-guard. Watch every move. They obviously knew a lot about her. Where she lived, where she worked, in fact, probably had access to Viiradium.

  And then there was always that distressing question: What happened to Chris? She made the grim determination at that point to find out. She could not put a face to her enemy. She was only one, she was small, she was frightened…

  But she was pissed.

  She suddenly remembered there was a message on her machine.