by Nikki Rose
“It makes sense and I’m really glad you decided to talk to me. I can’t imagine how hard this must be. I’m glad I can be here for you, even if it’s just over an internet line.”
“Thanks.”
“I hope I’m not prying, and if I am then please just tell me it’s too much but, can you tell me what you’re in witness protection for? I mean, I assume you didn’t turn on your mob family or anything like I’ve seen in the movies.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Oh no, I’m very loyal. I’d never turn on the family.”
That made him laugh too. It felt good to just talk and laugh with someone again.
“Actually, I witnessed a crime. I guess it was just a wrong place, wrong time kind of thing.”
“I see. And, if it’s keeping you up at night, I’m guessing it wasn’t some white-collar offense?”
“No, it wasn’t.” A flash of the light hitting that silver blade popped in my mind and made me shudder.
“I’m sorry. I am glad you told me and I want you to know I’m here for you. You can call me like this anytime you want. If I can’t answer, I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”
“Thank you so much. That means more than you know.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
Something in the way he said those words made my heart beat a little faster. Clearly, I was starved for attention and a connection with someone but I needed to get off this call before I let myself fall too deep down the rabbit hole.
“I should let you get some sleep.”
“It is pretty late and you should try to rest some too. But, before we go, I just have to say...this might sound selfish, but a part of me is glad you wound up in witness protection because otherwise, we might have never met. I look forward to our chats and enjoy getting to spend time with you.”
My breath caught and I didn’t know what to say.
“Damn it, I’m sorry. That sounded better in my head but I think it just came out mushy.”
“I enjoy spending time with you too.” I croaked out and cleared my throat.
“Goodnight, your majesty.”
“Goodnight.”
We ended the call but I still couldn’t sleep. I laid in bed, staring up at the black void that was my ceiling, thinking about this mystery man I’d never seen but who had somehow made me feel better than my ex ever had.
CHAPTER 10
Addy
Over the next couple of months, I fell into a comfortable routine. I worked at the diner during the day and on my art in the evening. Liz and I talked during the lulls between the breakfast and lunch rush. She was a very chatty woman and it was a challenge to avoid giving the wrong information when she asked about my life. But it was nice to have someone to talk to.
I stood at the counter, lazily wiping it with a rag as I thought about DarkPrince. Maybe it was the isolation of being in a new place all alone. I wasn’t sure how, but I was growing attached to this mystery guy. I looked forward to talking to him and our chats became longer, more in-depth, I even downloaded an app on my phone so we could talk when I wasn’t at the computer.
We had been talking for two months and I wasn’t sure how I would have gotten through the isolation without him. He was amazing and made me laugh all the time.
“So, who’s the boy?” Liz interrupted my thoughts and I jumped guiltily.
“What boy?” I went back to scrubbing an invisible spot with my rag.
“The boy that’s got you all dreamy-eyed and cleaning that same spot for fifteen minutes.”
“Sorry.” I put the rag away and started filling ketchup bottles.
“What’s his name?” Liz smirked and leaned against the counter.
“I don’t know.” I frowned and focused on not making a mess with the ketchup.
“You don’t know?” I glanced up to see Liz raising her eyebrow at me.
“It’s hard to meet people in a new place, especially since I work a lot so I joined an old chatroom I used to visit some.”
“You met him online?”
“Yeah. While in the chat, I met a guy with the screen name DarkPrince. He’s funny and has great taste in Sci-Fi shows. We started talking in the main chat but moved to private chats as the weeks went on.”
“So how long have you been talking with this Prince guy?”
“Pretty much since I started working here.”
“And you haven’t met him yet?”
“No, but I feel like I know him.”
“Just not his name?”
“Just not his name,” I confirmed.
“So, what’s got you distracted with him today?”
“He hasn’t been online all week. We usually talk at least every couple of nights.”
“Well, give him some time, maybe he’s just busy. Or maybe he got caught abducting his latest victim and will get back to you in 25 to life.”
“Liz, don’t say that.” I gasped but couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Just be careful with those online guys. You never know who’s really behind the screen until you meet them. He could be 65 with a beer gut.”
I laughed. “I know. He’s just someone to talk to.” I shrugged.
“I see that look. He’s more than just someone to talk to. You should look more locally. Like, maybe at table 4.” She tilted her head toward the window seat.
I glanced over her shoulder and laid eyes on the sexiest man I’d ever seen. His inky black hair was short but tousled on top and he was built like the guys in magazines. I didn’t know men could actually be built like that. His biceps bulged from his black tee and his forearms rippled as he turned the page of the menu. I thought I might combust.
“Think you can manage to take his order without drooling all over him?” Liz chuckled.
“I’m—I’m not sure but I’d be willing to give it a try.” I swallowed hard and grabbed my order pad and pen.
“Good luck.” Liz joked from the counter. It was the beginning of the lunch rush and people were flooding into the diner. It happened every day like clockwork when the factory let its workers off for lunch. We would be this busy for the next three hours then it would be dead again until the dinner rush around six.
“Hi, I’m Emma. I’ll be your waitress today. Are you ready to order or do you need more time?”
He looked up at me and a flirty smile tugged at the corners of his sexy lips. His green eyes took my breath when they met mine. “Hi Emma, I’ll have the country fried steak and a sweet tea.” His deep, sexy voice rumbled in his chest.
“Just the way it comes?” I kept my sentences short because with him looking at me the way he did, I wasn’t sure I could manage more.
“Yes, please” His smile broadened and he let his eyes graze over me so subtly I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been so hyper-aware of every move he made.
I swallowed hard and licked my suddenly dry lips. “Will that be all?”
His eyes flicked down to my lips and he slid his tongue across his own. “For now.”
“Okay, it should be out shortly.” I hated how breathy my voice was. Like one of those ditzy girls from the movies who get all weak-kneed because a guy looks at her.
“Thank you.”
I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away. They burned into my body like hot rays of the sun at the beach and I had to fight the urge to turn back and look at him. I put in his order and hurried on to my next table.
The man at the next table wore a navy-blue uniform from the factory and his face was smudged with oil. The lunch rush was in full swing, so I hurried over to him.
“Hi, I’m Emma and I’ll—”
“I’ll have a hamburger with everything and a side of fries with a coke.”
“Okay, coming right up. Will that be—?”
“I’m in a hurry.”
“Right. I’ll get on that.”
I placed the order and fixed his coke quickly. I had to pass right by the handsome man at table 4, so when his plate came up, I gra
bbed it to take on the way.
“Here’s your country fried steak.” I smiled brightly as I presented him with his plate of food.
“Thank you very much, Emma.” His eyes met mine again and I couldn’t move. He held me captive with only his gaze as my breath quickened from the sound of my name on his lips.
“You’re welcome. Do you need anything else?”
“Not at the moment. It’s extremely busy here.” He looked around at the filled diner and gave me a reprieve from his intense stare.
“Yeah, I better get moving.”
He smiled and nodded, releasing me to go take care of the other customers. I went on to the next table and placed his coke in front of him. “Your food should be out shortly.”
No response. He just picked up his glass and took a drink before looking at me like he was saying ‘Why are you still here?’
I nodded and moved on to the next table. Before I knew it, the first wave of the lunch rush was dying down.
“Ready for your check?” I smiled at the man at table 4.
“Yes, thank you.” I handed him his ticket for $8 and went to walk away but he stopped me. “Here you go.” He handed me back the ticket with a twenty-dollar bill.
“Okay, I’ll be right back with your change.”
“Keep it. I don’t need change.”
“But that’s a big tip.”
“You deserve it.” He smiled at me softly in such contrast to his hard form.
“Thank you so much and please, come again.”
I waited as he walked to the door before moving on to the next customer.
“Can I get you anything else or are you ready for your check?”
“You can leave the check but I want a refill on my coke before I go.”
“Sure thing.” I placed the check on the table and took his drink to refill it.
I was walking back to the table with the guy’s coke when someone bumped into me and the full glass went flying into the man’s lap.
“Shit.” He yelled and jumped up from his seat dripping coke down to the floor. “Are you a complete idiot?”
“I am so sorry.”
“Yes, you are. I’m going to have to go home and change before I can go back to work now. I will see you lose your job for this.”
“Please. I’m so sorry. It was an accident.”
“You are a pathetic excuse for a—”
“Excuse me, Sir. I suggest you learn how to speak to a woman before you open your mouth again.” It was the guy from table 4. He looked bigger now as he angled himself between me and the jerk from table 5. “This should cover your meal plus cleaning costs.” He shoved money in his hand before giving him a look that should have turned him to stone. “I don’t suspect there’s any reason to bother the owner with complaints now is there?”
The man’s jaw hung open as he eyed the fifty-dollar bill in his hand. “Uh, no. No reason at all.” He left and table four guy looked back at me with a smile.
“Accidents happen.”
“You just gave that guy fifty-dollars,” I said in shock.
“Yeah.” He shrugged.
“Let me go to the back and get my purse. I’ll pay you back.”
“I don’t want your money.” He waved it off.
“I have to thank you. You may have just saved my job.”
“How about dinner?”
“You want me to pay for your dinner?”
His warm, rumbling laugh made me smile. “No, I want you to accompany me to dinner.”
“Me? Why?”
“Well, I did just possibly save your job.” He grinned at me and I was a goner. There was no way I could say no to that.
“Okay,” I breathed out.
“What time do you get off work?”
“Around five.”
“I’ll pick you up then.” He turned to walk away. I reached out to stop him, grabbing his chiseled arm.
His muscles flexed under my touch and he turned back to look at me. “Um, could we make it a little later? I’d like to have some time to freshen up after working all day.”
“Of course. Would seven be better? Write down your address and I’ll pick you up there.”
“Okay.” I scribbled down my address on a napkin and watched him as he walked out the door.
“This can’t be real.” I murmured.
“Did you just get a date with the hunk from table 4?” Liz snuck up behind me.
I jumped and turned around grinning at her. “I think I did.”
After my shift, I clocked out and grabbed my purse, nearly falling as my feet slipped on the gravel parking lot. I drove home in record time, parked, and rushed up the steps. I had a date tonight and I had no idea what to wear. As I made it onto the front porch my heart stopped. Something wasn’t right. The door was ajar. He found me. I couldn’t breathe as I stared at the door. I backed up pulling my phone from my purse so I could call Daniel, but it was dead.
“Damn it,” I murmured. I looked around the yard, finding a large yard gnome, I held it in my hands as I pushed the door open.
There on my couch sat Daniel with his ankle crossed over his knee reading the paper.
“Daniel.” His name came out on a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “What are you doing here?” I stepped inside and shut the door behind me.
“Addy, good to see you.” He folded the newspaper and dropped it on my coffee table. “How are things going?”
“Things are going okay. Why are you here?” I sat on the arm of an overstuffed chair and studied him.
“I called you for our weekly check-in but it went straight to voicemail.”
“My phone died while I was working. Sorry.”
“No problem. I needed to come to do an in-person visit again anyway. I haven’t seen you since right after you came to town.”
“Yeah but that’s better right? To not be detected?”
“Yes, but there are some things we need to discuss.”
“Okay...?”
“My boss wants me to question you again to make sure you don’t remember anything new since last time.”
“We’ve already been through this. I didn’t see his face. I can’t remember anything but the black mask and clothes. And that knife.” I shivered at the images that ran through my mind.
“Sometimes the mind blocks things out during trauma but as you start doing better it will begin releasing those memories. Would you be willing to try? Please?”
“Sure.” I sighed and slid down into the chair. “But can we make this quick? I have somewhere to be.”
“Of course. I want you to get comfortable.”
I shifted in my seat until I was comfortable and waited for my next instruction. “Okay.”
“Now I want you to close your eyes and try to think back. Imagine leaving the bar. What did you do next?”
“I turned left to start walking in the direction of my apartment while I looked for a cab.”
“Okay...keep going.”
“It was really dark because the streetlight was burnt out. Once I got away from the bar, it was eerily quiet. I remember feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end just before I heard a crashing sound.”
“Good, keep on.”
“There was a scuffle in the alley across the way. A man in all black wearing a black ski mask, and black gloves stood behind a man in a gray suit. He was holding him with his forearm across his chest. The man’s legs kept slipping on the rocks under his feet as he was pulled back into the shadows. It all happened so fast. I couldn’t even comprehend what was happening until I saw the light glint off the silver blade of the knife as it sliced across his throat.”
I stopped, trying to calm my trembling body and the indescribable cold that took over.
“Keep going.” Daniel urged.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to continue. “There was a horrible gurgling sound and so much blood. It was pouring from his neck. I don’t think I can—”
“You’r
e doing great, almost done. Just keep going. Did you see anything else?”
“The man was bleeding so much. He was grasping at the man in black’s arm but he was so weak it didn’t do any good. The man let him slide down toward the ground. He twisted in his arms and—wait. He grabbed the killer’s shirt and pulled it down. He had a tattoo. I saw part of his tattoo.” I jumped up from the chair with the new victory.
“The killer had a tattoo?” Daniel seemed excited by this news as well although his monotone voice made it hard to tell.
“Yes.”
“What did it look like?”
“It was far away. A leaf or a flame maybe? I just saw part of it but there was definitely a tattoo there.”
“Excellent. Good job.” He put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me with pity. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I hadn’t realized I was crying until tears stung my eyes and I wiped them away.
“I need to go report the news to my boss. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” He walked toward the front door. “I can come back over later if you need some company.”
“I’m good. I promise.” It was sweet of him but I just wanted to go on my date and pretend my life was normal for a couple of hours.
“Okay, and Addy?” He paused in the doorway.
“Yes?”
“Charge that phone.”
“Right.” I forced a smile and locked the door behind him as he left.
CHAPTER 11
Hunter
I’d done it. I’d finally found a way to run into Addy. Not only that but I’d actually secured a date with her. I hadn’t been this excited about a date since—well, I’d never been this excited. Damn, I had to be careful. This girl did things to me I couldn’t explain.
I checked the clock, it was five-thirty. She’d be getting off work any minute. I sat in my car, watching as she pulled out of the parking lot. After twenty seconds, I pulled out on the street behind her. I could tail pros undetected with one hand tied behind my back. Come to think of it, I had once. Addy was not a pro and it was easy to follow her back to her place. Once she pulled onto her street, I knew she was close enough to home to be safe. I turned one street past hers and headed back to my place. It was a good thing she had asked for a later date. After I left her, Chris had called with a small mission for me to handle while in the area. He was going to make sure he kept me busy when he could.
