by Nikki Chase
Jessica’s not screaming anymore, but I can hear her saying something in a shrill, urgent voice. She strikes me as the kind of woman who would take care of her own shit as much as she can. The fact that she’s now literally screaming for help in the street must mean something serious is happening.
With urgency, I tear open my front door. And there she is, looking as radiant as she did a couple hours ago in the same stunning dress. Under the full moon and the dim yellow street lights, she’s holding her phone up to her ear, her head turning this way and that. She looks confused and disorientated. And scared.
I rush to her side, glancing at her house as I do. It’s completely dark next door. That’s unusual, but not a reason to panic on its own.
“Yes. Yes. Okay, thank you,” Jessica says into the phone. Her eyes are wide with fear as she turns to look at me.
“What happened?” I ask as soon as she hangs up.
“I… I don’t know. I came home and everything was dark. The door. It was open. I… I can’t find Max,” she says, stumbling all over her words. I place one hand on her shoulder to help calm her down. She’s shaking, I realize. She picks at her own dress as the blood rushing in her veins triggers her fight-or-flight instinct and make her antsy.
“Max?” I pull my brows together and level my gaze at her. Is Max a boyfriend? The guy she went out with earlier?
“My dog,” she says.
I breathe a sigh of relief, although I’m not sure why. Is it because at least the potential victim is not human? Or is it because I’m glad she doesn’t have a boyfriend? Because if it was the second reason, that would be pretty messed up, even by my standards. This is hardly the time.
“Was there anyone else in your house? Does anybody have the key?”
“No, the house was empty. Except for Max. Oh God, do you think he might be hurt?” She’s acting like the dog is the most important thing in the world right now, when a criminal could’ve entered her home and hurt her. Good thing she was out of the house.
“Does anybody have the key to your house?” I repeat.
“No. I mean yes. Tony has a copy, but he wouldn’t have come without calling me first.”
“Just now, on the phone. That was the police?” I’m dying to find out more about this Tony, who I can safely assume is human, but I ignore both Tony and Max for now. I need to take care of what really matters. The perpetrator may still be in the house.
“Yes.”
“Good. They’re coming?”
“Yes. They said they were going to send someone.” Jessica’s breathing is slowing down. Her fingers still fidget, but at least now she can focus on answering my questions. During a crisis, it’s common for people to calm down when there’s a task in front of them, especially if they feel like they’re actively doing something to fix the situation.
“Listen. Scarl—Jessica. I’m going to sweep through your house right now. It doesn’t look like anybody’s inside right now. If there was somebody, he would’ve likely left by now. But just to be safe, you should go to my house and stay inside. Okay?” I look into her eyes to make sure she understands. Even simple directions can seem confusing to someone who’s not thinking clearly.
“But Max is—“
“I’ll find Max for you,” I say, cutting her off mid-sentence. She’s starting to get on my nerves. Honestly, she needs to quit worrying about the dog and start thinking about herself. “If he’s in there, I’ll get him out. But it’s not safe for you to be here. Whoever it was that broke in may have been looking for you.”
Fear flashes in her eyes. Yes. Finally, she’s getting it.
“Get inside my house now. Lock the door. Stay inside until the cops get here.” I pull my gun out of the waistband of my jeans. When I take one last look at her, I realize I should’ve done that from the beginning. Seeing the gun seems to have made her realize the gravity of the situation.
She blinks a few times before her gaze falls on my face. She nods rapidly and makes her way into my house as quickly as her high-heel shoes would allow.
As I move toward the front door, I look around to check if anybody’s lurking in the shadows. With only the moonlight and the car headlights to brighten my surroundings, I can’t see much. I listen for footsteps, perhaps some rustling in the grass or the sound of twigs breaking, but there’s nothing.
The floorboards of the deck creak as I approach the front door. Jessica’s right; it’s wide open. There’s no damage on the door, which at first glance would suggest that whoever Tony is, he’s the one who has dropped Jessica a visit. But Jessica has an older door with a shitty lock that can easily be pried opened with a simple slide of a credit card.
If there was someone at the time Jessica came home, he would’ve left when she started screaming. Most burglars aren’t violent and would rather run away than escalate the situation by assaulting the homeowner. The latter would only increase their risk of getting a harsh sentence if they get caught.
Besides, there are always other houses to raid. Most burglars are pretty mercenary; they see their work as an entrepreneurial enterprise and constantly reassess their risks and rewards.
I turn on the lights as I check the rooms in the house one by one. The kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, and the two bedrooms. It doesn’t take long.
“Max!” I feel like an idiot yelling in an empty house. Although I’ve checked the house, a dog could hide in small spaces where a human wouldn’t fit. Hearing his name being called could draw the dog out.
“Max!” I open the closets and kitchen cabinets. Now I regret not asking Jessica what kind of a dog Max is. He could be a horse-sized Great Dane or a pint-sized Chihuahua.
Okay, so the dog is either not inside the house or he doesn’t respond to a stranger calling him. Maybe he’ll come if Jessica calls him. With the house empty, it’s safe for her to go back inside, at least for now.
The police should be able to tell us if this is a common occurrence around here. And if it is, she should have nothing to worry about since the perpetrator probably wasn’t specifically targeting her.
“Max!” I walk outside and stand on the sidewalk. I see movement in the shrubs in front of the house across the street. I squint and see a hint of something white and brown moving. I quietly close in, careful not to scare whatever’s in there.
Just as I’m about to reach out my hand to make an opening in the hedge, a wet nose appears. Then, a pair of friendly eyes on a background of shiny white, brown, and black fur. A pink tongue slides out and licks my hand, covering it with dog drool.
“Hi, Max,” I say while I pat the dog’s head. I check the name on the collar. Yup. This is the right dog. “Good boy, Max.”
I hear the click clack of a woman’s heels on the asphalt and turn around as my hand pets Max’s head.
“Oh my God. You found him,” Jessica says. She exhales with relief, her eyes filling with water as she gets closer, her eyes fixed on Max as if she’s afraid he’s going to disappear if she so much as blinks. “Thank you.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I say.
As Jessica crouches right beside me, the bushes in front of us starts to shake, presumably from Max’s tail wagging. He emerges from the hedge and she leans down to hug him. “Oh, Max. You’re okay.”
“We should move. You don’t want to destroy this nice hedge,” I say as I stand up, looking at Max as he wiggles with the back half of his body still buried inside the shrubs and his face smushed in Jessica’s chest.
Lucky bastard. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I wish I was that dog right now.
“Come, Max. Let’s go home,” Jessica says, getting up. Max follows her out of the hedge and looks expectantly at her. Jessica turns her attention toward me and gives me the sweetest smile I’ve ever seen.
Before I can even deal with the warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest caused by that genuine smile, she throws her hands around me and hugs me tight. She says, “Thank you.”
I swallow as I try to ignore how n
ice it feels to have her body pressed up against my chest. Warmth radiates from her slender body. Her hair smells like creamy vanilla, like what lingered on my sheets after that night. I inhale the scent of her and wish I could take her home, keep her in my arms all night.
The sound of a car turning onto the street ends the moment. We both look toward the bend, where a police car is approaching. Jessica pulls away and breaks the hug, but not before giving me another grateful smile.
And there, in that moment of vulnerability, I see desire flash in her green eyes as her hands linger for a few seconds too long on me. She definitely still wants me.
I know your secret now. You’re not getting away from me. I don’t care if you have a boyfriend. Tony can go to hell.
Jessica
“So he has already rescued you twice and it has only been, what, one week?” Tony looks at me with a smug, knowing smile on his face.
“A little over that.” I frown at him. I'm not going to encourage that annoying smile. “Saying that he rescued me seems a bit much, don't you think? He fixed my car once, and he waited with me while the cops were on their way. That’s all. He’s just a good neighbor.”
“Yeah, it sounds like he did more than that, though. I wouldn’t fix a car or enter a house that’s just been broken into for a neighbor.”
“That’s because you can’t fix a car, Tony. And you can’t check a house for intruders either. He’s ex-Navy SEAL, so it’s, like, all in a day’s work for him. The equivalent would be you giving your neighbor’s kid a few tips to help him pass his English test,” I say as I turn on the electric kettle on the counter of the shared staff kitchen.
“Last time I checked, fixing cars wasn’t in the job description for the military.”
“I was referring to the break-in, obviously.”
“Okay. Let’s see. First, he gave you a ride on his sexy Harley Davidson. Then, he sexily checked your house to make sure there were no baddies in there. He even found your dog—in an equally sexy manner, I bet. Geez, what does a guy have to do to deserve the verb ‘rescue’ around here? Straight guys sure do have it rough.” Tony takes a loud sip of coffee from his Best Dad Ever mug.
“Does Greg have the same mug? Because I honestly think you're just an okay dad. He's the one stuck at home with the kids most days.”
“Nobody asked you for a Yelp review on my parenting, Jessie. Sticks and stones may break my bones, and all that.” Tony shrugs. “Don't change the subject. We're still talking about your dreamy neighbor-slash-ex-lover.”
I exaggerate the shudder running down my spine to show Tony the effect of his cringey choice of words on me. I look around the break room to check that it's still just the two of us here before I roll my eyes. “He's hardly a ‘lover.’ Ugh, please never use that word again. We slept together once.”
“I see. I notice you have no objections to the use of the adjective ‘dreamy.’” Tony puts his mug down on the counter as a victorious smile spreads across his face.
I shrug and lean against the counter to put a teabag in a mug. I need to occupy my hands so I don't fidget. I don't know if it's the break-in or just talking about Jacob that's making me anxious, but I don't want Tony to notice and get worried.
“I’m not going to deny he’s hot. I wouldn’t have slept with him otherwise,” I say.
“Oh, Jessie, Jessie. You think you’re so clever, trying to trick me. But I see right through you. You, young lady, are transparent.” Tony points an accusing finger at me. “You’re hardly the one-night-stand type. I bet you really liked him. Maybe you still do.”
“Eh. You didn’t know me back then. Maybe I used to be the type. Maybe I’m just reformed now.”
“Jessie likes a bo-oy,” Tony taunts in a sing-songy voice.
“I was a stripper,” I say in a low voice. “Maybe I used to have emotionless sex all the time. You don’t know.”
Tony is the only person in the entire school who knows about my past. He knows I used to strip for a living and he knows why I moved here.
We’re the only teachers in Ashbourne High School who are in our twenties, so we quickly bonded over our shared love of Taylor Swift. He’s now my “contact person in case of emergency” on all my legal forms.
One day, he opened up to me about growing up gay in a small town and told me how he felt like he had to hide who he really is for the longest time.
I said I knew how he must’ve felt. Then I told him how I’m hiding the fact that I used to be a stripper from everyone in town. That opened the floodgates and soon he knew all my deepest, darkest secrets.
“So why not do it again now?” Tony challenges. “Why not have emotionless sex again with Jacob?”
“Well, maybe I will.” I meet Tony’s stare while I pour the boiled water from the kettle into the cup and play with the teabag.
“Go ahead and do it, then. We both know you need to get laid. The way your Tinder date ended, Mr. Dreamy Neighbor’s your best bet right now.”
“Like I said, maybe I will, if I feel like it.”
“Okay. Maybe then you’ll admit I’m right.”
“You’re right regarding…?” I take a tiny sip of my piping hot tea, peering at Tony over the mug.
“Regarding how much you like Mr. Dreamy Neighbor,” he says. “It’s obvious he likes you, too.”
“It is?” I ignore the new name Tony has bestowed upon Jacob.
“Why else would he move to a small town where he doesn’t know anybody?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s just a drifter. He never said he was going to stay here. Or maybe he’s got work to do.”
“Yeah? What kind of work?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me what he does for a living.”
“Yeah. I’d bet my favorite Valentino shirt that Mr. Dreamy Neighbor’s here to do something, or someone, but it’s not work.” Tony raises one eyebrow and shoots me a sly smile.
“Hey, let’s not forget that he may have been sent by Stan to kidnap me, okay? I’ve never had a break-in before he moved in.”
“Is that why you didn’t stay at his place after he offered?”
“Kind of. It was also because the cops didn’t seem too worried about it, like that kind of thing happens all the time and nobody ever gets hurt, because the robber usually just wants to steal stuff and not hurt people. I figured I was safer on my own than with someone who could be Stan’s guy, who could’ve set up the break-in himself to trick me into staying with him.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“Not really,” I admit. Jacob is a little rough around the edges, but I don’t get the vibes that he’d ever do anything to harm me. Having worked at a strip club for years, I know the telltale signs of a violent man, and Jacob is not one.
He’s a big guy, but he wouldn’t hurt me. Not unless I want him to. My dirty mind flies to the time we spent in his bed, his teeth biting on my neck, his fingers pulling my hair. Exquisite pain. Mind-blowing pain. Rock-my-world pain.
It’s rare that I come across a man who instinctively knows what I need and gives it to me. Most men are either too passive or too selfish in bed. Not Jacob. He took me fast and hard, used me for his pleasure, but not without making sure I’m satisfied, too.
“Earth to Jessie,” Tony says, putting an abrupt end to my daydream. “Sorry for the interruption, but the look on your face is…curious, to say the least.”
As I flick my gaze toward him, he smirks smugly and says, “Thinking about all the meaningless sex you’re going to have with Mr. Dreamy Neighbor?” He raises the pitch of his voice and says, “Oh, Mr. Dreamy Neighbor, I need to get laid so bad. Please do me with your dreamy, engorged manhood.”
“Whatever, Tony. I need to get to class.” I take my mug of tea with me as I rush out toward the hallway before Tony can come up with something snarky to say, before he notices my face turning red. My cheeks already feel warm. Damn my pale complexion.
I sit at my desk in my classroom. I actually still have a fe
w minutes to waste before the bell rings, but Tony doesn’t need to know that.
I grab my phone and click the app with the envelope icon. I should really clear my mailbox someday. I’m subscribed to too many newsletters that I don’t even recognize anymore.
I delete most of my new emails until there are only three left. The electricity bill, the water bill, and an email from someone called Caine Foster with a subject that says “Urgent: We need to talk about Nancy Jones.”
A shiver runs down my spine. Could this be Stan catching up to me?
I haven’t shared this email address with anybody from my previous life. In fact, I deleted all my old online accounts and created new ones when I left the city.
There’s only one way to find out. I tap on the email to open it. The message inside is short.
Miss Lewis,
Please don’t be alarmed. You don’t have any reason to trust me, but I’m here to help you. We can’t discuss much over emails for obvious reasons. Please meet me in person. I’ll be in town two weeks from now. Pick a time and a public place where you’ll feel safe. Hope to hear back from you.
Regards,
Caine Foster
Jacob
“What are you doing?” Jessica climbs up the porch and stands over my shoulders as I crouch by her front door.
“What does it look like?” I keep my eyes on my work, even though I want to turn around and take a good look at her.
This morning when she left for work, I saw her wearing a tight little green skirt. I would’ve loved having a teacher like her when I was in school.
I bet that ass looks cute wiggling in front of the class as she erases the writing on the whiteboard, and that loose blouse looks like the kind that would let me take a peek at her cleavage when she bends down to pick up a dropped pen.
“It looks like you’re tampering with my lock without my permission,” she says without missing a beat.
