“Katie, stop!”
She did, surprised. “What?”
Kaleb wasn’t looking at her. His brown eyes, still dark, were now narrowed with suspicion and anger as he rose off the bed and stalked over to her desk. Katie watched as he reached around her books and shifted aside her papers.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Did you move it?”
Frowning, Katie went over to stand next to him. “Move what?”
“The jammer.” He looked towards her. “It’s not here.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
They tore apart her room looking for the thing. But it was gone. Even the cords were missing. It was as though the thing never existed.
“Was someone in your room?” Kaleb asked her, his frustration vivid on his face.
Katie shook her head. “Of course not!” But someone had been. Someone had taken the jammer. “Maybe my aunt was cleaning up and didn’t know what it was,” she thought, already knowing that was very impossible as her aunt never went in her room unless Katie was there.
Nevertheless, she slipped on her top and left him in her room to hurry downstairs. Her aunt looked up after having sent off the last customer at the register. She looked surprised to see Katie.
“Everything all right?” she said as Katie reached the counter.
“Yeah, fine,” Katie lied, trying to regulate her breathing. “I was just wondering if you happened to be in my room today.”
Her aunt frowned, drawing back a notch. “No. Why? Is something missing?”
“It’s just something I had on my desk,” Katie explained. “It’s not there.”
After giving a customer walking past the register a smile, her aunt looked back at her, her frown returning. “Was it condoms?”
Taken so completely by surprise, Katie didn’t have anything to say for a moment.
“Because I have some in my room if you—”
“No!” she said a little too loudly. “It was a box, a small, black converter looking thing. Like a TV box, but with antennas.”
Her aunt shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I haven’t. But I can help look for it, if you like?”
Katie thanked her and declined before making her way back upstairs. Kaleb was still in her room, staring at her desk as though willing the jammer to reappear just by the force of his gaze.
“She hasn’t seen it,” she told him. “And if someone had come up here, she probably didn’t see them.”
“Fucking bastard.”
Taken aback by the cold, hard fury intertwining with the low, calm of Kaleb’s voice, Katie couldn’t think of anything to say for a whole two heartbeats.
“We can’t really be surprised,” she murmured. “I mean, it was only a matter of time before he—”
“I really don’t care if he’s watching the rest of the place, but the very idea that he’s watching you in your room makes me want to gut him alive.” Brown eyes swiveled in her direction, dark with rage. “You should take your aunt and stay in a motel, or with me. You two can take the bed. I’ll crash on the sofa. I don’t care as long as you’re safe.”
Touched, she went to him and put her arms around his neck. “Whether I’m here or there, you know he’s watching me.”
His fingers tightened on her hips. “At least there, I can protect you. I won’t lie awake at night wondering…” he trailed off. His mouth thinned into a white line as his jaw muscles set.
She kissed his chin. “Then stay here.”
He smoothed a finger along her cheek. “What will your aunt say?”
Katie shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe no, but I’ll talk to her.”
Her aunt said no, especially when Katie couldn’t tell her for how long, or why.
“Why don’t you spend a few nights at his place?” her aunt had asked. “I don’t mind watching the shop.”
That wasn’t the point. Katie refused to leave her aunt alone, not after what happened to Ashlee.
It was on the end of her mind to simply sneak Kaleb in while her aunt was sleeping, like she had that other night, except it had been spontaneous and reckless the first time, doing it repeatedly only made Katie feel like she was lying and deceiving her aunt. And she had never intentionally done that.
She considered just telling her aunt the truth, to tell her about Simon and the threat, but one mention of it and Katie knew they would be packing their bags and moving out of the province. Not only did she doubt that would fix anything, but there was a good chance her aunt would call the police. She couldn’t allow that to happen.
“I’ll just have to be careful,” Katie told him as they sat on the sofa.
“I don’t like it, Katie,” he murmured, reaching over and taking her hand.
Scooting over and curling into his side, Katie sighed.
When it was time for him to go, she borrowed her aunt’s car keys and drove him to the hospital to pick up his car.
“Aren’t you going home?” he asked, when she cut the engine and tugged out the keys.
Katie shook her head. “I’m going to go check on Ashlee.”
His face hardened. “Katie—”
“I know.” She pocketed the keys and kicked open her door. “But she’s in there because of me. I need to know if she’s okay.”
Expelling a sigh, Kaleb followed her out into the cold air and inside. She didn’t ask him to leave as they made their way to Ashlee’s room.
Mrs. Lambert looked up when they approached. Her eyes were puffy and her nose was red, but she wasn’t crying anymore.
“How is she?” Katie asked.
Mrs. Lambert sniffled, rubbed at her nose with the ball of tissue fisted in her hand and shook her head. “Doctor says she’ll be fine in a day or two.”
“But that’s good,” Katie said, not sure why the woman looked like she’d lost a child.
“Yes.” She released a shaky breath. “I just don’t understand why someone would do that, you know? The police were here and they talked to your friend…”
“Larson,” Katie supplied when the older woman faltered.
Mrs. Lambert nodded. “The way he told it, the police said it sounded deliberate, like someone wanted to hurt her and I just … I don’t understand.”
“There’s a lot of really bad people out there, Mrs. Lambert,” Kaleb said quietly. “But Ashlee’s fine now.”
Mrs. Lambert smiled at him gratefully, but didn’t comment.
“Can we see her?” Katie asked. “Is she awake?”
Taking another deep breath, Mrs. Lambert looked towards the room. “She was a few minutes ago. Your friend’s in there with her now.”
Katie frowned. “Larson?”
Not waiting for a response, she moved towards the door and peered inside.
The room was white with a faint hint of turquoise that reminded Katie of the inside of a toothpaste tube. A single florescent light flickered above the bed, illuminating the two figures perched on top.
Larson sat on the edge, right at Ashlee’s hip with one hand resting lovingly over the one she had on her abdomen. His back was hunched as he leaned over her, close enough to catch whatever she was telling him without missing a word. Katie couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she had never seen her friend look so serious.
Larson shook his head and responded in the same soft murmur that was followed by the gently brush of his hand over the side of Ashlee’s face. Katie waited for her friend to retaliate, to smack the hand away. Instead, Ashlee’s eyes closed and she turned into the touch. When she opened her eyes again, they were soft and filled with something Katie wasn’t sure Ashlee had ever aimed at anyone. Larson smiled down at her, his hand still cradling the side of her face. His thumb stroked her bottom lip and Ashlee blushed.
Feeling like a voyeur, Katie slipped quietly back and away from the door. Her back bumped into Kaleb, who rested both hands on her hips to steady her.
“They’re talking,” she said, turning to face him. “I’m going to wait. You sho
uld probably—”
“We’ll wait together,” he said firmly.
“But you have work tomorrow,” she reminded him.
“And you have school,” he countered. “I’m not leaving you here alone. I can wait.” He drew her closer. “Are you hungry?”
She tried to think when she’d eaten last. It could have been that morning, but she couldn’t be sure. Now that he’d mentioned it, her stomach gave an unflattering rumble.
Kaleb chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
The cafeteria was dimly lit and nearly empty. A bedraggled man sat hunched over a cup of coffee in one corner and there was an old woman poking at a soggy salad in the other. A woman with a hairnet and white smock was furiously scrubbing the display counter, which was as desolate as the room.
“Maybe we should drive somewhere,” Kaleb suggested, eyeing the single tuna sandwich, a container of wilted salad, another of dry carrots with apprehension.
Katie chuckled. “I think there’s a vending machine one floor down.”
She was back in the corridor, following the blue lines to the stairway when her wrist was caught and she was yanked into Kaleb’s arms. Her squeak died in a giggle as she shook the hairs off her face and peered up at him.
“I think I would like to take you out somewhere to eat,” he decided evenly.
“Now?” she said.
He shook his head. “No, I know you want to stay with Ashlee tonight, but soon.”
She raised her eyebrows in interest. “And what brought this on?”
“Well,” he wrapped a strand of her hair around his finger. “I know you’re left handed. I know you chew your pencil when you daydream and how you always wrinkle one side of your face when you’re concentrating. I know you can’t draw and spend most of Art class doing Algebra. I know you like the color green and are severely addicted to coffee—” He grinned when she laughed. “I know you like it when I talk dirty and how it turns you on. I know all the place you like to be touched, all the places you like being kissed. I know how your entire body shudders and how your toes curl when you’re about to c—”
“Kaleb!” Mortified, she did a quick search of the corridor and was relieved to find it empty.
Chuckling, he pulled her to him as he continued. “I’ve met your friends and your aunt, and you’ve met my family and…” he trailed off as he bit his lip. His lashes slipped down to shield eyes. He raised a hand and cupped the back of her head. He drew her in closer. “I’m crazy and hopelessly in love with you, but we have never gone out on a single date.”
Her heart a warm melted puddle in her chest, Katie encircled his shoulders with her arms and arched up on her toes to close some of the height difference.
“We went for coffee,” she reminded him. “And I cooked at your house and we had Chinese just the other night. Oh! And we watched a movie with Ash and Larson.”
He shook his head. “Doesn’t count. I want to take you out.”
Tucking her bottom lip between her teeth, Katie grinned at him. “I’d like that.”
“Next weekend,” he decided. “I’ll get off work early. Just pick the place.”
She narrowed her eyes playfully. “Anywhere?”
“Anywhere.”
He kissed her.
Deliriously happy, Katie momentarily forgot about all her troubles. There was nothing in that moment but the man in her arms and the endless miles of joy bubbling through her. It amazed her how deep he’d burrowed beneath her skin, so far in that she was fairly confident she’d never shake him.
“I’m crazy about you, too,” she whispered against his mouth.
Beaming, he pulled back, took her hand and led her to the stairway.
Larson was in the hallway when they returned to Ashlee’s room, armed with bags of chips, sodas, and chocolate. He turned at the sound of their approaching feet.
He looked exhausted, Katie thought. There was a dark growth along his jaw and rings around his eyes. His clothes were rumpled—more rumpled than usual—and he sat slumped in his chair like he was two seconds from falling asleep.
“Hey,” he said when they took the seat opposite him.
“Is she in there with her mom?” Katie asked.
Larson nodded. His ring glinted when he raised a hand and grinded the heel into the back of his eyelids. He yawned loudly.
“Why don’t you go home?” Katie said with a slight laugh. “Get some rest.”
He shook his head, hand dropping into his lap. “I’m not leaving her alone here. They could come back to finish the job.”
Katie’s gut wrenched. “They won’t come back,” she said.
“You can’t know that,” Larson muttered. “I’m not taking that chance.” He looked from her to Kaleb. “What are you guys doing here?”
She was a little annoyed he would even ask.
“She’s my best friend,” Katie replied curtly.
“Huh,” was all Larson said, dropping his gaze to the torn hole over his knee.
Spine stiffening, Katie frowned at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” But it was very clear that it was something.
“If you have something to say…” Katie said sharply.
“I don’t.” Yet his brown eyes were cold and distant when they turned on her. “Just find it curious that you’re all concerned now when you had all this time to do something about it and didn’t.”
Outraged, Katie gritted her teeth. “Like what?”
“Like tell your friends their lives were in danger!” he shot back. “Ashlee would never have been on that street today if she had known. I would have found this bastard ages ago and she wouldn’t be here now.”
“I was trying to protect you guys,” Katie countered. “I was trying to keep—”
“A lot of good that did,” he said. “It’s your fault she’s in there and it would have been your fault if she’d died.”
“Enough!” Kaleb looked about two seconds from launching himself at Larson. His eyes were cold sparks of fire shimmering against pools of dark brown. “You have no right to talk to her like that.”
Katie touched Kaleb’s knee with a trembling hand. It was taking all her courage not to cry as she stared hard at her friend.
“If I could, I would change spots with Ashlee in a heartbeat,” she said slowly, determined not to let her voice waver. “And you’re wrong, it’s not my fault. I wasn’t the one driving the SUV. I was just the person trying to do the right thing by keeping her friends away from a lunatic.”
Larson averted his eyes, but he didn’t speak, nor did he seem remotely close to forgiving her. But Katie had realized something else and it overshadowed the deep, gnawing hurt at the pit of her stomach.
“What color was the SUV?”
Larson looked up and shrugged. “Black. Why?”
Katie’s insides coiled like springs. “Because a black SUV has been parked outside the shop for the last like two weeks.”
“That could be nothing, Katie,” Kaleb interrupted. “It’s a commercial street. People come and go and lots of people have black SUVs.”
Katie shook her head. “Pretty strange coincidence, isn’t it?”
“What are you two talking about?” Larson demanded.
Katie leapt to her feet. “I have to get back. That SUV was still parked outside the shop when we left and Aunt Hannah’s alone.”
Leaving Larson and Kaleb watching after her, Katie hurried for the stairs and tumbled down them all the way to the main floor. Both men were right behind her when she reached her aunt’s car.
“Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Larson said, panting slightly.
“Get in my car. I’ll explain on the way.” Kaleb told him as he jogged over to his Sedan. To Katie, he said, “I’ll meet you at the shop.”
Fishing out her keys, Katie only gave the smallest acknowledgement before throwing herself behind the wheel and starting the engine.
The sun was setting behind the city. The la
st rays sparked off shop windows, painting them with flames. The streets were full of people trying hard to get home after a long day, but it wasn’t packed. Katie could still see Kaleb’s Sedan parked two cars behind hers when she came to a stop at the traffic lights.
Reaching into the pocket of her coat, Katie jerked her phone free of the material. She flipped quickly through the contacts for the shop number. Her thumb was hovering over the green call button when the passenger side door flew open and a figure leapt inside.
The words died on Katie’s lips as the darkly clad shape turned on her. Cold, blue eyes fixed on her horror struck face through the slits in the sky mask. Something sleek and black glinted under the fading light as it was aimed for her midsection.
“Give me your phone!” said a muffled, male voice from behind the wood.
Trembling, Katie handed it over without question.
It was snatched from her by the hand not wielding the gun. “Drive.”
The light was green. The cars in front of her had already rolled away and the cars behind her were getting impatient. One leaned on his horn, splitting the night with the resounding blare. But Katie couldn’t bring herself to move. She was frozen in her seat.
“Drive!” the man growled.
Paralyzed with terror, it took several seconds of jostling from her own mind before she could bring herself to face forward, brace the wheel between both hands, and nudge down gently on the gas.
In the rearview mirror, she could see Kaleb’s Sedan, could see him, out of his car and starting towards her side of the car and the confusion and concern on his face. But he was shrinking fast the further she got.
“Who are you?” she dared herself to ask.
“Drive!” the man barked, still holding the gun pointed at her.
He dropped her phone into his lap and pulled out his own from the black hoody he wore. He brought it to his ear, never once taking his eyes off her.
“Yes, I have her. Yes. Understood.”
My Soul For You Page 32
