“I hate to say I told you so...” Caden started saying.
“Then don’t.”
He shrugged his shoulders as he rested his hip against my sink in the too small space. I stood and squeezed past him and walked out of the bathroom. I needed some space to think, and I couldn’t do that with him eating up every inch of the bathroom with his broad shoulders.
I walked into my living room, and he followed behind me. I turned and looked at him now that I had space and his proximity wasn’t making me nervous anymore.
“How did you know they were here?”
He flopped down and casually relaxed on my couch as if he owned the place. He acted like there wasn’t a man lying unconscious, or possibly dead, in my bathroom.
“We’ve been watching your place since last night. I told you it wasn’t the end.”
“This is crazy.”
“Yes, I understand how you would feel like that. Do you have ESPN?” he said as he picked up the TV remote and flipped through the channels until he found a hockey game.
“Why are you sitting there like that? We’ve got to go to the police.” I wasn’t going to bother calling this time. What if I called and got the same crazy dispatcher again? No, I was going to go straight to headquarters. I wasn’t going to sit here with Caden and wait for this guy to wake up, while I tried to reason with them why this was indeed an emergency.
“I’m not going. They’re a waste of time, and plus they don’t particularly like me. Even if they did like me, they’re useless. I’m all you’ve got regardless of whether either of us likes it or not.” He paused, for what must have been a play on the game, and then looked back up as if he just remembered something important. “By the way, you can’t go out your front door. There are a couple men in the hallway.” Then he turned and continued to watch my TV.
I ignored him, went into my bedroom, and locked the door. I grabbed my worn out jeans and a sweater. I slipped on a pair of UGGS boots then made my way quickly to the front of the apartment.
“Hey, I told you, not the front. I’d like to be able to watch the rest of this game before I have to come save you again. Is that too much to ask?”
Ignoring him, I leaned against the door listening to see if he was indeed correct, that there were men waiting outside. Not hearing anything, I slowly opened it just a crack to peak out because I didn’t have a peep hole. It looked clear, so I took a step forward.
“How long you think this is going to take?” said a deep baritone voice from the stairwell.
“I don’t know, but I’ve got plans later with that girl Jess from the Quick Shop, so I hope he gets a move on it,” another male voice replied.
“Why couldn’t Carl do this shit himself?”
“He had to go meet with some of the big dogs. I think he’s got some competition for this one.”
“That good, huh?”
“He thinks she might be one of us. Pretty strong line too.”
“I can’t imagine that being good. A female us? Uugghhh, how ugly is she?”
“According to Carl, she’s pretty hot.”
“No way. She’s probably a total dog. He’s got really low standards. Remember Vanessa? That chick he was dating about six months ago? If you can hit that, you’ll hit anything.”
I tiptoed closer to the stairway to try to get a better view at the men insulting me. It was an open stairwell, and I could see down several flights, but they sounded closer than that. My adrenaline was coursing so quickly it was hard to breathe softly, and I was afraid they would hear me panting like the winded dog they implied I was, but I needed to know what the men looked like. If these people were after me, I had to be able to spot them.
I leaned slightly over into the stairwell and could see one man’s face about half a flight down partly shielded by the huge set of shoulders of the other man. Neither of them seemed that tall from this perspective, but they were both as wide as linebackers. The man speaking was not quite as unattractive as the man who was lying unconscious in my bathroom, but I could see visible pockmarks marring his skin even from this distance. It reminded me of Tommy Flanders, with his bad skin, who had tried to corner me for a kiss in the schoolyard when I was thirteen. I had handled him easily, with a swift kick to the groin, like my brother Ted had taught me. He had eventually apologized, and we became friends years later. I didn’t anticipate such a nice outcome this time. Carl was in a whole other league from a clumsy Tommy Flanders, who I could still remember with his carrot hair flaming in the schoolyard sun.
Since I couldn’t use the stairway, I’d have to leave another way. The only other option was the fire escape. I turned back toward my apartment and saw Caden standing in the doorway watching me.
“Are you done yet?” Caden asked once we got back inside.
“I’m going to the police. If I can’t use the door I’ll go out the fire escape.”
“It’s going to be the same as last night, but do what you have to do. It’s a waste of time. The police aren’t going to help you, and I’m really tiring of telling you this.”
“You are completely insane!”
“Sure, if that’s what you want to think. In the meantime, I’m going to go watch the game for a couple of minutes and then I’ve got some business to handle. I was figuring that I would drop you off at the bar on the way, but I guess not.”
“No, I guess you won’t, because I’m going to the police, not your bar.”
“How long do you think this whole thing is going to take?”
“What whole thing?”
“You know, the whole denial thing. Do you do this often?”
He was looking quite seriously at me expecting an answer.
“I think you need help,” I replied pointing my finger at him.
He laughed at this. “I need help?” And he kept laughing.
“I’m leaving now. Goodbye.”
“I won’t be back until later so try not to get abducted, okay? I don’t feel like hunting you down tonight.”
I completely ignored him. If I had to go it alone, so be it. He was crazy. I was going to tell the cops to get Caden out of my apartment too when I spoke to them. I left him sitting on my couch and ran quickly past the bathroom with the man still lying silent on my tiled floor. I reached my bedroom window and saw another man at the alleyway entrance. I didn’t know for sure if he was with them, but he was dressed in the same dark suits all the other guys wore, and I was already starting to see a cookie cutter trend in the way they looked. Not overly lean, but not fat, just bulky. As if they were trying to compensate for their rough looks with expensive suits and the trappings of high-end clothing.
My apartment building had a roof top patio, so when they had it constructed they extended the fire escape access all the way up. I climbed as quickly as I could without making noise, constantly looking back at the thug. He seemed to be too interested in his cell phone to watch for anything. Once I reached the top, I quickly ran to the other side and found that it was clear.
Climbing down the other side’s fire escape, I reached the last rung and let my body drop the final small distance down.
I was afraid to risk the exit that would bring me to the front of the street, so I cut through the back alleyways onto the next street over. I ran past my favorite florist on the right where my friend Jean worked. Jean and I were forever swapping seedlings. A fleeting thought of stopping in there for help came into my brain, but it left just as quickly. Jean and her employees would be completely overwhelmed. They almost had a mental breakdown when a banana plant brought a small swarm of fruit flies into the shop. How would they take it if I brought a large swarm of thugs in?
I turned the corner and the police station was in view. Taking the stairs two at a time, I ran up, in between the massive columns, and burst through the front door. I leaned back for a moment, savoring the victory of reaching a haven.
There was a young man behind the desk that had a friendly smile as I approached.
“Can I
help you?” he asked.
“Hello, my name is Alexandria Verdane. I need someone to go to my apartment. A man broke in, and he’s lying unconscious in my bathroom.”
“If you could write down your name and address, I’ll get you a detective right away,” he said with urgency.
He reacted exactly as I would think he should, with a serious look now replacing his friendly smile, as he dialed an extension into his desk phone and asked for a Sergeant Metulla.
“He’s coming right out miss. Don’t worry, he’s a great detective. He’ll be able to help you.”
“Thank you.” I started to relax a bit. The world was starting to behave in a normal manner again. I was just having a bad run of luck was all, just as I had initially thought. It was like the week of my senior prom when my boyfriend had the flu. I ended up having to go with my cousin who got drunk and threw up all over me. Instead of a traditional evening of teenage drunkenness and sexual initiations, I got a drunken cousin and a dress stained with vomit. Sometimes, you just have a bad run. A man that I assumed was Sergeant Metulla interrupted me from my ponderings of ruined prom nights.
“Ms. Verdane?” A balding man of about fifty-five asked.
“Yes.” I reached out to shake his thin hand.
“I was told you had an intruder?”
“Yes, he was lying in my bathroom when I left.”
“Come on back to my desk, and we’ll fill out a report. We’ve got a squad car heading over there right now.”
I sat down at his desk and looked at his many family pictures while he shuffled through some files.
“Okay, now if you can just tell me from the beginning?”
I hesitated for a moment, debating on whether I should start at last night’s events or just from this morning. I decided to leave out last night. For a reason that I wasn’t sure of myself, I just didn’t want to talk about or bring Caden into this, so I began at the point when the man had barged in on me while I was in the shower.
His phone started to ring, and he motioned with his hand to give him a minute.
“Yes?” he said. His forehead scowled slightly. “Did you do an entire sweep?” He then looked to me and it was clear that something had gone wrong. I started to get a sinking feeling. This was going to be worse than prom night.
“Ms. Verdane,” he said, “there is nobody at your place and no signs of forced entry. Are you sure that you saw what you thought?”
“I didn’t just see him, he attacked me. He was on my bathroom floor!”
“My patrol man says there is no one there. No sign of forced entry either. Were you drinking at all today?”
“I was absolutely not drinking. I’m completely sober.” I was not only getting frustrated, I was feeling quite insulted as well.
“Are you on any medications that might cause hallucinations?”
“Are you asking me if I’m a drug addict?”
He put his palms up and made a face that said as much.
“No! I’m on nothing! There was a man there!”
“He’s not there now, and there is no evidence of what you are saying. I’ll keep the report. If anything else happens you can give us a call, but there is nothing to investigate at the current time.”
“But there was a man.”
“I know you think there was…”
“No, there was.” I knew I was defeated.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything for you.”
He took my paper work and tossed it onto a pile that sat a foot high off to the side and returned his attention to another file. I remained sitting there, still slightly stunned. He looked up at me again and made a face, clearly wondering why I hadn’t left.
I stood silently. I didn’t bother to ask for help again, or worse, devolve into begging. Not that begging didn’t occur to me. I just knew it would be useless. Grabbing my purse, I left his desk. Once I got back to the lobby, I paused catching my reflection in a hanging mirror. No wonder he asked if I was on drugs. I was a mess. My hair was still wet and sticky in spots from shampoo. I hadn’t dried it, so it had made my clothes soaked all the way down my back. I couldn’t go back to my apartment now and change with those thugs hanging around, and I was afraid to have these goons follow me anywhere else.
I needed to understand what was going on. The only person who might be able to give me some answers would be Caden. The guy I had just insultingly informed that he was insane. This completely sucked. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of a better option. The bar was the only place I felt safe going. Too bad it wouldn’t be open for hours, and he said he was going to be gone until tonight. I’d have to find somewhere to hide out until then.
I stepped out of the lobby and into a department store figuring I could kill an hour in there easy. I was in the makeup department when I saw one of them enter. I dropped the mascara onto the counter and ducked behind a tall rack of wool jackets in the nearby coat department before he spotted me. Peeking around the corner, I saw his back was toward me, and I edged closer to the opposite door.
Waiting a couple of minutes I checked back again, I saw that he had been pulled into a conversation with one of the sales girls offering him a cologne sample. She was touching his arm and smiling at him. I didn’t need to be right next to him to know he was completely engrossed by the beautiful girl.
I took my opportunity to dodge out of the door unnoticed. Thinking over the safest route to the bar, I ducked in and out of alleyways and slowly crossed the distance on foot. There was now one thing I was certain of, I was being hunted.
Chapter Eight
This had been a bad idea. My stomach growled loudly, seconding the thought, as I dug in my purse looking for an old piece of gum or leftover Tic Tac. I could barely feel my toes anymore, and the sweater I wore did almost nothing for warmth. I had never been good at picking out clothes for functionality and at least two or three times a year I would pay the price. It wasn’t usually this high. Frostbite was a steep price for being vain. My toes had better make it or I was going to have a serious issue with karma, or god, or whoever makes these decisions.
I didn’t know what time it was, but it had been dark for hours, and the lights still had not come on at the bar. I’d been watching for them from my nook in the alleyway, diagonal from the front door. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get in even if the lights did come on.
I’d seen one of Carl’s guys from my apartment earlier lurking about a block away. He had walked right past my alley, and I’d had a real scare, but he hadn’t bothered to turn his head and look. With the full moon, it was brighter than normal. I thought I was caught for sure, but he just kept walking.
My phone was dead yet again. In a pathetic way, I was glad. I would have caved and called my brother Ted. I didn’t want to be here alone. This was more alone than I had ever been in my life. This was a level of desperate and alone like I’d never felt. I just wanted to go back a few days and be laughing with my friends over coffee and pancakes and talking to my family making plans for our next visit.
I looked back at the dark building. It was Sunday; maybe they didn’t open up today. What would I do then? It wasn’t as if he had a window to knock on however many feet he was under the ground.
I leaned my head back against the cinderblock building I crouched by. I had to make a plan, but my survival skills weren’t exactly well polished, so I was concerned my plan might go as poorly as this idea had. I knew the first thing I had to do was get out of this alleyway. That was the easiest decision if I wanted to keep my toes and fingers.
I stretched my legs and edged slightly closer, so I could see more of the street. It looked clear right now. If I could make it a few blocks away, I might make it out safely. I’d find the cheapest hotel I could and pay cash. I’d call out sick for Monday and tell Judith my boss I had the flu. I never called out, so if I had to milk it for a week they probably wouldn’t even question it.
I took a deep breath and went to step into the street when an arm wrapped arou
nd my waist from behind, and I was pulled against what felt like a very large, hard body. My feet were dangling a foot off the ground and I started to scream. As soon as I opened my mouth, a hand covered it.
“It’s Caden,” he said in a low voice.
I nodded my head in acknowledgment, and he lowered his hand.
“Don’t talk. They’ve got great hearing,” he whispered softly into my ear.
He lifted me up in his arms as if I weighed nothing, and he started walking in the opposite direction of the bar.
“Why are you carrying me? I can walk,” I tried to say it in the softest voice I could.
“Because you’re shivering and your feet are probably half numb by now. I don’t want you to fall. Now shut up. I don’t want to broadcast that you are here.”
Something struck me as off, and I realized it was that I couldn’t hear his footsteps. I looked down and could see when his booted feet hit the ground, but it was eerily quiet. It must have been the scientist in me, but I was transfixed on this as he carried me four blocks away.
We stopped in front of a cellar door slanting up from the ground, and he reached down with me still in his arms and opened it up, then continued to climb down a short flight of stairs. He put me down at the base of the stairs and closed the hatch. The moment he closed it, I lost all sense of vision, and the degree of darkness was a bit overwhelming in my current state. My eyes didn’t even have the tiniest light to adjust to. I didn’t like the dark on a good day, which this certainly wasn’t.
“Caden?” I hated the way fear changed my voice. I couldn’t even tell if I was alone anymore or if I had been dumped in a pitch dark cellar alone. I no longer felt like the tough, independent woman that had moved to the city, but a weak girl who needed someone to save her.
“I’m here.” I felt his strong hands encircle my waist as he turned me and started to guide me along in front of him. There was something slightly erotic about the experience.
Obsidian Souls (Soul Series) Page 4
