Twenty-four hours. That was the time allotted to him to uncover the details about what had happened in the Seaside Café’s parking lot.
* * *
The doorbell rang, and Cherie glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was ten minutes before nine. As she went to answer the door, she sent up a silent prayer that it wasn’t Bettina, because if her neighbor had an inkling of the incident in the Seaside Café’s parking lot, she probably would ask her a myriad of questions she had no intention of answering.
Cherie opened the door, and it wasn’t Bettina but Kayana and Leah standing on the porch. “Good morning.”
Kayana gave her a narrow look through the glass on the storm door. “Is it?”
“Aren’t you going to invite us in?” Leah asked.
She unlocked the door and opened it. “I’m sorry. Please come in.”
Cherie wanted to tell them she wasn’t ready to receive visitors, not when she looked as if she hadn’t slept in days. After taking a bath, she’d gotten into bed, and instead of sleeping, she’d cried until she had dry heaves. She’d relived the frightening scene in the parking lot over and over until exhaustion finally claimed her and she fell asleep.
When she saw her reflection in the mirror earlier that morning, her knees almost gave way. The imprint of the man’s fingers were clearly visible on her throat. Moving around like an automaton, she’d completed her morning ablutions and slipped into a pair of sweats and thick cotton socks. Reese told her he was coming back after his shift, and when she’d opened the door, she expected to see him and not her book club friends.
Kayana stepped into the entryway and caught her arm. “Stop and let me take a look at your neck.”
Cherie tilted her chin and was totally unprepared when Kayana snapped a picture of her throat with her smartphone. “What are you doing?”
“That’s evidence of what that crazy bastard did to you.”
She closed her eyes and didn’t tell Kayana Reese had already photographed her neck as evidence. “I’m trying to forget what he did to me.”
Leah brushed past her. “That’s not going to happen for a long time, Cherie. Even after the bruises go away, you’ll not forget how close you came to losing your life.” She held up two canvas totes. “Enough talk about lunatics. I’m making brunch.”
“Brunch at nine in the morning?”
Kayana grasped her hand and leaned closer. “Please don’t fight with Leah this morning. When Derrick told her about that man choking you, she had flashbacks of when her ex tried to strangle her before he pushed her down the stairs.”
Cherie bit her lip. Leah had made a passing reference to her husband physically abusing her but hadn’t gone into detail about his attack. She did mention that she had to be hospitalized after falling down the staircase in her home. Accidently falling was very different from being pushed.
“Okay. I won’t fight with her. I wanted to invite you guys over after I got my dining-area table.”
“Sorry about upsetting your plans because we’re here to take care of you in advance of you hosting a housewarming. And we intend to spend the day. We want to plan for our future book club meetings.”
“But aren’t you guys working?”
“No.”
“Didn’t Leah go into the café to bake?”
“No,” Kayana repeated. “Derrick decided to close today. Chief Shelton wanted to come to the restaurant to get a statement from him about the incident. My brother thought it would send a bad message to customers to see the chief’s car at the café, so he opted to close.”
“Couldn’t he take his statement over the phone?”
“Chief Shelton is totally by the book. For him, it has to be in person.”
“I have a confession to make.”
“What’s that, Cherie?”
“I’m glad you and Leah are here.”
Kayana dropped a kiss on her damp hair. “And I’m glad we decided to come. By the way, you home is absolutely gorgeous.”
“I agree,” Leah shouted from the kitchen. “It could be a layout for an architectural magazine.”
