I stand on the porch, my heart in my throat, and manage to shoot Caleb a quick message before descending onto the lawn.
Caleb:Stay indoors and make sure all windows and doors are locked. Send the kids upstairs. I’m on my way.
I locked the front door behind me, but I decide I’m gonna see what the prick wants. I really should’ve armored myself with a kitchen knife before doing this, but the kids are most likely watching from the window. I can’t exactly cause a scene even though the spike of adrenaline in my blood is forcing me to.
I shield my eyes as I grow closer.
That’s when the headlights snap off, and I’m dazed once again by the darkness. It takes me twice as long to reach the end of the lawn.
I bump into a body I don’t see coming, and almost lose my footing.
At least one thing has been set straight—my father wasn’t lying about the shit he’s in.
The man blends seamlessly into the night. The all-black outfit and the mask over his face is definitely something a stalker would wear.
“I have no contact with the man you’re looking for,” I tell him. “I’m afraid to be the one to tell you this, but all you’re doing is wasting gas.”
“Tell me where he is.”
I gulp as he turns his head to the side. I just know that he’s seeing the kids through the window.
It hurts to know that my father, even after nine years of distance, is still the same man from before. A small, regrettable part of me was hoping that he’d eventually wake up and see the light. But he’ll never see that if I save him.
Perhaps a prison sentence would sort him out. A bit of restorative punishment could set the record straight for him again. Unfortunately, law enforcement won’t get the chance to sentence him if this dude reaches my father first.
I can’t see any weapons, but I smell bloodthirst, and I know he has his beady eyes on the kids still. Maybe coming out here to confront him was a bad idea.
Men like him don’t lose.
“Tell me,” he repeats. “Where is your father? He owes a great deal of money to one of my clients, and has now been given one too many chances to pay that money back.” He makes a point of glancing through the window, where the kids are probably staring, making themselves known. “One of them is yours, isn’t it? The boy. And the girl—she belongs to the man whose house this is. You’ve been staying at his place, I take it. Since the fire.”
Oh, he’s a nasty piece of work that needs putting in his place, only I’m not the right fit for that job. If the kids weren’t here, I’d be confronting his ass about the break-in.
But I have lives that aren’t my own to protect.
“Taking them out of school won’t stop me from getting to them.”
Great. So now he’s watching my every move.
Was this really about finding my father, or about him keeping a close eye on me, gathering data so he can use it as leverage and make me crumble?
It’s working, I must say.
I cross my arms, buying more time. “I hope this guy, whoever he is, pays you well to be a fly on the wall in other people’s lives. I couldn’t imagine throwing away my own life to watch someone else’s.”
“People go to extremes just to land a bit of cash.”
Okay. So now he somehow knows that I was intending to commit insurance fraud.
“Last chance,” warns the man, speeding up the conversation. I wasn’t done diverting from it yet. “Tell me now or I go in there and?—”
“Good luck doing that with two broken legs.”
Caleb appears behind the man and wrestles him to the ground. This is a lot of drama for the kids, considering they’ve never seen him in a fight before.
Come to think of it, neither have I. But I like to imagine he’ll win, given how fucking buff he is. I stand back, astonished, as Caleb dives to the ground, taking the stalker with him.
“Leave her alone, and don’t come here again,” he barks, sharp enough that it lights something feral within. I’ve never heard Caleb raise his voice like this before. And it’s pleasantly surprising.
