Without these things, I was pretty much useless when it cameto editing.When I worked in New York, I had a drawer in my desk full of threeof those five things.
Checking out was a breeze and as I headed back into thewaning daylight, I stowed the shopping cart and held on to my bag and case ofsoda with a death grip.Even though it was Saturday night, I would be workingonce I got my butt home and into comfy sweats.Working from home meant I keptweird hours.
Or in other words, I simply worked nearly every day.
I most definitely worked more now than when I traveled intoan office every day.Then it had been easier to separate home from work.Not somuch now.
As I neared my car, my steps slowed.When I’d gone into thestore, the parking space beside my car had been empty, and I’d walked pastplenty of vacant spaces on my way in and out, but now there was a van parked onmy driver’s side.
Not just any van.The creepy, white with no windows,kidnapper-type van.
My stomach dipped as I stopped a few feet from the van.Maybe I was just being paranoid after last night.Or maybe it had to do withColton’s warning about paying attention to anything weird, but either way, atiny ball of dread had formed in the pit of my stomach.
The bag was starting to cut into my fingers and the case ofcola was getting heavy.What could I do?Drop my groceries and run?Call Coltonbecause there was a creeper van parked next to mine?
God, I watched way too much Investigation Discovery channel.
Then, before I could make up my mind to do anything, thepassenger door creaked open and a male stepped out.My heart plummeted.Hedidn’t look like he belonged stepping out of a work van.No way, no how.Iwasn’t trying to be judgie-mc-judgers, but his dark trousers, tucked in darkblue shirt, and polished dress shoes did not fit the rusted, broken-downcreeper van.
Dark sunglasses obscured his eyes, but I had the distinctimpression he was staring at me.Probably because I was standing there like anidiot, but then again, at this time of day, I couldn’t figure out why he neededsunglasses.Ignoring the shiver slithering down my spine and the numbness in myfingers, I started walking again, fully prepared to turn the bag of groceriesinto a deadly weapon.
“It’s a nice night, isn’t it?”the man called out.
My aching fingers tightened around the strap of the plasticbag.I didn’t smile.I didn’t reply.The creep factor was off the charts, andas I neared the back of the van, I gave it a wide berth, ready for a posse ofinsane clowns to jump out and try to kidnap me.
Of course, the doors didn’t open.I was going to walk to thepassenger side and try to see if there was anyone else in the van before I wentto the driver’s door.Sounded legit.
“Your name is Abby, right?”the man said.
The air froze in my lungs, like I’d walked into subzerotemperatures.Tiny hairs all along my body rose as if an army of cockroacheswas running loose on my skin.I looked over my shoulder at him.
He stood by the back of his van with a close-lipped smile.Acold one.Predatory.“The Abby Ramsey, born and raised in Plymouth Meeting?Married her high school sweetheart who tragically passed away in a car accidentabout four years ago?The same Abby Ramsey who works from home as a freelanceeditor?”
Holy shit.
Holy shit balls on Sunday.
“Yeah, that’s you,” he continued.“You saw something lastnight that we need to chat about.”
Talking was the last thing we needed to do.My heart poundedin my chest as I faced him.Why did the parking lot seem so empty now?Itwasn’t.People were milling around, but no one was paying attention to us.Mygaze darted to the entry of the grocery store, trying to determine the distanceif I had to make a run for it.
I wasn’t much of a runner.
He took a step forward, and I blanched, lifting the heavybag, prepared to swing if he got any closer.He raised his hands.“I’m notgoing to hurt you.”
Famous last words.“Don’t come any closer to me.”
“I’m not.We can have our little conversation from adistance if that makes you happy.”He smiled again, but it was chilling.“All Ineed you to understand, and I need you to really get this, is that you’re notgoing to be able to identify anyone from last night.”
An icy knot balled in my stomach.
“That’s all, and that’s not a big deal, is it?Just keepyour mouth shut from here on out and nothing bad will happen.And you don’twant anything bad to happen, do you?”
I was beyond responding, my heart thumping heavily in mychest.That was a threat, a very thinly veiled threat.Part of me couldn’tbelieve this was happening.
“We want to make sure you keep your mouth shut,” he said inthe same friendly, conversational tone.“And I think you’ll understand fairlyquickly how serious we are.”
Just then, the passenger window rolled down and all I sawwas an arm extend out.A hand popped the side of the van, causing my heart tojump.The man backed up then, clapping his hands together as he said, “Now youhave a nice evening.”
