I crossed to the bed and lowered her down carefully.
She shifted again, a small moan escaping her as her body adjusted to the mattress, then she settled.
I pulled the covers up over her, tucking them lightly around her without jostling her shoulder.
Her hair had fallen across her face and I reached out, brushing it back gently.
She didn’t wake.
Didn’t move.
Just… slept.
I stood there for a second longer than necessary.
Long enough to make sure she was comfortable.
Long enough to make sure she was safe.
Then I turned and moved to the window.Pushed the curtain aside just enough to look out.
We were on the third floor.Good height.No easy access and no way someone was climbing up here without making noise.
I scanned the area below, the alley, the street, and the building across from us.
Nothing.Still nothing.Good.It needed to stay that way.I let the curtain fall back into place and stepped out of the room, leaving the door open.
I went back to the living room window, grabbed my cigarette, and lit it again.The flame flared briefly before settling.I took a drag, letting the smoke fill my lungs as I leaned against the frame and looked out over State Street.
Another stretch of hours where I didn’t sleep.
Didn’t relax.Didn’t let my guard down.
Because the second I did, that’s when something would happen.
And I wasn’t letting anything touch her again.
Not a bullet.
Not a threat.
Not a damn thing.
I exhaled slowly, smoke drifting out into the night, and settled in.
Another sleepless night.
Exactly where I needed to be.
Chapter Five
Britta
I woke up disoriented for about three seconds.
Not in a panicked way but more in awhere the hell am I and why does my arm feel like it got in a fistfight with a lawnmowerkind of way.
Then I blinked up at my ceiling, saw the little water stain in the corner near the closet that I kept meaning to complain to the landlord about, and remembered.
