“I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?” Davis asked.
“I didn’t,” she said.
“It’s Donna, isn’t it? Donna Saxton?”
Donna hid her panic at him knowing her name. “Yes, that’s right,” she said. She knew that he either already knew her name or he could easily find it out to confirm it. Lying to him would be more suspicious.
“Are you sure you didn’t see anything or hear anything?”
“No, sorry, I can’t help. I hope you catch him.”
“I was trying to subdue him, and he overpowered me,” Davis said, watching her closely.
“Are you okay?” she forced herself to ask.
He smiled and took a step forward, coming closer than she was comfortable with.
Leo Davis rested his forearm on the door frame and leaned in. “I’m fine, thank you. Say, would you like to go out sometime?”
Shock and revulsion hit Donna. “Out?” She schooled what she knew had to be an expression on her face that matched her emotions.
Davis laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. You’re a beautiful woman, Donna Saxton.”
The sound of her name coming from him a second time sent chills through her. “I, um, I’m flattered, but I’m a single mom, three kids, and I can’t afford to hire a babysitter. Thank you, but dating is not something I can do right now, and it’s not in my near future either.”
“I’d gladly pay your sitter for a chance at your company one evening,” he pressed.
“Yeah, the last guy who said that got me pregnant and took off when I told him the consequences of sex,” Donna said flatly. “As I said, dating is something I can’t do right now.”
“I like challenges,” Leo said. “I’ll see you around, Donna.” He took two steps away from her door and then turned back around. “And if you saw anything, I can protect you if that’s what you’re worried about. "
“Saw nothing, sorry,” she repeated.
Donna stood staring through her open door at his back as he walked away from her building. He unlocked and opened the door of a black Camaro SS, at the far end of the parking lot. Then he turned and waved at her before he slid behind the wheel. The windows were heavily tinted, so she couldn’t see what he did or if he watched her after the door was closed.
She stared at the car, which hadn’t yet pulled out of the lot for a few minutes. Realizing what she was doing, she quickly shut the door, locked it, and then leaned against it. After a few seconds, she remembered the phone and raised the screen to look at it.It was black. At some point, Rich’s voicemail stopped recording and disconnected the call. She opened her text messages and sent him a text message.
I just left you a voicemail, not sure when it stopped recording, but I’m fine. I’m not sure he saw me, but he’s gone now. Call me when you get this and listen to the message.
Then she dialed her mom. It went straight to her mom’s voicemail. “Hi Mom. Give me a call when you get this. I need to talk to you.”
She ended the call and then sat on the floor, her back against the door. She ran the events and the entire conversation with Leo Davis through her mind several times as the image of his hands choking the man’s throat refused to leave her. Did he know she’d seen him strangle that man?
She wasn’t sure how long she sat until the phone in her hand rang, startling her. Her eyes went to the screen. Thirty minutes. She’d sat there for half an hour. She pressed accept. “Hi, did you hear the voicemail?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Are you okay, Donna?” Rich asked.
“Yeah, I think so. How long did it record before it cut out and disconnected?”
“Long enough. Are you sure about what you saw?”
“Yes, how can you ask that? He strangled that man. He was killing him.”
“People can be strangled to unconsciousness, but they don’t die unless the hold continues. He could have just choked him out but not killed him,” Rich said.
“Then why did he come to my door and say the guy got away?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t mean he was doing something illegal.”
