“Sophia! I thought that was you,” a familiar voice greeted.
I looked up at the man I’d bumped into and was surprised to see my old neighbor Scott.
“Scott, hello. What are you doing here?” I asked nervously. It was probably a bit of a knee jerk reaction to be so suspicious of him when I hadn’t even seen him since my house caught fire. But with everything going on, I wasn’t sure who my stalker was. And Scott couldn’t be trusted.
“Oh, didn’t you know? I catered the event. Was a pretty big deal when the event coordinator approached my restaurant to do it. I had no idea you would be here though. You look wonderful and like you’ve healed up nicely.”
My nerves calmed down a little. I’d completely forgotten Scott owned a restaurant. It was a valid reason for him to be here.
“Well, that’s wonderful. I’m happy for you. And yes. All healed and feeling much better,” I told him with a sigh.
“Sophia, everything okay?” Alden asked, coming to my rescue.
“Yes. This is Scott. He was my neighbor before the house burned down.”
Alden sized Scott up but put on a polite facade, extending his hand to shake Scott’s outstretched one. “You’re the one who called 911, right?”
“That’s me. Awful what’s been happening. I hope they catch the guy that’s doing all this,” Scott told me, resting a hand on my shoulder briefly before pulling it away. “Anyway, I’ll leave you be. Must make sure dessert is ready to be served. Have a great night, Sophia.”
We said our goodbyes before he walked away. Alden turned to me and grazed his thumb down my cheek. “You okay?”
In response, I stood on my tip toes and kissed him gently. “I’m fine. Just a bit uneasy with everyone besides the few people we trust.”
He ran his hands up and down my shoulders in a comforting manner. “I know what you mean. It’s just better that we stay vigilant until this guy is caught.”
“Agreed.” I leaned into him and let him hug me for a moment. When we finally pulled apart and began walking back toward our table, a loud screeching sound began blaring all around us.
My hands flew to my ears to muffle the sound and I turned panicked eyes to Alden.
“What is that?” I shouted at him over the alarm.
“Fire alarm! We need to find Darren and Porter!” he yelled back. I nodded and we hustled down the hallway back toward the main area of the venue. When we got there, people were being led out of the building in a quick manner with Darren and Porter among those helping. We rushed over to them and got relieved glances when they saw us.
“You okay?” Darren asked me loudly. I nodded and hugged him quickly.
“What’s happening?” Alden asked him seriously.
“Someone set fire to a few of the rooms on the second floor of the building on the east side. Those that stayed behind at the stations are heading this way with the trucks and police are helping to clear the building. It’s spreading pretty fast though. Alice and Porter’s mom got out and already left,” he explained, reassuring that they were fine before I could even ask. Then he turned to me. “Alden is going to take you to the SUV while Porter and I stay behind to help put out the fire. We’ll hitch a ride back home from Dad, okay?”
“Okay, be safe. Both of you,” I ordered them, leaving no room in my tone for them to argue with me. Not that they would. I gave them both a brief hug and slightly lingering kisses before taking Alden’s hand and rushing out the door.
Most of the attendants had already cleared the main area minus some of the firefighters who were staying behind. The parking lot was emptying fast since people were all too happy to get out of harm’s way. By the time we made it to Porter’s SUV, it was one of the few vehicles remaining in the parking lot.
He walked me to the passenger side and helped me in, fastening my seat belt for me. But just as he was pulling away to close the door, a dark figure emerged from behind him and brought his hand down hard. Whatever the figure was holding connected with the back of Alden’s head and knocked him out immediately.
I didn’t have a chance to scream before the object Alden had been struck with was pointed directly at my face.
It was a gun.
And the hand holding the gun belonged to the same masked man who had attacked me in the hospital. His disgustingly sweet scent was already reaching my nostrils and making my stomach roll.
My stalker had found me.
“Don’t make a fucking sound, or I’ll put a bullet in his brain,” the man commanded me, proving his point by moving his hand to position the gun pointing down at Alden’s prone body.
I bobbed my head vehemently. The man chuckled, knowing damn well he had me. I probably would’ve fought him gun or no gun had Alden not been here. But he was using him as a bargaining chip for my cooperation. And I’d give it if it meant sparing Alden.
The man pointed the gun back at me and bent down to retrieve the keys from Alden’s hand, then quickly pushed my door closed and rounded the SUV to the driver’s side. When he climbed in and closed the door, he kept the gun aimed at me as he fumbled with something in the pocket of the black hoodie he wore. When I saw what he was looking for being pulled from there, my heart sped up and terror filled my veins with ice.
