Saturday, December 02, 2006

Sample Saturday- Chapter Two - part six

For those just joining the story - chapter one can be read in its entirety on the October 21st entry and the first part of chapter two on the October 28th entry, the next segments on November 4th,11th,18th and 25th.


The edges of her vision blurred and she realized she was holding her breath again. Expelling the used air with a whoosh, she drug in a gulp of air and took a step closer to the door. She leaned toward the viewer, hesitating. Thumps on the door made her jump back.

“Who is it?” she croaked. Her voice catching on something tight in her throat.
Right behind her fear anger sizzled and flashed. Her house. Her sanctuary. He’d violated her domain. How dare he? She was mad enough to pummel the creep. Something one of the officers said came back to her; most stalkers were someone the victim knew intimately.

She didn’t have an ex-husband, or an ex-lover, the last date she’d had was more than a year ago. What was his name? James, no, Jason friendly, quiet man, who turned into a grabby gorilla ten seconds after they were alone. He hadn’t had the patience for wooing; she couldn’t imagine him doing something like this.

The idea one of her friends would terrorize her was incomprehensible. A stranger fixating on her made no more sense. She tried to do the right thing; to live her life according to the principles Nana held dear. She treated everyone fairly. Well, she may have been harsh with Derrick’s girlfriend but she’d deserved worse.

Another round of knocking reminded her she was still cowering behind her flimsy front door. “Who is it?” she repeated. This time her voice rang out strong and clear.

“Derrick.”

She peeked through the viewer to confirm his identity. Could he be the stalker? No. Derrick would be too busy dodging women to skulk around leaving them weird notes.

Bella cracked the door.

Derrick barged in and she gave way. “What’s going on? What are you doing still up at this hour?”

Five o’clock shadow had darkened to midnight stubble. The skin around his eyes looked tighter. His rumpled shirt, loosened tie and dangling from one finger jacket said he’d had a long day. He looked tired, solid, normal and sexy as hell.

Crossing her arms, she snapped back. “I might ask you the same thing.”

“I stayed to help with the clean up; found this in the truck,” he offered her evening bag. “I thought you might need your keys.”

“Thank you,” she took the small purse. “How did you know where I live?”

“Your driver’s license. Good picture, by the way, mine makes me look like a felon. So what’s going on here?”

“There was another note,” she admitted.

“Where?”

“In the refrigerator.” Goosebumps rose with the memory.

“Show me.”

Bella led the way to the kitchen grateful to move. “Would you like some coffee?”

“Yeah sure, if you’re making some,” he examined her backdoor. “This was locked?”

She paused on her way to coffee pot to glare at him. A wasted effort since he was absorbed with the backdoor lock. “Yes the house was locked. I locked the house when I left. It was locked when I got home and to save you the trouble of asking; the police found no sign of forced entry.”

“You called the cops? Good for you.”

His praise failed to soothe her.

“Of course I called the cops. I told them about the other notes too and got an informative lecture on stalkers. I have a case number to prove it. Anything else you need to know?”

“Did they talk to you about upgrading your locks?”

“Yes,” she fumed. She knew she was taking her bad mood out on Derrick, but it felt good to get mad at someone safe.

“Good. Forget the coffee, let’s go”

“Where are we going?” she narrowed her eyes.

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