“Thank you so much,” Ramie said fervently. “You’re very kind. I appreciate this.”
The woman smiled and then motioned for Ramie to go.
Ramie punched in the number as she walked toward the chair in the corner. Her entire body ached and she was so tired from all the sleepless nights that she could barely remain upright.
A somber-sounding male voice answered on the second ring.
“Devereaux Security,” he clipped out.
“I need to speak with Caleb Devereaux,” Ramie said. “It’s a matter of life or death.”
She flinched, thinking how cliché that sounded. Everyone who wanted to get a call through would say the exact same thing. And well, this was a security firm she was calling. Every call they received was likely a matter of life or death.
“Your name?”
The man sounded bored, as if he did indeed field such calls every day. Fear gripped Ramie’s throat. God, don’t let this man blow her off.
“Ramie St. Claire,” she said, shaking so hard her teeth were chattering, making her words nearly unintelligible. Now of all times she needed absolute clarity. She clamped her jaw shut and spoke through tightly gritted teeth. “As I said it’s imperative that I speak to him. If you tell him my name, he’ll take my call.”
“Hold please.”
Boring elevator music flooded the line and Ramie sat there, waiting, hoping. Praying. Dying a little more with each passing second.
The wait went on for several minutes. She glanced nervously up at the desk where the librarian was obviously waiting for her to finish. She was staring expectantly at Ramie, which only served to make Ramie more anxious. Despair crept over her shoulders, weighing her down as she realized no one was going to answer. She started to pull the phone down to quietly end the call when a different male voice came over the line.
“Ramie? Is that you? Where are you? Are you all right?”
She’d know his voice anywhere. Could often hear it in her dreams, mixed with the voices of others. Only for some odd reason, she found comfort in his voice and she had no reason to. He’d pushed her those final inches over the brink of insanity. And yet?. . .
She squeezed her eyes shut, relief making her weak and shaky. So much so that she felt faint. If she hadn’t already been sitting, she would have collapsed on the spot.
“Yes,” she said hoarsely. “I need your help, Caleb. You owe me.”
She didn’t flinch over the demand. He did owe her. There was no excuse for pride when it came to her life.
“Tell me where you are,” he demanded. “I’ll come to you at once.”
She leaned her forehead against her free hand, trying to collect her jumbled thoughts. Her stomach churned, partly in fear, partly in gut-wrenching relief. He’d said he’d come. No questions. No excuses. Just?. . .??I’ll come.
Was she dreaming? Was all of this yet another dream where there was a mixture of Caleb Devereaux and the demons of her past? Was she doomed to forever be haunted by so many faces of evil? But Caleb stood apart, the one good thing in a sea of fear and pain.
“I’m in Shadow, Oklahoma,” she finally managed to choke out. “There’s someone?. . .??I’m in trouble. I’m scared.”
The words came out as scrambled as her thoughts were. She wasn’t making any sense but she couldn’t seem to get her tongue to cooperate.
“Okay, slow down, Ramie. Calm down and collect your thoughts. Then tell me exactly where you are and what’s going on.”
The soothing note of his voice was like a warm blanket surrounding her. The safety implied in his words was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard in her life. What if he got to her too late?
“Someone’s trying to kill me,” she whispered, not wanting the librarian to overhear. “I barely managed to escape him. He was in my hotel room waiting for me, but I touched the knob and I knew he was there. I had to leave my car, my purse, everything. I just ran. I have no place to stay, no money. I’m terrified.”
“Everything will be all right,” he said with calm she sure as hell didn’t feel. “I’ll get you someplace safe to stay tonight and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“But I have no ID,” she said, panic fluttering deep in her stomach. “I can’t just check into a hotel with no ID and no credit card. And I’m afraid to go anywhere because he’s out there waiting for me.”
“Ramie, listen to me. I will take care of it. I’m looking up the city now to see what I can do. Where are you right now?”
“I’m at the public library, but they’re about to close,” Ramie said, glancing up at the librarian again.
“Okay, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to send a car for you and the driver is going to take you out of town to a hotel in a neighboring city. The driver’s name is Antonio. Do not get in the vehicle with anyone but him. He’ll take care of checking you into a hotel and you stay put until I get there.”
Relief nearly flattened her.
“Do you understand, Ramie?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “How long before he gets here?”