Kate
We were walking in the woods, hand in hand, not really talking. But it felt like the need for talk had passed. I think we were both emotionally exhausted. Still, it was nice to be able to be alone together like this in silence. I finally understood what they meant by “companionable silence.”
We were approaching the house when Donovan suddenly came up short. He pushed me behind him and stepped back, nearly causing me to stumble as we moved back into the woods.
“What?” I asked.
“Something’s wrong,” he said. But he didn’t elaborate.
I peek around him trying to see what it was he saw. And then there was some sort of movement along the far right side of the house. Someone in a dark, hooded sweatshirt was doing something there, making big movements, but I couldn’t see what it was.
Suddenly memory began to unfold.
I made my way to the sidewalk, my thoughts still on that old man who wanted funding to open what would essentially be a brothel for older gentlemen, again chuckling under my breath. Then I turned the corner and the chuckles died.
What was going on? Something wasn’t right.
I hesitated before stepping into the dark alley where the employee parking lot sat. There was just something not right here. I thought about going back and asking Joe to walk me to my car. He’d offered often enough that I knew he’d be more than happy to. And then there was movement deep in the back of the lot, near where my car was, and…
I ran.
Joe was sitting on his little stool, writing in the little journal they made him keep. Probably writing down how he unlocked the door to let me out.
“Joe,” I called as softly as I could, but still loud enough to get his attention through the bulletproof glass. “Open up, Joe!”
It took him a minute, but he finally looked up. There was a worried frown on his face that reminded me of my dad when he didn’t like something I’d said or done.
“You okay, Miss Thompson?”
“Someone’s breaking into my car.”
He frowned. “Well, come inside and we’ll call the police.”
“Joe, I think I know who it is. I don’t want to call the police just yet.”
“Who do you think it is?”
“An old friend.” I touched his arm. “I’m just…I don’t understand why she’s…I just, you wouldn’t mind accompanying me to talk to her, would you? I’d feel safer that way.”
“I’m not really supposed to leave my post.”
“I know. But I think she might be confused.”
He hesitated a moment. Then he nodded. “If you think that’s for the best.”
“I do.”
He stepped out of the door and turned to secure it. Then he led the way down the steps. I hesitated. I didn’t know why. When I followed, she was already confronting him.
“Hiding behind a rent-a-cop, Katie?”
She had a gun, and it was pointed at Joe’s chest.
“What are doing?” I cried, my initial fear immediately rushing over me, paralyzing me. I couldn’t run, and I couldn’t do anything to help Joe. All I could do was stand there.
“He a friend of yours, Katie?” she asked, her tone filled with more hatred than I’d ever heard. “All these years I’ve searched for a way to hurt you. Maybe this will be the first volley in the war.”
She fired before I even realized what it was she meant to do. I screamed, suddenly able to move, twisting so quickly that I tripped over my feet. I fell hard and the next thing I knew…
…I was in the hospital, my memory gone.
“I know who it is,” I whispered. “Oh, my God! I know who it is. And I know why she’s here.”
Donovan pushed me back again, turning and twisting me around as he urged me to move deeper into the woods.
“She’s going to blow the house.”
“No, no, no!” I moaned. “What are we going to do?”
Donovan didn’t answer. He just kept pushing me deeper and deeper into the woods.
“He died because of me.”
“Katie…”
“She wanted to hurt me the same way I hurt her. She wanted to take away someone I cared about because I did that to her. But there was no one else, no one but Joe…”
“We have to put as much space between her and us as we can,” Donovan said, pushing me behind a tree. He stared down at me. “I need you to keep it together right now, okay?”
I nodded.
“She probably knows we’re not in the house. She’ll be watching for us to come out of the woods, and when we don’t, she might come looking.”
“What do we do then?”
He studied my face for a long second. “We separate.”
“No, Donovan, I can’t—”
“Listen to me, Kate. It’s the best chance we have.”
I took a deep, steadying breath. “And then?”
“I’ll draw her away from you. You go back to the house, get in the car, and drive as far and as fast as you can. I’ll come find you.”
“But you won’t know where I’ll be.”
“I’ll find you.”