Chapter Four #3
“It’s a her. She’s not as overtly fit as Serena, but she can do what she needs to do when she needs to do it. She has four siblings who all have kids, and she spends her days running around with nieces and nephews. I met her when I was volunteering at the afterschool program.”
“Where you met Likon?”
“Correct.” She nodded. She smiled. “She’s a caretaker, but she doesn’t have time for her own family. She’s busy with everyone else’s.”
“I see. What’s her name?”
“Delia Montrose.”
Den frowned. “Why do I know that name?”
She brought her friend’s picture up on her phone and turned it toward Den. The woman looked soft, elegant, and wealthy, wearing a shimmering gown and jewels. Eudora was standing next to her in the picture.
“She doesn’t look like a warrior.”
“Looks are deceiving. She used to look like this.” She brought up a much younger version of Delia, wraith-thin in a wheelchair. “She’s a warrior, just not what you are looking for.”
She removed the images and looked at him. “Thanks for the lunch. It’s going to make the rest of the day fly by.”
He looked like he was doing some thinking.
Eudora grinned. “You saw something when you looked at her.”
“How can you tell?”
“You look like you are doing a factory reset. If you want to know about her, ask Sern. She does the charity circuit for her family. Occasionally, she needs an escort, but you aren’t into that sort of thing, so it doesn’t matter.”
He looked at her with narrowed eyes. “That’s just mean.”
“I know. Toodles. Thanks again for lunch.” She got up and walked back to her desk, humming happily as she got back to work.
Her hands moved fast, and she knew what clips went where.
She put them together with astonishing speed.
When she finished for the day, she looked around and realized that she was done.
She shouldn’t have been, but she was. “Yay!” She shot her arms into the air and twirled on her chair until the headphones jammed her.
She took them off and did another triumphant spin.
She saved the files in four different places, watching the video through one more time before sending it to her boss and the Women’s Day committee in the Meksoren Group. She exhaled. Tomorrow, she could get back to normal activities. She really needed a few hours at the gym.
She checked her phone, and it wasn’t too late. There was a message from Sern, and she winced but answered, I need to spend some time at the gym tonight.
There was a pause, and three dots danced. Which gym?
She blinked Fitness Den.
I will pick you up in seven minutes. You have your gear?
I do.
On my way.
She blinked and grabbed her workout bag. Keeping it in her desk had never been a bad idea.
She got her purse, shut everything down, and tidied her desk. Eudora headed downstairs and signed out on the late sheet as well as scanning out.
There was a car outside, but it wasn’t the one she was expecting. She started recording and walked outside.
Nelson got out of his car and was furious. “You fucking bitch! How dare you!”
She blinked. “I am going to need more information than that. Why are you here, Nelson?”
“Likon fired me. I have been his lawyer for fifteen years. Do you know how much that idiot has paid me?”
“Quite a bit for doing nothing.”
Nelson paused. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing was filed. Filing is important to the process, from what I have been told recently.”
Nelson growled and approached her. “You were supposed to be mine. You were never supposed to be his.”
“Who? Likon? I wasn’t his. I was a roommate.”
He gritted his teeth as he got closer. “You were supposed to come to me.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
He reached out to grab her arms just as Sern pulled up.
She waited until he made contact and tried to apply pressure.
At that point, she was free to react. She said in a small voice, “No. Let go. I don’t want to go with you.
” She thrust her arms up. He stepped back, she struck his midsection, then clapped her hands over his ears. She sniffled. “Get away!”
Sern walked up to her as Nelson was groaning and clutching his ears. “Police are coming.”
She smiled and turned off her phone, sending him the recording. “I think I need a lawyer.”
He nodded and touched one of the hands she had used to deter Nelson. “You have one.”
The security guard came out. “Miss, I called the police. I am sorry. I was looking down when he arrived. I have already been told to give the police the video.”
Sern raised his brows. “That is fast.”
Eudora said, “It’s a rule since an employee was jumped outside the doors, and in the time it took to hand the video over, the attacker had been released from custody and circled around to attack again. So, now there is a rule that the video doesn’t get delayed.”
Sern held her hand, and she smiled. “I think I should take some kind of legal course. I keep running into things that shouldn’t be right.”
“I will give you a basic outline of what is and isn’t legal, or you can just call me,” Sern said as sirens got close.
“I don’t know if I can afford your hourly rate.”
He smiled. “We will work something out.”
“You keep saying that. I think you have nefarious plans.”
He laughed and kept hold of her hand.
Sern dealt with the police, forwarding the audio file, the security officer’s video footage, and the record of this being a second stalking event. He would help her file for a restraining order in the morning.
She spoke to the police and explained her association with Nelson. Meeting him for the first time at the afterschool program when his law practice was trying to make points with the wealthy clients by offering snacks and notebooks to the kids.
“He introduced me to my ex, and that created a comedy of errors that is getting sorted out right now.”
The officer asked about the contact, and she mentioned she had taken some self-defense classes and kickboxing courses. The ear clap came from grade eleven self-defense.
The officers got her to sign her statement, and after Sern made a few corrections, she put pen to paper.
Sern looked at her. “Still want to work out?”
“Yup. I really need to lift.”
“Then, I will spot for you.”
She smiled and asked the officers, “Are we free to go?”
“Yup. He waited, he made first contact, and he went down.” The officer nodded. “All the proof we could want. Thanks for that.”
“He might also have had something on his dash camera. I am not a professional or anything.”
The officer’s eyes widened as he looked at the car. “Thanks for that.”
She nodded and looked at Sern. “So, to the gym?”
He nodded and snagged her bag and purse. “You are very calm about this.”
“Not my first time being stalked. Just the first time I have had backup.”
He put the bags in his car and opened the door for her. “Come on. I need to punch something.”
She slid into the car seat and buckled up. He got behind the wheel, and they drove off to the gym.
Eudora looked at the set of his jaw and suspected that some equipment was going to die.