Chapter 6
As soon as she got home, Eric was there.
“Meri, let me get those for you. Avery needs to check the loft before you go in anyway.” He picked up her bags from the back of the Subaru.
Avery held out a hand. “I’ll take your keys Meri and have everything cleared before you get up there.”
Reaching into her right jeans pocket, she pulled out her keys and gave them to Avery. “Thank you.”
She and Eric followed behind.
When she reached her apartment, Avery was outside in the hallway, standing with her hands clasped in front of her. “I put your keys in the bowl you use for them.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Eric set her bags in the foyer and shut the door behind him.
She put her purchases away and got into the shower.
When she finished, she wrapped her hair and dried off.
Then she removed the towel from her hair and fluffed it out so the curls cascaded down her back.
After that, she laid out what she would wear tonight.
She had a nice pair of black dress pants and a long, pale green tunic with more Native American designs on the bottom.
She had just put in her earrings when the doorbell rang.
After giving herself a once-over in her antique Cheval mirror, she headed to the door.
She unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.
Chase stood there in black jeans and a blue dress shirt, open at the neck.
He gives off such a confident air. I want to be bold, too.
Standing next to him was a little girl with the blondest hair Meri had ever seen, in a pink princess costume and clear jelly shoes.
“Well, what princess do we have here?” Meri squatted to be less imposing to the child.
“I’m Cinderella.” She held her dress’s skirt out to the sides.
“Well, you are a beautiful Cinderella.” Meri stood again.
Chase was grinning. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself.”
“This is Alexandra.” He looked down at his niece, who held his hand. “What do you say to Meri?”
The little girl waved. “Hi, Meri.”
“Hi, Alexandra. Very nice to meet you.”
She smiled and looked up at Chase. “Uh huh.”
Chase chuckled. “Are you ready to go?”
“I am. Let me grab my purse.”
Smiling, she placed the small bag with the long, skinny strap across her body. “I’m ready.” She held her keys and locked the door after them, then she put the keys into her purse. She looked around her. “Where are Eric and Avery?”
“I sent them for dinner and a break.” Chase led the way to the limo.
“Really? A limo?” At the curb was a black stretch limousine.
“The driver is from my security firm. When I’m with Alexandra, I take no chances as anything could happen.” He leaned toward Meri and whispered. “And the limo is bulletproof.”
She widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows. Bulletproof! Why would we need a limo like that? “Do you really think we are in danger?”
“No, but I like to err on the side of caution.”
She looked from him to the child. “I can understand that.”
Chase strapped the little girl into a booster seat before assisting Meri into the vehicle.
Meri wanted to sit next to Chase and hold his hand, but with Alexandra in the car, she would keep her distance.
The trip from her loft to the Pepsi Center didn’t take long. The limo pulled into the line to drop off passengers at the front doors.
The driver lowered the privacy screen. “I’ll be in after I park. I have my ticket and my permit to carry my gun into the building. My seat is directly behind yours and I’ll be able to see and assess any threats. You don’t have to do anything but enjoy the evening.”
“Thanks.” Chase turned to her. “Meri, this is Isaac.” He turned back toward Isaac. “If anything happens, I want you to take Alexandra and Meri to safety. No matter what. Understand?”
Isaac turned his gaze to Meri. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” Then he turned back to Chase. “Yes, sir. They are to be safely out of harm’s way before I come back to help you.”
Chase waved a hand. “I don’t want you to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
“Yes, sir.” Isaac got out of the car and opened the back door for them. Then he stood at attention. Isaac was a big man. He had to be six foot five and three-hundred pounds of what looked like solid muscle.
Meri thought for a moment the man would salute Chase, but he didn’t.
Chase took Alexandra by the hand and put his other hand at Meri’s waist. They walked into the building, through security, and found their seats.
They were great seats. About ten rows up from the ice, along the western side, they could see everything.
When Meri came with her friends or her parents, their tickets weren’t nearly as good.
Meri had been to the ice show many times. She watched Alexandra as the girl stood and almost hung on the chair in front of her. Her eyes were wide with excitement as she saw Cinderella come on in the rags costume.
When she changed and went to the ball, Alexandra turned to Meri and jumped up and down. “She looks just like me.” She turned in a circle. “See?”
“She does, but you look prettier,” said Meri with a smile.
“Is Cinderella your favorite?” asked Chase. “There are lots of other princesses out there.”
Alexandra shook her head. “Cinderella is the bestest.”
Meri looked down at the little girl. Her face was alight with happiness as she watched Cinderella dance with Prince Charming.
“That’s me. Someday I gonna marry Uncle Chase.”
Meri grinned. “Oh you are, are you? When you grow up, Uncle Chase will seem like an old man and you won’t want to marry him anymore.”
“Nope. I’ll always marry him.”
Grinning, Meri hugged the little girl close. “You are a delight, Alexandra. Did you know that?”
“Yup.” She turned her attention back to the ice show. The ice dancers were taking their bows.
The ice show was almost over when Isaac leaned forward. “There is a man who keeps looking up here and pacing in the walkway in front of the first row.”
She felt Chase stiffen and followed his gaze to the man Isaac was referring to. Then the man looked up and Meri gasped. He was the person from the other night, but what reason did he have for blatantly watching them?
“Take Meri and Alexandra to the car, then take them to the office, and put them in the safe room.”
“Yes, sir.” Isaac turned his gaze toward her. “Ms. Anderson, if you’ll follow me, please?”
Meri nodded. All she wanted was to make sure Alexandra was okay. If that meant being in the safe room, so be it.
The performers took their second bow.
Meri jumped up and took Alexandra’s hand. “Let’s go, sweetie. We have to beat Uncle Chase back to the car or we don’t get ice cream on the way home.”
Chase squeezed her shoulder but didn’t take his gaze off the man.
Meri heard a sharp crack that echoed around the arena and felt a burning pain on the left side of her back.
People were running towards her, screaming about the shooter.
Someone had shot her. But she mustn’t let Alexandra know. Using her right hand, Meri grabbed the child’s left hand and continued up the stairs toward the exit.
The people in her section scrambled out of their seats, heading for the exits.
The show sounded like it ended suddenly.
Meri had been to the ice show many times and now knew it by heart. They could bring Alexandra another time, but now she had to get her out of here.
Her back no longer burned, but instead, she felt pain. She wrapped her left arm around her stomach to ease the pain.
Isaac snatched up Alexandra. “We need to hurry, before that madman comes after you. Chase will hold him off as much as possible. We need to get out of here first.” He held Alexandra in his left arm and put his right arm around Meri.
She was glad of the support because she wasn’t sure she could make it otherwise.
The screams of panic sounded all around her. The floor shook as the show goers ran for the exits.
Isaac effortlessly carried Alexandra and practically carried Meri. By the time they reached the limo, Isaac had to buckle Alexandra into her car seat since Meri was incapable of doing it.
Meri slid into her seat next to the door. She needed to lean against the side. Luckily, the seats in the limo were black leather and her blood didn’t show on them.
“Meri?” Alexandra’s little voice quavered. “Why’re you leaning against the door? Are you tired?”
“Yes, sweetie. That’s it, I’m tired.”
Isaac climbed in, buckled up and then turned to look at Meri. “I’ll drive around to the front of the building and wait for Chase.”
As if he’d heard his name, Chase bustled into the car.
Meri struggled to keep her eyes open. “How’d you find us?”
“I was close enough not to be left behind. There are only so many places that you can park a limo, and I followed you out after making sure he didn’t follow.
The crowd swallowed him up. How he got in, how he knew we would be there and where we were, I may never know.
To the warehouse, Isaac. I’ll call the doctor and have him meet us there. ”
“Yes, sir.”
Meri wondered why he was taking her to a warehouse and what doctor did he have on call? Who has a doctor on call, anyway?
“Uncle Chase. Meri’s sleepy.”
He smiled at his niece. “So she is.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed a button. “Yes, be at the warehouse in ten minutes scrubbed for surgery. A gunshot wound.”
He listened.
“I know we haven’t had one in a while, but I don’t want the police to know about this right now. I’ll explain later.”
He listened again,
“Thanks. See you soon.” He pressed to disconnect and turned to Meri. “You hanging in there? We’ll be with the doctor soon and get you to feeling better.”
People were jamming the parking lot as they tried to get out. Running in front of the limo and other cars to get to their own. Finally, after ten minutes in the crush of traffic, the limo sped up. Once they exited the parking lot, they reached the warehouse in just ten minutes.
Meri could only feel the pain, but she was so sleepy. She didn’t care where they were going. Chase would take care of her.