Chapter 14 #2
She didn’t think she’d be able to pay much attention, since she was waiting to hear from Flash, so she was pleasantly surprised when she got lost in the story.
Flash eventually sent a text over an hour later, saying he was exhausted and heading home to bed. But he promised to call early tomorrow so they could arrange a time for him to come over and take her to dinner .
Instead of going to sleep herself, Kelli continued to read. She wanted to find out who the bad guy was in her book.
And that was why she was still awake around midnight…when an out-of-place sound from the front of her apartment caught her attention.
Kelli froze, tilting her head, as if that would make it easier for her to hear.
The tell-tale squeak of the hinges on her apartment door had her adrenaline immediately spiking.
She’d locked the door, she knew she had, but had she thrown the dead bolt? Put the chain on? She didn’t think so. Her hands had been full of the bags she was carrying. She had a feeling she’d forgotten.
No one except her mother had a spare key to her apartment, so whoever had just entered wasn’t anyone she’d want to come face-to-face with in a dark apartment in the middle of the night.
She was moving before she thought about what she was doing.
Kelli leaped out of bed, looking around frantically.
Where should she go? If she left the bedroom, whoever had broken in would see her immediately.
It wasn’t that big of a space. The bathroom was in the hall, so that was also out.
Not that anywhere in there would make a good hiding place.
And she couldn’t hide under her bed because it was a captain’s bed…
there were drawers filling in the space.
For a second, she panicked—then Kelli swore she heard Flash’s voice in her head. Telling her to take a breath. To be smart.
Whipping around, Kelli quickly and quietly remade her bed, pulling the covers up so it looked like she hadn’t been there at all. Of course, the sheets were still warm, but she couldn’t do anything about that.
Grabbing her phone, she went to the only place that was an option.
Her closet.
It was fairly large, something she’d been thrilled about when she first rented the place. She had two racks of clothes against one wall—her shirts on the higher one, her pants on the lower. She could hide behind the pants, but there wasn’t much room and whoever had broken in would surely spot her.
Her frantic gaze finally landed on the suitcase she’d unpacked a week ago. It was lying in the back corner where she’d left it, too lazy to so much as zip it closed, much less put it in the hall closet where it was usually stored.
Moving instinctively, and thanking her lucky stars that she was only five-two, she opened the top, stepped inside, and crouched down. She curled into a fetal position, lowered the lid, then fumbled with the zipper.
Whoever had broken in was moving down the hall. She could hear their footsteps coming closer and closer.
Finally, she was able to get hold of the tab and partially close the zipper around the suitcase.
She held her breath when she heard a male voice swear as he entered her bedroom.
Kelli had never been so scared. Not even when she’d had a gun pointed in her face.
And she realized it was because at least then, Flash had been there.
His presence hadn’t made it any more or less likely that she’d be shot, but simply going through that experience with someone else made it not quite as terrifying .
Lying in the dark, curled into a ball, hearing whoever was in her apartment throwing things around, was more than terrifying. It almost paralyzed her with fear.
Feeling her hand throbbing, Kelli suddenly realized that she was gripping her phone so tightly, it was surely leaving marks on her palm.
Her phone! In her panic, she’d completely forgotten she’d grabbed her cell from the table next to her bed!
She was about to dial 9-1-1 when the intruder entered her closet. The light came on and Kelli realized she was seconds away from being discovered and probably raped and maybe killed.
The man—she could definitely tell it was a guy now, because he was constantly swearing and muttering under his breath—shuffled through her clothes.
Then a large crash made Kelli flinch in her hiding place.
She felt a weight settle on top of the suitcase.
He’d pulled one of the entire racks of clothes off, and it had obviously landed right where she was hiding.
But that was good. Not the destruction he was wreaking on her belongings, but that she was buried under clothes. It meant he had no reason to believe she was there, in that suitcase. Right under his nose.
She still refused to risk moving even an inch while he was in the same room. The light from the phone screen might show through the open portion of suitcase. Or he’d see the clothes moving if she shifted even a fraction. No, she had to stay completely still and silent.
Of course, right then, her nose started to itch.
If she sneezed, she was as good as dead.
Closing her eyes tightly, Kelli did her best to suppress her body’s involuntary reaction to her surroundings .
To her immense relief, the man left the closet. She could still hear him throwing things around in her bedroom. So the danger was still very real.
Taking a chance, Kelli looked at the phone she still held in a death grip and tapped the screen. The light made her wince, but she quickly turned it down, brought up her recent calls, and clicked on Flash’s name.
It was stupid. She should call 9-1-1. But the first and only person she thought to call was Flash. He’d help her. He knew where she lived. He wouldn’t hesitate to come. Of that, she had no doubt.
Awkwardly, she brought the phone up to her ear, because there was no way she could put it on speaker, not if she wanted to stay hidden. It rang twice before Flash answered.
“Kelli? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Opening her mouth to tell him that, no, she definitely wasn’t okay and she needed him, she froze when the intruder reentered the closet.
“Kelli?”
His voice sounded loud. Too loud. But once more, Kelli was afraid to move even one muscle. Why had the man come back? Did he know she was there? Had he figured out there was literally no other place for her to hide?
“If you don’t answer me, I’m coming over. Understand?”
Yes, she understood, and she closed her eyes as a tear escaped. Kelli’s breaths were coming faster and faster. She felt as if she wasn’t getting enough air.
Flash must’ve heard her hyperventilating through the speaker, because his voice calmed and his tone lowered. “ I’ve got you, Kelli. I’m coming. Slow your breathing down. You can do this.”
She couldn’t. She couldn’t do this! Panic was taking hold. At one point, whoever was in her closet actually kicked the edge of the suitcase. She was certain he’d figure out that it was much too heavy and he’d find her.
But he simply swore some more, then left again.
“I’m in my car now. Hold on, Kelli. Hold on.”
Kelli thought for sure whoever had broken in would leave now, but instead, she heard him continuing to stomp around her apartment, smashing more stuff.
It would take Flash almost half an hour to get to her place. Maybe less since it was the middle of the night and traffic was probably light. But so much could happen in thirty minutes. Or even twenty.
“Scared,” she whispered in a voice so low, she was sure Flash wouldn’t be able to hear her.
But somehow he did.
“I know. I can hear how fast you’re breathing. What’s going on? Did you have a nightmare?”
“No. Break-in.”
“Fuck, someone broke into your apartment? I need to call Dude, he lives closer to where you are.”
Panic almost overwhelmed Kelli. He couldn’t hang up! If he did, she’d completely lose it. He was the only thing keeping her from springing out of her hiding place and running screaming through her apartment, trying to reach the door.
“I’m going to patch him into the call. I’m not hanging up. Hang on.”
Relief made her dizzy. Or maybe that was lack of oxygen. She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that he wasn’t going to hang up.
“Dude? Flash. I need you. Someone’s broken into Kelli’s apartment. She’s hiding.”
“Address?”
Flash recited it to his friend.
“Where are you?” Dude asked.
“On my way but I’ve still got fifteen miles or so.”
“Right. I can be there in ten minutes.”
“I may or may not beat you there. Kelli?”
“Yeah?” she whispered, feeling so much stronger knowing someone—two someones—were on their way.
“Is he still there?”
She paused and strained to hear something, anything. Then, to her surprise, she didn’t hear the intruder…but she smelled something.
Bacon.
The asshole was cooking ? She had some of that microwaveable bacon in her fridge. She preferred the real stuff, but when she had a hankering for bacon, it was easy and less messy to cook a piece or two in the microwave.
“Kelli?” Flash’s agitated voice brought her back to the conversation.
“Yes,” she said.
“All right. Stay where you are. Stay quiet. We’ll be there soon. You’re doing good. So good, sweetheart.”
She didn’t feel as if she was doing good. Her nose still itched, her body felt as if it was cramping because of the position she was in, and breathing still wasn’t easy, especially now that she’d gone and started crying.
“Do we know who it is?” Dude asked.
“No. ”
That had Kelli thinking. Who was in her apartment?
What did they want? She was on the fourth floor.
In the middle of the hall. Not exactly a prime position for someone to choose to break in.
Had they watched her? Did they know she was a woman living alone?
She hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, but that didn’t mean much.
She was no Navy SEAL, she wasn’t trained to look for anyone who might be casing her apartment.
It could be the maintenance guy. He was kind of strange. Or the manager, he had a master key as well…but unlikely at this time of night.
The question of who could be in her apartment, who’d trashed it, who was in her kitchen even now, microwaving bacon of all things, was a complete mystery.
“I’m hanging up. I’ll see you shortly,” Dude said succinctly.
“Kelli?” Flash asked after a moment. “You still there?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“One of my favorite memories of Jamaica was Fred the grasshopper. Remember?”
She did. It had been her turn to come up with a fairy tale. She’d made up the silly story about Fred, and Flash had laughed so hard.
“I think you should write it down. It would make a great children’s book. Have you thought about doing that for a living? Telling stories?”
She knew what he was doing. Trying to distract her.
Amazingly, it was working. Flash continued to talk to her in an even, calm tone as he made his way toward her.
She couldn’t hear anything from her bedroom or beyond now.
And the smell of bacon had diminished. There was no telling if the person who’d broken in was still there or if he’d left.
Suddenly the image of Flash bursting through the front door, only to be met by a guy with a gun, had her shaking almost uncontrollably.
“I don’t know if he has a gun,” she whispered. “I didn’t see him.”
“It’s okay, Kelli. I’ve got this. Don’t worry.”
Don’t worry. Yeah, right. Kelli was one big ball of worry at the moment.
“I’m going to be there in three minutes.
No matter what you hear, I want you to stay hidden.
Don’t come out until I give the all clear.
I can’t do what I’ve been trained to do if I’m worrying about you getting hurt.
Okay? Will you stay put until you hear me call out Fred?
I figure that’s as good a code word as any. ”
His words ramped up her stress level, but Kelli managed to say, “Yes.”
“Good girl. This will be over soon. I promise. You’ve been so brave. So smart to hide where he couldn’t find you. I’m impressed. Okay, I’m pulling in. Dude just arrived too. I’m going to hang up, but I’m here. You’ll see me soon.”
Kelli swallowed hard. “Be careful,” she whispered.
“I will. I have a hot date tonight that I’m not going to miss for anything. Soon, sweetheart.”
The line went dead. Shockingly, Kelli found that she was smiling at his date comment.
How the hell had he done that? Made her smile in the middle of what was a truly terrifying situation?
He was stressed, she could hear it in his voice.
And yet he was still focused and calm. Much as he’d been in that bus in Jamaica.
Flash was always in control—and that’s why Kelli could smile.
Because he was good at what he did. And that was the reason she’d called him instead of the police.
If whoever had broken in was still there, Flash would take care of him.
Subdue him. Hold him until the police could arrive and arrest him.
She just had to stay quiet and hidden until he said the code word.
Taking a deep breath, Kelli strained to hear anything from her hiding spot. The suspense was killing her, but she wouldn’t move, not one inch, until Flash said it was all right. She trusted him with her life. Period.