Chapter 14 Knight
KNIGHT
Fuck, it’s been a long shift. It’s almost seven in the evening by the time I’m pulling into my driveway, and I can’t wait to get inside and wrap my arms around my girl. Only problem is, she’s probably getting ready to leave for her night shift.
This fucking sucks. I love that she loves her work, and I know that my shifts aren’t always the easiest to get down with either, but it seems that we’re missing each other more than when we actually get to be together. That’s life, I guess.
Bringing my truck to a stop at the top of my driveway, I go to cut the engine when Harper’s little blue Honda pulls into the driveway behind me, and I pause for a moment, watching her through my rearview mirror.
What the fuck is she doing? I thought she was home.
She sits in her car, not moving an inch, and I get out of my truck and make my way down to her driver’s door, watching her through the window.
She stares ahead, looking shaken, and I can’t help but notice that she’s wearing an old hoodie, one that’s been living in her car for who knows how long, and there’s nothing on her legs.
Her hair is a mess and her eyes . . . They’re red.
Has she been crying?
I open her door and crouch down, staring in at my girl. “Morticia, baby,” I murmur, reaching in and brushing my fingers down the side of her cheek, wiping a tear away with my thumb. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Harper visibly swallows before finally turning to take me in, and the agony behind her eyes fucking kills me. “He’s back,” she tells me, her voice shaking as she clutches my hand. “The man who stabbed me. He came back.”
“The fuck?”
I fly to my full height, immediately whipping around to survey the surrounding areas, searching every fucking shadow as I keep my hand in hers, terrified to let go. “Where?”
“In the house,” she tells me. “I came home from work and showered, and when I got out, he was waiting for me. He . . .”
“He touched you?”
Her face breaks, and my heart sinks, devastation pulsing through my veins at what she had to endure at the hands of this bastard. “I’m sorry,” she cries, her face falling as more tears spring from her eyes. “I tried to run, but he was too fast. He pinned me down. I—”
“Fuck, doll,” I say, reaching into her car.
I put it in park and pull the hand brake before pulling her right out of the car and straight into my arms as a wave of guilt crashes over me.
This is on me. I didn’t find him fast enough.
I didn’t do my job. I didn’t protect her like I vowed.
I let her down. “You don’t need to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I did,” she cries. “I did so much wrong. I should have been honest with you. I should have told you everything, but I was too scared, and now . . . I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to make it stop.”
“Shhhhhh,” I say, my hands rubbing up and down her arms, desperately trying to soothe her. “It’s okay. Let’s get you inside, then you can tell me exactly what happened. You don’t need to be scared, doll. I’ve got you now, and I’m never letting you out of my sight.”
My hand falls down to hers, and she clutches it like her only lifeline, but as I go to pull her toward the house, she hesitates, frantically shaking her head. “No,” she says, panicking. “I never saw him come out. He’s still in there.”
My eyes widen, and I look toward my house, my hand already reaching for my gun. “Are you sure?”
She nods, the fear in her eyes like nothing I’ve ever seen before. “Okay, stay here,” I tell her. “Get back in your car and lock the door. Don’t unlock it until I come back for you. Understood?”
Harper nods again, and I open her car door, watching as she silently climbs back in before looking up at me through the window. She locks the car, and I hold her stare for a moment longer before finally turning away and heading straight for the door.
I release my gun from its holster, my finger resting alongside the trigger as I reach for the handle and turn, unable to get Harper’s words out of my head. What hasn’t she been telling me? What hasn’t she been honest about? What is it that she thinks she has done wrong?
Letting out a breath, I silently push the door open, using the tip of the gun to push it wider as I survey every inch of my entryway. There’s nothing out of place. No signs of forced entry, no scratches on the new door lock. To the naked eye, everything appears as it should.
Stepping into the house, I do a quick walk around the living room and into the kitchen before making my way down the hall.
I glance into the bathroom and every closet on the way before checking the spare bedroom.
The coast is clear, and as I finally move into the bedroom, I start to see fragments of Harper’s story come to life.
Her scrubs on the floor from where she would have walked in and stripped off on her way to the bathroom. Her towel is on the floor, and though the bed is still made, it’s clear there was a struggle on top of the blankets. But there’s no sign of anybody inside the house.
I do a double and triple check, not wanting to risk bringing Harper back in here without being absolutely positive.
When I finally head back outside and approach her Honda, she unlocks and opens the door.
I make my way over to her, and she looks up at me as I step into the open car door.
“There’s nobody in there,” I tell her. “It’s clear. ”
Her eyes are still watery as she watches me. “You’re sure?”
“Positive, doll. It’s safe.”
She slowly nods before finally giving me her hand, and I help her out of her car before locking it behind me. We walk up the path together, my hand on her lower back as I lead her back into our home. “Have you slept?” I ask, closing the door behind us.
She shakes her head. “Couldn’t,” she murmurs.
“Why didn’t you call me? I would have come straight home.”
She shrugs. “I, umm . . . My phone. I left it here after I ran out. I didn’t want to come back in until I knew he was gone.”
“You ran?” I ask, leading her over to the couch. I sit down, and she immediately climbs into my lap, straddling my thighs and curling into my chest, right where she belongs. Harper nods against my chest, and I bring my hand up, cupping the side of her face. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
She takes a shaky breath, and I give her a minute to gather her thoughts before she’s finally ready to talk.
“I got home a little after five and went to our room to shower, but when I got out, he was just standing there in the doorway, waiting for me. I was only in a towel and he was blocking the door. I had nowhere to go. And then he said all this stuff about how I belong to him, and when I told him he was sick in the head, he ran at me.”
She whimpers, tears streaming down her cheeks. I wipe them away, doing what I can to soothe her. “You’re safe now, doll. I’ve got you.”
She nods again before letting out a shaky breath. “He . . . He was coming from the door, and I had nowhere to go, so I tried to break through the window but he got to me first and then threw me down on the bed, and when I tried to get away, he pulled me by the ankle and pinned me under his body.”
“Doll,” I breathe, brushing my fingers through her hair, every last piece of my soul crumbling.
“He didn’t rape me,” she tells me, as if sensing my fears. “But he did touch me.”
“How do you mean?”
“He forced my legs apart and then pushed his fingers inside me while saying that my pussy belongs to him, but then he moved, and I was able to kick him. I got him right in the balls, and he dropped to the ground, which is when I was able to run, and I just took off and grabbed my keys, completely naked. I’ve been sitting down the street, waiting for him to leave ever since. ”
I pull her in tight against me, my arms wrapping around her petite body and holding her against my chest, terrified to let her go.
“Fuck, doll. I’m sorry,” I tell her. “None of this should have ever happened. If I had just caught him already . . . fuck. I’ve let you down.
I should have done better. I should have worked harder to find him. ”
“No,” she says, pulling out of my hold and sitting up a little straighter. “No. This is my fault. I haven’t been completely honest with you, and I’ve been so scared to tell you, because I know exactly what you’re going to say.”
I’m immediately on edge, a deep suspicion rumbling through my chest. She’s been jumpy ever since the attack in the parking garage, and I’ve known that she was keeping something from me since she first woke up in the hospital, but I wasn’t prepared to push her on it.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Harper?”
“This guy,” she tells me, her tears falling even faster. “The attack in the parking garage wasn’t random. He targeted me and was wearing the same mask that my stalker would wear in my hallucinations.”
“Doll . . .”
“No,” she demands, climbing off my lap and staring at me in horror. “Don’t do this. This is why I haven’t told you. This is exactly what he said would happen.”
I get to my feet, gripping her waist as I see the panic in her eyes. “What the hell are you talking about? What would happen?”
“That you wouldn’t believe me,” she yells at me, shoving me away.
“He stole my notes from Dr. Carzy, took the drawing I made of the mask and brought it to life, and the very first thing he said to me was that nobody would believe me, and now you’re standing here, looking at me as though I’m going crazy. ”
I shake my head, reaching for her again as my heart breaks for her, hating that she’s going through all of this, and there’s not a damn thing I can do to help her.
“I’m sorry, doll. I don’t think you’re going crazy,” I tell her.
“I know this is as real as it gets inside your head. Your hallucinations make you believe what doesn’t exist, but we can take you back to see Dr. Carzy, and she can make an adjustment to your meds. ”
She shoves my chest again. “It’s not my meds,” she screams at me before striding straight into the kitchen and grabbing the little pill canister.
She throws it right at me. “I’ve been taking them, every fucking day, and they’re working.
They’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing.
I’m better. I don’t see that stalker anymore, but I am telling you that this is different.
This asshole has taken the notes from the hospital and is using them to bring this stalker to life. ”
“Do you hear yourself, doll?”
She shakes her head, gripping her temples.
“I fucking knew it. I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” she says.
“I tell you that I was sexually assaulted in our bedroom, and just because he was wearing a mask, you suddenly think I’m going crazy.
Let me guess, you think I stabbed myself now? You think I’m making this all up?”
“Don’t put words in my mouth. I never said that I think you’re crazy. I think you’re sick and need help, and I want to give you that help, but we need to be on the same page.”
She looks at me as though I’m the enemy, and it fucking guts me. “How could you?” she whimpers, every one of her tears destroying me.
Determination flashes in her eyes, and she takes off toward our room. I follow behind her immediately. “Where are you going?” I ask, hoping like fuck she’s not about to pack a bag and leave.
“Last week,” she throws over her shoulder, stepping into our bedroom before heading straight for the walk-in closet. “After my meeting with the therapist, I got home to find a black rose on our doorstep. I shoved it in my underwear drawer because I knew it would bring up too many questions.”
I don’t respond, just simply watch as she starts rifling through the drawer, pulling out everything until there’s nothing left. “What? No. Where is it?” she says in a panic. “It was here just last night. He must have taken it.”
“Babe . . .”
“No,” she snaps again. “Don’t use that condescending, pitying tone with me. I’m not making this up, I swear.”
I step into her and pull her into my arms. “It’s okay, doll. Everything’s going to be okay,” I tell her. “It’s only natural for these things to come up, especially right after your therapy session.”
She shoves me away, the anger in her eyes taking me by surprise. “Fuck you,” she snaps, grabbing a bag before shoving a fistful of clothes into it. “I love you, Knight, but I hate you so much right now. I can’t be here.”
“Don’t be hasty, doll. We can figure this out. You don’t need to go,” I tell her, my heart racing with fear that I’m losing her. “We’ll schedule a meeting with Dr. Carzy. I can come with you. We’ll get through this together.”
“Holy fucking shit,” she says. “I swear, every time you open your mouth, you make it worse.”
“Babe.”
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear your babe this and your doll that,” she tells me, grabbing every pair of clean scrubs she has and shoving them into the bag.
“After everything we’ve already been through, I’d hoped that you’d be the one person I could rely on.
The one person who wouldn’t question me.
I was assaulted today, and the first thing you do is assume I’ve lost my mind. Fuck you, Knight.”
Harper flings the bag over her shoulder and marches down the hallway, grabbing her handbag and her keys off the hallway table. “Where are you going?”
“That’s none of your damn business.”
“Doll, come on. Don’t leave like this.”
Harper strides to her car and throws her bag in the back seat before stopping and turning back to me, those deadly tears bringing me to my fucking knees.
“You know what?” she says, her voice breaking.
“This has been going on for almost six weeks. This man stabbed me to the point where I nearly bled out, he texted me threats, hid in the back seat of my car and knocked me out, he followed me home, left a rose on our doorstep, and now today, he physically held me down and put his fingers inside me. Yet, despite all of that, there hasn’t been a single time where I have felt that I could open up to you about any of it because I knew the exact words that would come out of your mouth. ”
Everything aches, and as she grips the car door and goes to dip down into the seat, she pauses once again.
“The very first time he appeared in the parking garage, he told me that he could do whatever he wanted to me, and it wouldn’t matter because nobody was going to believe me, and he was right,” she says.
“You’ve gutted me, Knight. You were the one person who was supposed to have my back, but I don’t see how we’re supposed to get past this when I can’t trust you to be what I need in my most trying times. ”
And with that, Harper slips inside her car and drives away, leaving me on my fucking knees, my heart in pieces on the ground before me.