Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
[WiseWave620: It’s so quiet without the kids. I don’t think I like it.]
* * *
T ally’s back stiffened. He was here, the same man from the street. He was inside her apartment. How the hell was he inside her apartment? She lived in a secure building with a security system.
She gripped her walking cane tightly, deliberating for a moment what to do. If she let on that she knew he was in her apartment, it could be enough to warn him off, but it could also cause him to attack sooner. She was confident in her skills, but just as it had out on the sidewalk, her gut told her that the man standing in her apartment was dangerous. It was just a sense, the air around him, but it was enough to make her question if she’d be able to defend herself against him.
What scared her most was the fact that he’d beaten her into her apartment. He knew where she lived and he was familiar enough with her building to have gotten past the security system without setting off any alarms.
She couldn’t fake not knowing he was there while sending out a text message to Simone to call the police, that way the police could catch him unawares. Ironically, ‘texting blind’ didn’t work for her. The Voiceover settings on her phone were not exactly stealthy. Tally wouldn’t be able to send out a message without speaking her message out loud either. Any emergency signal she sent would alert him, too.
But dammit, she was pissed! This was her home, her sanctuary. The one place where she didn’t have to be ‘on’ because it was modified exactly for her.
Maybe it was reckless and foolish, but she was pissed! Her home? Gordon Tremont had gone too far this time!
Tally slammed her door closed behind her. “I know you’re here, asshole.” Rather than hang her cane up on the wall hook next to her door, Tally kept it with her. She was pissed, not suicidal. Normally in her home, she didn’t need it. Everything had its place and she knew the exact steps to get to anywhere from anywhere. But who knew what this asshat had moved? “I’m calling the police.” She held up her smartwatch to show that she wasn’t bluffing. She hit the side button five times. When prompted by the voice command, Tally said loudly, “There’s an intruder in my home.” The responding beeps told her that emergency services were notified. “Whatever it is you’re here to do, I suggest you get on with it. They’ll be here in a few minutes.”
* * *
[WiseWave620: Did you know I still look for you on the security cameras? Every time I see a shadow move, I hope it’s you, but it never is.]
* * *
Scar stared at the perplexing creature in front of him. How was it that she was blind and yet was the first person to ever see him?
He was standing across the living room from her front door. He estimated the apartment to be around eight hundred and thirty square feet. The door opened to a bottleneck entry with parallel closet doors. One housed a coat closet, the other the apartment’s hot water heater. The open floor living room and kitchen design was entirely hardwood with the island as a barrier between the two areas. The L-shaped cabinets and kitchen appliances provided lots of counter space. The living room with the ugly couch also had a lounge chair by the frosted window. Based on the location of the window compared to the cardinal direction of the apartment building, Scar could picture her sitting in that chair, being warmed by the morning sunlight.
She was across the room from him, had been inside her place for less than a minute, and somehow she’d known he was there.
Scar couldn’t remember the last time he’d been baffled by another person. People were routine. They did not surprise him.
“Emergency services are on the way. Notifying emergency contacts now .”
Tally moved towards her kitchen. She wasn’t using her cane as she had on the sidewalk, nor was she clicking her tongue. Scar wondered if either were necessary in her home or if she didn’t want to be distracted.
“Are you so cocky that you think you can kill me and escape before the police get here?”
Scar raised an eyebrow. Kill her?
Something occurred to him then. Tally hadn’t been fazed outside. When those thugs had jumped her, she’d fought them off with impressive skill. But she hadn’t been surprised . There’d been no shock or ‘holy shit’ moment.
How often did people attack her on her way home from work?
Scar scowled at the thought. Why would Alpha allow his daughter to work and live in such a hostile environment?
“ Message from Simone ,” the feminine voice from her watch stated, “‘Tom and I are on our way!’”
Tally was now standing in her kitchen, the breakfast island separating them. He watched as she switched her cane over to her left hand. Her right reached for the knife block on the island. He’d noticed when looking around her kitchen earlier that the handles didn’t have braille labels on them like her other equipment. Instead, they had different handle grips. One might think it was a mismatched set, but it was likely on purpose for her. She needed the quick tactile touch to know which knife was which.
His admiration for her grew when she picked up a steel chef’s blade. Her reverse grip, though, was not that of a cook’s, but of an experienced knife fighter. Was there anything this woman couldn’t do?
Besides the obvious, that is. Because she was most certainly blind. He’d only doubted that for a moment before he’d put all the pieces together. Just as on the interview video he’d watched, she was not wearing sunglasses. But her eyes were no longer green. They were brown. The prosthetics were extremely realistic, but there was no focus to them, no dilatation. She never looked directly at something.
No, Tally Meacham was very much blind. She just did not let it slow her down and that, in and of itself, showed her incredible strength.
“Message from Mark, ” her watch told her and Scar saw Tally stiffen, “‘What’s going on? I just got a message that you contacted emergency services.’”
Tally scrunched up her nose. “Shit. I really got to take him off my emergency contacts.”
Scar’s eyes narrowed. Who was Mark? Why had he been on her emergency contacts in the first place, and why did she no longer want him there?
If he’d hurt her, if he’d so much as said a single cruel word to her, Scar would flay him alive and feed his still-breathing corpse through a woodchipper feet first.
“Message from Mark: ‘On my way.’”
Tally rolled her neck as if trying to release some tension. “Fuck.” Then she pointed the blade of her knife in front of her. It was nowhere near where Scar was standing. She clicked her tongue. Then the tip of her blade shifted until it was pointed directly at him. “See what you made me do? Goddamn it.”
Her frustration was obvious in an exaggerated way, but not like someone who was overacting or vying for attention. It was like she didn’t know how to hide, as most people did. Tally didn’t put a metaphorical mask on because she didn’t know how to have one. The openness with which she expressed herself was pure and honest. In a way, it reminded Scar of Scotty.
A knock sounded on her door. “Police! Open up!”
Scar watched as Tally headed for the door.
* * *
[WiseWave620: How pissed do you think Bulldog will be if he ever learns I hacked into his phone and use it to listen in on their conversations?]
* * *
“I’m telling you,” Tally repeated through gritted teeth, “he was here .”
Three police officers were now standing in her apartment with her. When she’d opened her door to let them in, she knew the man was still there. But the police officers had taken a second to calm down when they saw the chef’s knife in her hand. That was understandable, but somehow the man had disappeared in those few seconds it had taken for her to hand over her Miyabi blade.
She asked the officer to put it in her sink. The fucker better not hurt her knife. The set was a gift from her parents when she’d graduated culinary school and had gotten her first internship. They’d even worked with a woodworker to make unique grips on each knife for her. The set was a work of art and priceless to her.
It was one of the reasons she kept them here and not at her restaurant. They were too valuable to be around people.
“Ms. Meacham, I can understand your fright, but we checked your entire apartment. There’s no one here.”
Tally scowled up at the speaker. He was male. Based on his voice, she placed him in his forties and caught a hint of a Boston accent. “I’m telling you, he was here . Look, two guys came after me on my way home from work tonight. I’ll bet you anything they work for Gordon Tremont. He’s been after my restaurant since the day I outbid him and claimed the building. He’ll do anything for that place. Look at your records. I’ve made several complaints about him and his people harassing me, my employees, and my customers. This guy works for him, I’m sure of it.”
“With all due respect, Ms. Meacham, there’s not a mark on you and I find it hard to believe someone was able to get in and out of your apartment without your alarm system being triggered. It’s late. You’re obviously tired. I’ll request additional patrols in the area, but there’s nothing else I can do. There is no one in your apartment.”
Further away towards her kitchen, one of the other officers whispered, “How would she even know if there was?”
Tally stood up, her fists clenched at her sides. “The same way I know you had a bean burrito for dinner, Officer! I know that you cut yourself shaving and use far too much aftershave. Your right shoelace drags on the ground when you walk. Do you want me to tell you how you’re standing six feet from my kitchen table with your arms crossed over your chest? How about how you keep trying to discreetly pass gas, likely a side effect of your dinner?”
She turned towards the officer with the Boston accent. “I am blind, Officer Toro, not stupid. I see a lot more than people like you do.”
Whatever the officer was going to say in response would remain a mystery as her apartment door opened. The scent of baby lotion, paper, and ink wafted into the room and Tally found herself saying, “That’s Simone. She’s my best friend. Her husband, Tom, is behind her.” When a sappy scent like maple came to her, she added without enthusiasm, “And behind him is Mark, my boyfriend.”
* * *
[WiseWave620: Can you keep a secret?]
* * *
Tally and Simone had been best friends since they’d met at a yoga class over five years ago. Simone had not realized Tally was blind until their third class together and had felt so guilty that she’d offered to take Tally out for some coffee afterwards. They’d been friends ever since.
Tom was a decade older than them. He and Simone had only been married a few months, though they had a two-year-old daughter, Amelia. Tally really liked Tom. He was what romance readers would call a ‘cinnamon roll hero’. The man was a total sweetheart and would never raise his hand against Simone or their daughter—but watch out if he heard anyone so much as insult his girls. Tally felt honored that Tom included her in that category, though she hardly needed protection.
Neither Simone nor Tom knew that, though. Tally didn’t like keeping secrets from them, but it wasn’t like it was an easy conversation to have. Her dad and what he did for a living was complicated and a mostly classified subject.
Tom had introduced Tally to Mark shortly after he and Simone had met three years ago. They’d been friends first before attempting to add romance to their relationship. Mark was a great guy; Tally could not fault him that. He didn’t baby her as other guys she’d dated in the past did. Like she couldn’t cross the street without holding their hand. Though Mark and Tally called each other ‘boyfriend’ and ‘girlfriend’, they were really more like ‘exclusive friends with benefits’. After nearly two years together, they were still no further along in their relationship than they had been at the start.
They could never live together and that was a big problem for their future. It took a lot of extra effort to be with someone like her, and that consideration was something Mark lacked. The few times Tally had been over at his apartment, she’d had to use her cane. Echolocation worked great, but it had its limits. Items smaller than a baseball were difficult to detect. She’d tripped more than once on a shoe that had not been there minutes ago or stubbed her toe when his couch was moved an inch from the last time she’d been there. Additionally, when he was at her apartment, he moved things absentmindedly and then Tally would spend a frustrating amount of time trying to find it later.
Tally repeatedly told him about it, and he repeatedly told her he would work on it, but two years later, they were still having the same conversation.
It was like the only thing that changed in their friendship was adding the occasional sex between them. The sex was good. Tally enjoyed herself and she had no complaints, per se, but it lacked that spark , that something , that Simone had with Tom.
And Tally wanted that spark.
She deserved to have that spark.
Mark was fun, humorous, and sweet. Despite his own busy schedule, he always made time for her. The issue was that her schedule had become unpredictable, with crazy hours since opening her restaurant. And she was starting to realize that she didn’t miss him when he wasn’t around. Tally truly did care for Mark, but she wasn’t in love with him. Maybe it was cruel to lead him on. She did feel guilty about that. Neither of them had ever said ‘I love you’ and it seemed mutually beneficial to have someone around.
At least, that’s what she kept telling herself. It was getting harder and harder to convince herself, though, and lately Mark annoyed her more than relaxed her. She wanted to break up with him, but his birthday was coming up and she would feel like a total bitch for breaking up with him before his birthday bash with all his family and friends.
Then again, she wasn’t sure how much more of the monotony she could take.
Simone came rushing over to the couch. She didn’t need to announce herself or her intentions. Tally already had her arms open, waiting for her.
In Simone’s own words, she was born chunky and never lost her baby fat. Tally didn’t like it when Simone talked down about her body, but it took until meeting Tom that Simone really started to become comfortable with herself. When they’d first started dating, Tom would scold her for always ordering a salad whenever they were out together. Eventually, he started ordering a second plate of whatever he got, would split her salad with her as an ‘appetizer’, and then push the second plate in front of her to make her eat.
He also always asked if she wanted dessert.
Simone was around Tally’s height, five-seven, and wore a size twenty-two. She wasn’t lazy or immobile. Hell, chasing a two year old around her house all day would keep anyone in shape. She just could not lose weight.
Tally adored Tom for making Simone finally understand it was okay to love her body, even though she was not a size zero. Tom was what some would call ‘willowy’. The man was six-three with not an ounce of fat on him and not that much muscle. Despite the differences in their bodies, Simone and Tom were an amazing couple.
They were one of the reasons Tally refused to settle for Mark.
“What happened?” Simone demanded as she clung to Tally.
Tally hesitated because Simone didn’t know about Gordon Tremont’s harassment. She hadn’t wanted to worry her and it was nothing Tally couldn’t handle on her own. Simone might be a stay-at-home mom, but it wasn’t like she was sitting home on the couch eating Bon Bons all day. Being a mom was a thankless job and Tally did not want to cause Simone any more stress. Additionally, Simone helped Tally out with her office work since Tally had fired her last office manager.
Tonight was the first time Gordon Tremont had switched tactics. He’d never had someone follow her home before. She hadn’t even known he knew where she lived.
“Ms. Meacham believed there was an intruder in her home but we found no evidence of such,” the officer with the Boston accent stated when Tally hesitated.
Great. He made her sound like a paranoid nutcase.
“Is there anything you need from us?” Tom asked. Simone and Tally separated, both remaining on the couch next to the other.
“Not at this time, sir. We’ve taken her report and will increase patrols in the area for the rest of tonight.”
If Tally could roll her eyes, she would. Sure, the big, bad officer was respectful now that someone with eyes and a penis had arrived. Instead, she made a scoffing noise, to which Simone squeezed her leg in warning.
Tally did not have what sighted people would call a ‘poker face’. She’d never learned to school her features because it wasn’t something she registered as normal day-to-day.
“We appreciate you checking up on her,” was Mark’s comment. Crap, why did his voice grate on her nerves like nails on a chalkboard? She really should not be dating him. But the idea of being alone was equally terrifying. Mark might not be in love with her, but she knew he loved her. They really had been good friends before they’d started sleeping together.
“It’s our job, sir.”
Simone squeezed Tally’s thigh harder. Shit, she must have made a face again.
Numerous footfalls on the hardwood floor told her that Tom or Mark was escorting the officers out. At the click of the door, Tally stood up. She’d followed the officers from room to room earlier, but she did not sense the man that had been inside her apartment. She walked around again to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. She couldn’t detect him with echolocation using a louder cluck than her usual discreet click and there wasn’t anything in the air that gave away he’d been there. Like he hadn’t left a trace of himself behind. Normally, Tally could smell a person’s shampoo or odor even after their departure.
When she came out to the living room, she sensed Mark approaching her. “Tally, baby, what’s going on?”
His voice was softer than it had been with the officers, caring. When he put his arms around her, she found herself sagging into his chest.
Mark was five-nine with a full beard and a slight belly. She liked how tactile he was, always touching her. She knew a lot of people who were deaf or blind didn’t like to be touched, and she didn’t either when it came to strangers, but she loved it when her friends and family reached out to her. Like they were giving her a part of them.
Tally ‘saw’ with her hands a lot. Having someone she loved touch her was like them returning a kiss or a hug.
The fact that Mark didn’t hesitate to touch her or didn’t touch her with reservation was one of the things she liked most about him. But she shouldn’t have to continuously remind herself of his ‘good qualities’ as a reason to be with him.
She wished there was a way to just push him back into the friend zone without hurting him.
Tally had no idea how to answer him. Based on the sound of denim against microfiber, Tally knew Simone and Tom were sitting on her couch. It was likely only because the police had just left her apartment that Simone wasn’t making some comment about the ‘god awful’ color of her couch. Tally was honestly grateful for that; she didn’t really have the energy for their playful banter tonight.
“I’m sorry you guys came over.” She straightened off of Mark. “It’s after midnight and three of us have to go to work in the morning. I’m really sorry.” Pausing, she turned towards Simone. “Where’s Amelia?”
Simone gasped, and a quick slap made Tally think she’d smacked her husband’s leg. “Shit, I knew we forgot something!” Chuckling, Simone quickly added, “Kidding. Tom’s parents don’t leave until Sunday, remember?”
Tally had forgotten. She’d met the Canadian couple at Tom and Simone’s wedding, but they had been the type of people who shouted at Tally when talking as if being blind also made her hard of hearing. When Tally and Mark had been invited over to Simone and Tom’s house this week to have dinner with them, Tally had been relieved to not be lying when she said she would be busy at work and unable to attend.
Unfortunately, Simone had brought her mother-in-law and Amelia to the restaurant for lunch earlier in the week. When Tally came out to say hello, the entire dining room had heard Tom’s mother say hello back.
Tally scowled. Her mom used to tell her that her scowls looked more like she was sucking on something sour than a real scowl. Unfortunately, her mom had found Tally’s version of a scowl too adorable to take seriously when she’d been a child. Tally had since tried to adjust what her scowl looked like based on what others described the facial expression to be, but Tally was too tired to concentrate on it now.
“I’m serious, guys. Go home. I feel silly enough as it is.” She knew that the man had been in her apartment, and for now, that was going to have to be enough. Explaining who she believed the man was and the fight she’d had on her walk home from work was far too long of a story for the current time of night.
“Why don’t you come back to my place—” Mark started, but Tally stopped him.
“No!” She definitely did not have that sort of energy. “I’m fine. Really.”
Simone got off of the couch. Tally knew it was Simone that stood because of the slight cracking of her knees. Tom was much smoother when he stood. “Tally. You said a man was in your apartment tonight. You can’t expect us to just leave you. Mark’s right. If you don’t want to go back to his place, come home with us.”
Tally shook her head. “No, Si. Look, I’m embarrassed enough as it is. I know someone was here, but obviously he’s not anymore. I just… I just want to forget the whole thing.”
And maybe if they left he would come back and she could learn how he got into her apartment. She needed sleep, but this was more important.
“Tom, she’s doing the thing again where she’s acting like she’s an inconvenience to us,” Simone whined.
Tom’s chuckle was light. “Tally, for the sake of my sanity, please come home with one of us or I’m going to have to hear about it for the rest of the night.”
Tally made a face. Fucking guilt trip. “Nice try, Simone. Seriously, I’m fine.” She felt Mark’s hand on her shoulder and turned to face him. “I promise,” she told him softly. “I just want to go to bed and forget this ever happened.”
Mark’s voice was gentle as he said, “I know you have some freaking spidey senses, Tally, but I’m struggling to understand how a man could get in and out of your apartment the way you described.”
The police had checked her windows in the living room and the bedroom, but neither had been tampered with. There was one in the bathroom, but it was high and too small for an adult to fit through.
The words felt like acid on her tongue. “I must have imagined the whole thing.”
“You’re working too hard.” He rubbed his hand up and down her back. “Why don’t you take a day off this weekend and let me take you somewhere? We haven’t been on a real date in a long while.”
“You know weekends are my busiest time. I can’t just ‘take off’, Mark. You said you understood.”
He let out a long sigh, the hot air from his mouth blew on the loose strands that had fallen out of her braid. “I know what I said, Tally, and I do understand, but it’s been months since we did anything together.”
Either he didn’t count the quickies in her office or his car, or he was specifically not mentioning them in front of Simone and Tom. It wouldn’t have mattered if he did or didn’t. Tally had already told Simone and Simone would have told Tom. Still, the discretion to not flaunt their sex life was appreciated.
“I took off for your birthday bash,” she reminded him. “Just…give me some time to figure out a schedule or something.”
“You’re a rotten liar, Tally,” Mark mumbled under his breath. “Fine. I’ll go, but this isn’t the end of this discussion. We are going to have to have a serious talk soon, baby.”
Tally scrunched her nose. “I know.”
Mark put a hand on her cheek to guide her face to the right a little more. His lips pressed gently against hers. “Stay safe, Tally, and call me if you think someone is in your apartment.”
From the way he said it, she had a feeling ‘someone’ really meant ‘ghost’.
Simone approached her after Mark left. “What’s going on between the two of you?”
“Nothing,” Tally said quickly. “And I meant that literally. I’ve just been really busy and I think he’s feeling neglected.”
“You really are a rotten liar, Tallulah Meacham,” Simone said as she put an arm around Tally’s shoulder. “But it’s one of the things I love about you. Please come home with us.”
Tally shook her head. She knew she was being stubborn, but she had to know what was going on. “No, I’m fine. I promise.”
Simone grumbled something under her breath before saying louder, “If you get murdered, I’m going to be really pissed.”
Tally chuckled. “That’d make two of us.”
That was part of what she needed to figure out. The man had not attacked her on the sidewalk or in her apartment. So what did he want? Why was he here? And how fucked up was it that she wanted her friends to leave her apartment on the off chance that he would return and she could find out?
* * *
[WiseWave620: I never slept with the Honeys. You guys think I did but I didn’t.]
* * *
Scar stood outside Tally’s apartment building. He’d watched the police leave and then a single man and then a couple. There was clearly a lot about Tally’s life that he didn’t know from the small file he’d compiled on her when he’d first learned that Alpha had a daughter.
The woman had guts, he’d give her that. It was refreshing to witness.
He realized after a while that Tally’s lights were still on in her apartment and it occurred to him that she might not know they were on. The police had turned them on for themselves when they’d entered and clearly her friends hadn’t turned them off when they’d left too. He gave it another hour to ensure that she was in bed before he journeyed back up to her apartment. There was no reason to waste electricity after all.
He found her passed out on her couch, her chef’s knife dangling hazardously from her hand towards the floor. He took it from her, bringing it back to the kitchen and returning it to the knife block. Then he turned off all the lights in her apartment that the police had turned on. After a moment’s hesitation, Scar reached for the blanket on the back of the couch and placed it over her supine form.
He was careful not to touch her skin as he did.
Scar had a feeling she’d been waiting up for him and had passed out. He felt a twinge of guilt for that. He hadn’t meant to scare her earlier. Though, come to think of it, she hadn’t been scared .
Tally shifted on the ugly couch, revealing her cell phone. Like she’d had it on her chest and then it fell when she’d fallen asleep. There was a wireless charging disk on her end table. Picking up her phone, he was careful to not touch the screen as he placed it on the charger. He wanted to ensure it was ready for her to use the next day.
After checking that her front door was locked and deadbolted, Scar left her apartment again. He had a few hours before Tally would wake up for work—and he had two street thugs to hunt down.
Their bad night was about to become so much worse.