39
Sailor
Car Parks Are Dangerous
I STUMBLED OUT OF THE CINEMA AND staggered against the wall.
The huge car park held an ocean of vehicles but no people. Everyone was still inside, transfixed by loud, flashy movies, leaving me all alone in the dark.
I barely remembered how I’d managed to make my way down the row or trip my way through the foyer. A few moviegoers had given me side-eyes. One girl had even reached for me, clearly concerned, but I’d broken into a run and exploded through the double doors to freedom.
My car was out there somewhere.
Clouds covered the stars, threatening rain.
I felt very, very alone.
My phone had rung three times with Lily’s number, but I’d ignored them. I couldn’t pretend I was okay. I didn’t want her feeling bad that this was too much for me, too soon. I couldn’t have her feeling responsible for ditching when I completely understood work had to come first. For any ordinary person, that would’ve been fine.
But I’m not normal.
I’m—
“Hey, pretty lady! You waiting for someone?”
I froze into a chunk of ice as I looked through my tears and focused on a fairly tall man with a mop of dirty-blond hair. His saggy jeans and graffiti-designed t-shirt hinted he was in his late teens, but the sketchy look in his eyes and slight twitch to his fingers suggested he had habits of the adult variety.
Panic added another very unhelpful dose of jitters and breathlessness. Fighting the urge to bend over and clutch my knees, I didn’t reply. My shoulder bumped along the wall as I half leaned on it for support and half ran toward the car park.
I needed to find Pop’s car.
I couldn’t drive in this state, but at least I’d be somewhere familiar. I could curl up on the back seat and let this idiotic episode pass.
My phone rang again.
I ignored it.
“Hey, if you’re not using your phone, can I borrow it?” The guy fell into pace with me, grinning with stained teeth. “I need to call a friend to pick me up.”
My already overloaded system fritzed.
My palpitating heart made me lightheaded.
A scream lived permanently on my tongue.
I shook my head, unable to speak. Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks as I headed down the first row of parked cars. I alternated between power walking and pathetically weaving, my knees like water and lungs like ash.
“Oi, where’re you going in such a hurry?” He jogged to my side, grinning in a way that sent my instincts screeching.
Go back to the theatre.
Now!
Spinning on my heel, the cute slip-ons I’d worn to match my cutoff jeans and flower-print blouse didn’t have enough grip to run fast.
I skidded a little.
He reached out and grabbed my elbow.
White-hot, blazing terror.
I yanked away from him, baring my teeth like a cornered animal. “D-Don’t touch me!”
Holding up his hands, he scowled. “Jeez, calm down.”
“Leave me alone.”
“That’s not very nice.” He pouted and kept pace with me as I made my way, breathless and almost blind with terror, back toward the bright lights of the theatre. “You should say thank you. I just stopped you from falling.”
“Go away.”
He huffed and crossed his arms. “See, now that was just rude. I think you owe me an apology.”
Keep going.
Stop talking.
Just run.
Sucking in a deep lungful of air, I broke into a sprint.
His hand lashed out and grabbed my wrist, stopping me dead.
Two things happened.
One, my panic switched from debilitating to hyper focused—the urge to protect myself brought a wave of power and ruthlessness.
Two, that awful fight-or-flight that’d crippled my system finally had an outlet. He’d stopped my flight so that left fight.
I’ll kill him.
Balling my hands, I swung.
He ducked my flailing fist and laughed. “Want to do this the hard way, huh?” His eyes narrowed to slits. “Okay then. Give me your phone and wallet, and I won’t hurt you.”
I screamed.
His hand clamped over my mouth, his fingers smelling like Doritos and cigarettes. “Jeez, you don’t learn, do you?” Wrapping his other arm around my shoulders, he hauled me backward, deeper into the car park, away from the bright lights and beckoning doors of the cinema.
No!
My feet scrambled for purchase.
My heart flew too fast to stay in my ribcage.
I lost it.
I turned into something inhuman as I cracked my head back, smashing into his nose. The phantom pain when Milton had ripped out a handful of my hair was instantly replaced by the nasty crunch of his cartilage.
He screeched and tripped backward, taking me with him.
I fell on top of him, my back to his front, his arm shifting from my shoulders to my neck. I gagged as he added pressure.
All those flashbacks of Milton strangling me.
All those nightmares where he’d done it again and again and again.
I’d been too hurt to fight back that day. Too bruised and beaten to prevent him from taking my life. James McNab wasn’t around to save me with a cast-iron frying pan. No one could hear my struggles.
It’s up to me.
It’s always been up to me.
Scratching his arm over my throat, I gouged his flesh.
He cried out and wriggled beneath me. His arm loosened just enough for me to squirm a little lower. With a scream that’d choked me for months, I brought my elbow careening down…right between his legs.
Hard.
As hard as I could.
He howled.
Jack-knifing sideways, he kicked me off him and cupped himself. My phone lay with a cracked screen on the ground. Snatching it, I crawled out of grabbing distance and tried to stagger to my feet.
Only my legs didn’t want to work.
Spluttering a thousand curses, the guy rolled to face me. Fumbling for my ankle with one hand, he protected himself with the other. “All I wanted was your phone and cash. But now you hurt me so…you’re getting hurt right back.”
I screamed again, kicking him in the jaw.
A roar of a motorbike drowned out his shout of pain, a bright spotlight careening into the car park and tearing toward the theatre in the distance.
“ Help !” I yelled just as the creep managed to grab my calf and stop me from climbing to my feet.
The driver had his visor down, obscuring his face, but his head turned to face me. For a second, he looked as if he’d crash his bike. The front wheel wobbled and the engine coughed.
And then, he cut down the row of cars with a burst of growling speed.
The guy let me go, scrambling to his feet and cupping where I’d elbowed him. He hobble-ran away, but the motorcycle rider snarled to a stop, killed the engine, then launched himself after him.
The thief didn’t stand a chance.
The motorbike rider grabbed him around the scruff of his t-shirt, wrenched him backward, then ploughed a fist into his face.
The thief screamed as blood spurted from his nose.
Just like I’d lost myself to instinct and rage, the rider did too. He punched the guy again and again. Ploughing him backward with each pummel until he bounced off a car and dropped to his knees.
Bowing over his legs, the thief cupped his head and begged, “Stop! I didn’t do nuffin! I’ll report you. Stop!”
The rider either didn’t hear him or didn’t care. His booted foot swung back and collided with the creep’s ribcage, sending him sprawling on the ground.
Seeing one stranger beat up another finally cut through my panic.
Swaying to my feet, I went to where the guy kicked the thief again and hesitantly touched his shoulder.
The rider swung around, his visor reflecting me and the stormy clouds above.
Unable to see his face, I hoped—based on his help—that he could be trusted. “You can stop now. I-I’m okay.” Holding up my cracked phone, I added, “I’ll call the police. If you hurt him anymore, you might get into trouble.”
The stranger’s chest rose and fell beneath his leather jacket and dark jeans. His body seemed familiar. His scent tugging at memories skipping just out of reach.
The longer we stood there, the more my pulse calmed. He felt safe. Protective. I sucked in a sigh of relief. The only one who’d acted like that kind of sedative on my system was X, but…he never replied.
Checking my phone, I skimmed the notifications.
Nope, he hadn’t texted back.
My gaze snagged on the bike. On the polished chrome and sleek lines.
Wait, I know that bike.
My eyes snapped back to the rider.
He made a noise in the back of his throat, then reached up and tore his helmet off.
I tripped backward as deep red hair and glowing green eyes appeared. “Z-Zander?”
Without a word, he stepped close and grabbed me. His hand went to the back of my neck like X did. His other fisted my hip and tugged me into him, crashing our bodies together and holding tight. His arms snaked around me in the tightest embrace.
I couldn’t decide who trembled harder.
Neither of us spoke as he pressed his face into my hair and sucked in a tattered breath.
The thief scrambled to his feet and took off running. With a curse, Zander let me go and chased.
The creep didn’t get far. With one strike of his helmet across the guy’s shoulders, Zander ensured the thief fell forward, landing chin first on the ground.
I couldn’t get my bearings.
Zander was the one who beat him up?
Zander willingly hurt someone after a lifetime of saving people?
“I-I don’t understand.” Rubbing my chest where my heart switched from fire to ice, I tripped toward him and shook my head. “How are you here?”
“Give me a sec.” Fisting his phone, Zander called the police and muttered details to the operator while pacing around the guy who’d given up and sat in a dejected ball by his feet.
He refused to look at me until he finished. Once he’d hung up, he flexed his hands with a wince, a streak of blood and faint bruises staining his knuckles.
The thief whimpered as Zander glowered at him.
The night gathered thick around us.
I wanted to ask so many things.
Why had he defended me?
Where had he come from?
How was this possible ?
But then he captured my hand and dragged me away from the creep on the ground. Once we were far enough away, he squeezed my fingers and let me go reluctantly. “Are you okay?”
Rubbing my hand from his tingly touch, I nodded. “Yes.” I frowned, vacant from panic and feeling a little floaty. “Actually, I feel rather good.”
“ Good ?” His eyebrows shot to his hairline, and for a second, I pictured a silver piercing. The way his eyes widened then narrowed reminded me so much of X, my brain tried to splice the two men together.
“Now, I’m the one who doesn’t understand.” He cocked his head. “Are you sure he didn’t hurt you?”
Looking past him to the creep on the ground, I shrugged. “He tried.”
“And…you feel good about that?”
“Yes.” I crossed my arms, nodding with more bravery than I felt. “I fought back this time. It felt very good to do that.”
His eyes darkened, reminding me all over again of another man with brown eyes. Eyes shaped so similar. Lashes just as thick.
Aghh, will you stop?
They are not the same person!
Apart from the height and a few mannerisms, Zander wasn’t like X at all. Not to mention his hair and eye colour—
He attacked that guy for you.
He’d come to my rescue just like X had on those nights I’d needed him.
He knew where I was…
I froze.
Could it be him?
You told both you were at the movies.
But I couldn’t remember ever giving the name of the cinema because I’d been drowning in panic like an idiot. That’s why X isn’t here. That’s why he—
He’s not here because he said you’d never see him again…remember?
I swayed.
“Sailor?” Zander stepped into me, his green gaze darting over mine as if worried I was about to pass out. “Are you alright? Do you need to sit down?”
I stumbled away, my heart resuming its panicked flurry. I couldn’t get my bearings. Couldn’t stop the yearning for one man all while another had saved me.
Anger rose, wanting to strike at all these annoying, confusing, stupid feelings.
I wanted to fight again.
I rather liked fighting back. I’d held my own despite my size difference. Perhaps I’d enrol in a self-defence course and take my rage out on the very man who’d stalked me, then abandoned me.
Cupping my shoulders with gentle fingers, Zander studied me. “Speak to me, Sailor. You’re scaring me a little. Are you sure you’re okay?”
My skin burned where he touched me, delivering the same prickly electricity that X gave.
My gaze caught on his mouth.
My stomach clenched.
If he was X, would he kiss me the same as he did in my kitchen? Would he shove me against a car and devour me just like he’d trapped me against the wall and worshipped me?
Kiss him and find out .
The thought blazed like a comet.
I flinched at the thought of being so bold.
My eyes fell on his mouth again—
But the flashing lights of a police cruiser pulled into the car park.
And Zander tripped away without another word.