Chapter 29 – Haley
“Here we are,” I say when we reach my chemistry lab. I stop in my tracks a few feet from the door. “I feel sick to my stomach.”
Philip runs his hand up and down my back as we linger in the hallway. “I’ll be right here,” he says. “You know what to do if you need me.”
“Dandelion,” I say, forcing myself to smile when I don’t feel like it.
He chuckles. “You can just wave or call my name, if you prefer. I’ll have my eyes on you the whole time.”
Class is about to start, and it looks like everyone’s in their seats. When the instructor begins to speak, I force myself to walk into the room. I skirt around Mark and Christian, passing on Christian’s side of the desk to avoid Mark as much as possible.
“Hey,” Christian says quietly as he gives me a friendly wave.
Mark just scowls.
I set my backpack on the floor beside my chair and take a seat.
“Here.” Andrea smiles at me as she slides a handout my way. “It’s instructions for today’s lab.”
“Thanks.” It’s nice to have at least one friendly face in here.
I glance back at the doorway to see Philip standing in the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest. His gaze is locked on Mark’s table, but he happens to glance my way and smile. Knowing he’s here helps a lot.
Before I can turn back to face the front of the room, I notice Mark scowling at me. He’s clearly still angry from earlier today, when I brushed him off. Christian notices Mark’s demeanor and bites back a grin as he winks at me.
I do my best to focus on Ms. Davis as she explains today’s assignment. The experiments are easy, and I did them before in high school, so I don’t have to put much thought into what I’m doing.
I guess I’m visibly distracted because Andrea asks, “Haley, what’s wrong?”
I shrug, not wanting to discuss it here. “It’s complicated.”
When class is over, I gather up my things and head for the door, where Philip is waiting.
As I pass Christian and Mark’s table, Mark lunges forward and grabs my wrist. “Haley, why won’t you—”
I recall the self-defense maneuver Charlie showed me and perform the steps just like she taught me. It works!
Mark cries out, grimacing as he drops to one knee and cradles the hand he grabbed me with. “You bitch!”
I’m about to tell Mark to keep his hands to himself when Philip charges past me, grabs Mark by his shirt, and hauls him to his feet.
Philip backs Mark up against a wall and tightens his grasp. “Don’t you dare touch her!”
Mark tries to speak, but instead he coughs. Philip has the neckline of Mark’s shirt twisted in his grasp, and it’s pressing against Mark’s throat.
The instructor comes forward and says, “What are you doing? Let him go right now.”
Philip releases Mark. “You don’t touch her, ever!” he says, pointing his finger in Mark’s face. “You don’t even talk to her.” Then he takes my hand and leads me to the door.
Once we’re in Philip’s truck and heading back to the safehouse, Philip glances over at me. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Did you see what I did? I can’t wait to tell Charlie.”
“You were on it. You didn’t even hesitate.”
When we arrive back at the townhouse and come inside through the back door, Charlie greets us.
“How’d it go?” she asks.
Philip tells her all about my self-defense move.
Charlie gives me a high-five followed by a hug. “That’s my girl, Haley! Now channel all that ass-kicking mojo tonight at the restaurant, okay?”
When my phone pings with a notification, everyone pauses to watch me. I check the screen, and what I see there makes my stomach plummet.
UNKNOWN: THAT WAS QUITE A SHOW THE BIG LUG PUT ON. HE THINKS HE OWNS YOU, BUT I’VE GOT NEWS FOR HIM. I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU TONIGHT. COME ALONE.
I show my screen to the others. “It’s definitely someone in my chem lab.” I tell them all about Philip coming to my rescue and slamming Mark into the wall and practically cutting off his air.
“Damn,” Charlie says. “Reply to him and tell him you’ll be there.”
Me – I’ll see you this evening.
* * *
I’m a nervous wreck all afternoon. I sit at the kitchen table listening in as Charlie and Jake have multiple conversations about the sting operation tonight. We’re supposed to be there in an hour.
My dad calls to assure me he’ll be there. Not Erin, though. He doesn’t want her anywhere near this operation.
My mom calls to check on me.
Philip has a phone conversation with Detective Bauer, who is coordinating with the local police.
Everything is set.
“Do you have a dress you can put on?” Charlie asks me. She smiles apologetically. “Since this is supposed to be a pseudo date, it would make sense for you to dress up a bit.”
I know she’s right, but the thought of dressing up for this asshole makes me sick. “I suppose so,” I say reluctantly. I don’t often wear dresses, and I have only one with me. It’s the one I wore when we had dinner at Layla and Jason’s place.
Philip looks just as unhappy about the idea as I feel.
“I know it sucks,” Charlie says, “but—”
“I know,” I say as I rise from the table. “I’ll go change.”
Philip follows me up the back staircase and down the hall to my bedroom. I pull the hunter green knit dress I wore to Layla’s out of the closet. I round up my dark gray tights and short black boots.
Philip sits on the bed and watches me change. “When this is over, we’re going to celebrate. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
“Anywhere?” I smile because he doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into.
“Just name it.”
“I want to go to Disneyworld.”
His eyes widen. “Disneyworld?”
I nod. “Yep. You said anywhere.”
“All right then. It’s a date.”
* * *
I feel sick as I sit at a table for two in the center of Mama Bella’s dining room.
There are other couples seated throughout the restaurant, but they’re either undercover police or they’re McIntyre Security employees.
From my vantage point, I can see Jake McIntyre sitting at a table with a pretty blonde woman named Carolyn.
My dad is seated at the table behind me with a woman I’ve never seen before—another McIntyre Security employee.
Charlie and Mateo are dressed as servers, wearing black trousers, white button down shirts, and white aprons tied around their waists.
There must be some Mama Bella employees here, too, because people have food at their tables. Someone’s in the kitchen cooking this food. They’ve spared no effort in making the scene look real.
A female McIntyre Security employee is standing at the front podium playing the role of host.
Philip is behind the swinging door that leads into the kitchen, as are a few uniformed officers.
I’m wearing a tiny microphone attached to a small battery beneath my clothing, and there’s a listening piece in my right ear. I can hear the others talking over the comms. I’m wearing my hair down to conceal the earpiece.
“You’re doing great, Haley,” Philip says. His steady voice helps settle my nerves. “Just breathe. It won’t be long now.”
Six o’clock rolls around, and my nerves are frayed.
No one shows.
I’m starting to think this is a cosmic joke perpetrated by the stalker. Is he somewhere else laughing his head off at me? Did he just set me up? Is he across the street, or across town? Is he on campus? In his dorm room?
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Philip says over the comms. “Just try to relax. It’s going to be fine.”
“What if he doesn’t come?” I murmur quietly.
“If that happens, we’ll deal with it. But don’t give up. It’s only five after. He could still show up.”
Charlie walks up to my table and tops off my water glass. “You’re doing great,” she says quietly. “Would you like something else to drink? A soft drink or some iced tea?”
“I guess a Coke wouldn’t hurt.”
She nods. “I’ll get you one. Eat some bread. It’s good.”
There’s a basket of sliced crusty bread on the table, accompanied by a shallow dish of olive oil infused with Italian herbs.
A moment later, Charlie returns to my table and sets a glass of Coke in front of me. She squeezes my shoulder. “You’re doing great. Now we wait.”
I’m starting to think he’s not going to show, and all this was for nothing. I feel bad for putting all of these people up to such an elaborate scheme for it to fall flat.
The restaurant door opens, and in walks—oh, my God.