I sat at the kitchen counter prepared to station myself here for the night. There was a basic rubric for grading. But I had added two bonus questions that gave students the chance to present their own take on legal philosophy. There was no true right or wrong. The questions were completely subjective to my interpretation, but I wanted to give them a challenge. Something that would allow them to think spontaneously, not just regurgitate answers they had studied from case history. Jessie was in favor of the system, while Gregory had argued I was being too tough on the students.
The pot started to boil and I rushed to turn the heat down on the burner. The water and olive oil splashed over the sides.
“Shit,” I murmured. The droplets burned my skin.
And then I heard it. A clamor. A crash that came from the balcony. It was probably one of the cats that wandered from next door. I had caught them trying to stalk our bird houses.
I turned the stove off and walked to the door. I slid it to the side and stepped onto the rooftop.
“Shoo,” I hissed. “Get out of here.” I scanned the chairs and the bird house stand for the cats.
It was quiet. It was dark. I couldn’t see well, but I noticed the shadowy figure in the corner. Tall and broad.
“Oh God,” I whispered.
My skin crawled with panic. I didn’t have anything to defend myself. I didn’t have my phone to call 9-1-1. It was inside on the counter.
I backed up, trying to reach for the door, but my movements felt slow and clumsy. I wanted to get inside and lock him out when the man stepped from the darkness. He walked toward me, the shadow covering half his face, encasing the rest of his body in blackness.
I covered my face with my hands, shrinking in fear. I didn’t know if he was going to strike.
“Don’t run, Em.”
My palms slid from my eyes and I stared in disbelief. Horror.
It was Vaughn.
Chapter 27
I scrambled for the door. I ran, throwing my hands on the latch, but he was faster than me. He clamped his grip around my wrists and pulled me into the cover of darkness. The bricks were rough against my arm.
“Let go of me.” I struggled.
“Shh. Stop. Just stop.”
I kicked at him. Something primal in me was unleashed. “Don’t touch me.” I wrestled, knowing he was stronger than I ever would be, but I didn’t stop fighting.
“Em, I just want to talk to you. Can you stop kicking me for two seconds?”
My movements slowed and I looked into his eyes. My chest heaved. I was out of breath.
I had envisioned this. What it would be like to see him again. To look into his smoldering eyes. To feel the heat of his skin against mine. I wondered what I would do when I heard his voice. How it would awaken my senses. Remind me that what we had was real. That it wasn’t reduced to a criminal report in a bureau file.
His eyes bore into mine.
“Thank you.”
“What are you doing here?” I hissed.
“I wanted to see you. I needed to.”
“Don’t. Don’t lie. You don’t have to anymore. I know about Jeremy West. About you.”
He didn’t drop his gaze. “Hear me out.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to hear anything you say. I can’t.”
“Nothing? You have no questions? You’re not curious? You don’t want to ask me anything? I’m here, Em. I’m right here in front of you. There has to be something.”