Breath Of Life

“Naw, man. We got problems. I need to get out of here and take her to the station.”

“No.” I clutch his shirt. “Do you know what they’ll do to us if we go to the cops?”

“We have to.”

“No! Please, Ollie. God, don’t make me do that.” My body shakes at the thought of their retaliation.

“Quinn, they singled you out and got you alone. Do you know how much worse this could’ve ended?”

My chest aches and my shoulders tremble as the sorrow builds up inside of me. My life is spiraling out of control, and I have no way to pump the brakes. Hot tears escape from my eyelids and run down my face as I break. The sobs threaten to tear me to pieces as they rocket through my body, and Ollie holds me through it all.

“It’s going to be okay. We’ll see what Kunes say. They’re not going to get away with this shit on my watch.”

“Please, please, please.” I hiccup. “Don’t go to the station. They’re watching it. I know they are.”

“Okay. We won’t. I’m going to take her to my office, brother,” Ollie says as he steers me away from the parking lot where I’m making a spectacle of myself. I allow him to take the lead.

Sinking down in a chair, he pulls me onto his lap and wipes away my tears. “Hey. You okay?”

“I never even saw it coming, Ollie. I was enjoying myself. Hell, I actually berated myself for being paranoid. How do we stand a chance against them?”

He shakes his head. “We’re going to be scared to death either way, Quinn. We owe it to ourselves to stand firm on this. That’s how I view it. They damn near took my life. Am I going to let them punk me and push us into a corner, too? Fuck that.” His chest heaves and his voice deepens under the weight of his conviction. “Look, I’m going to call him, okay?”

“Fine.” I know I can’t stop him and he’s right. We need help. However, I can’t help but feel this is the worst idea.

“Hi, Detective, Kunes? This is Oliver Hemingway. There’s been an incident with Quinn. ... No, we don’t feel safe coming into the station. We think we might be watched and possibly followed at right now. ... Yes, she was approached at a job. ... No, there was no physical altercation, but they made it clear how easy it was to get her alone. ... I’m not sure. To be honest, it was hard enough to get her to let me call you. You didn’t do anything about the messages and now it’s escalated. ... I understand those were dummy accounts, but the fact is, you’re not offering up much in the form of protection. Do we have a firm date on the trial? ... Three months is a long time. ... Yeah, I understand. Do we have to come in to file a report? ... No, you can meet us? I think that would be best. You choose the time and place. We’ll be there. ... I know the place. Tonight at eight o’clock? You got it.”

Like or not, the die has been cast, and all I can do is live with what follows. An ominous sense of foreboding encases me like ice. My blood runs cold, and my chest aches. What lies ahead is going to test us both.

I SINK LOWER INTO THE booth as I peer around the diner. I’m making my best impression of a college student in gray sweatpants, an oversized hoodie, and a University of Texas hat. Ollie is dressed similarly beside me as we wait for Detective Kunes. The restaurant is a twenty-four-hour spot about an hour away from the house. I should feel safe, but I don’t.

Ollie places his hand on my knee and squeezes lightly. “You okay?”

I shrug. Giving him a line would be futile. We both know I’m on edge. Leaning my head against the cool glaze of the window, I close my eyes. Things have gone quiet. There have been no messages on social media since I changed my settings and no more odd occurrences. Maybe they’re waiting to see if their threats have succeeded. If I’d had it my way, they would have. The look in that man’s eyes was a promise of murder plain and simple. No

hesitation, no remorse. I know without a shadow of a doubt, he’d slit my throat, watch me bleed out, and step over my prone body once I left his planet. There’s no winning against people like that. They have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

I tried to explain it to Ollie, but he can’t see it the way I can. Not when all the attacks have been me-centric. I think it’s an experience you have to go through in order to fully understand. I tense as a black sedan pulls into the parking lot. My heart rate increases, and I sit up straight. The sight of Kunes exiting the vehicle hits me with a quick burst of respite that makes me shudder.

“He’s here,” I croak. I clear my throat as he walks inside and spots us in the corner booth in the back where we can watch the entire restaurant and the parking lot.

Slipping into the opposite side of the booth, he turns his blue gaze on me. “How are you, Quinn?”

“Hanging in there,” I say.

“I hear you had a scare?”

“Yeah.” I clear my throat and take a sip of water. “I was hired for a Quincera. Everything was going fine until the actual event. A man approached me, told me who I was, and basically said if I knew what was good for me I’d stop talking to the cops.”

“Is your Facebook page private?”

“No, I’m running a business. I want people to be able to find me. How could they know my name?”

“Their lawyer.”

“Wonderful,” I whisper.

“It’s not ideal. We’re working on getting the way things work changed.”