“No,” I agree. “Neither of us want that.”
“Nothing about me is familiar?”
I shake my head.
His hands hang restless at his sides, and he reaches up to tug on his shirt self-conscious like, only his hand sits there waiting. Then he slips his fingers beneath the tee, touching the weapon, making contact. Next he raises the shirt a little to let me see. Yep. Definitely a gun. A compact black pistol that would kill me just fine. My gaze is stuck on the thing. And he’s obviously made his choice. He’s going to shoot me. Why would he show it to me otherwise?
This is the end of me and this time there’ll be no second chances and I’ll never get to say goodbye to the people I love. My family and Briar and Leif. Because I do love him even if I didn’t realize right up until this minute when I’m most likely breathing my last breaths. It’s crazy and maybe a little reckless and sort of impossible. But it doesn’t make it any less true.
“All right,” the man mumbles, letting the hem of his shirt drop back into place. “That’s good.”
My whole body is shaking and my throat is painfully tight.
“Don’t forget now,” he says simply, then turns and walks away.
The front door slams shut in the wind behind him. I don’t know what makes me move to follow. Some strange burst of courage or curiosity. But I watch through the front glass door as he climbs into a silver sedan parked at the curb. The front corner of the car is crumpled and scratched to shit. As if it’d been in one hell of an accident.
My breath stops in my throat.
One hell of an accident. Just like the accident that rolled my car and caused Leif to crash. And Leif said it was a silver sedan that first time we talked. I remember it clear as day now.
“Holy shit,” I mutter, amazed. Before I can open the door and sneak outside to see the license plate, my brain kicks in with a very valid point. Thank God. Because that man still has a gun and is very obviously unhinged and under the influence. The dude also kind of threatened to kill me. Let’s not forget that salient point. “Security cameras,” I say, still talking to myself, as if saying it out loud makes me more likely to listen to myself. “There are security cameras out front of the building and they catch the street. Leif said so. Don’t go out there. Just stay put. Okay.”
Thank God I listened to my better judgment for once.
It takes hours for the detectives to get here. Then they have to contact the building super and get him to hand over the security footage and so on and so forth. Leif bursts into the condo just as they’re leaving. I have never been so happy to see someone in my life.
“Anna, what the hell?” he says, wrapping me up in a tight hug.
“You got my text?”
He cups my face in his hands. “The one that said you’d like to talk to me sometime soonish? Yeah. Then your mom called and told me to get my ass home pronto.”
“Oh.”
“Do you think maybe if it’s an emergency like someone threatening to kill you, you might call the shop direct next time?” he asks in a gentle though still chiding voice. “I don’t look at my cell when I’m with a client, okay?”
“Okay. That makes sense.” I take a moment to think it through. “I don’t think my brain was working quite right after the surprise of it all. I wanted you here, but I . . .”
“You what?”
“I just wanted you here,” I admit, throat feeling choked again.
“I’m here, baby. I’m here. You’re kind of spun out, huh?”
“Just a little,” I admit, sliding my arms around his waist. My hands are still shaking a little and giving them something to do helps a lot. “They have his name, and they know the car. They’re hoping to go pick him up now. I’ll feel better once he’s in custody.”
“I bet.”
“Never had anyone threaten to kill me before.”
“Let’s hope it never happens again.”
“I can’t believe he came here and did that,” I say, voice full of fear and wonder. “If he hadn’t, no one would have ever known he caused that accident. What an idiot.”
“Drugs can make you paranoid as all hell. Part of his mind probably thought you were just waiting to bring down his whole world or something.” Leif rests his cheek atop my head. “When I find out who let him in the building, I’m going to have some stern words with them.”
“Yeah.” Just listening to his heart beating strong and steady against my ear makes me feel better. “Oh, by the way, I’m sorry about last night and I love you.”