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I knew the voice on the other end of the line well. One of the few people in this world who could truly say they’ve known me my entire life, and he sounded worried.
That wasn’t like the stoic, unflappable Daniel McGee I knew.
My childhood best friend was a strait-laced, no-nonsense kind of fella. A professor at some hoity-toity, rich private college in upstate New York. He’d go out with the boys and never drink. He’d ensure we all got home safely. He was the first one to call when you needed help. Whether it was as simple as borrowing a cup of sugar or putting out a fire, his attitude never changed. We called him happy for a reason.
I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what he said next.
“Dan, what’s up?”
“It’s Kara. I think she’s in trouble.”
Kara. His sister. My heart. The ‘one’ who I’d let get away. She was in trouble? I sat up, prodding him for more information. “Explain.”
“I can’t.”
“You can. You will.”
“I don’t know anything, asshole. Just get up here. There’s some weird shit happening.”
“Like what?”
“Man, I’m not sure. She’s been acting off for a few weeks. I put it off as new semester stress, but?—”
“For fuck sake, spit it out, man.”
“A couple minutes ago, someone slipped a cryptic note under her room door. She ran off like a spooked horse and won’t tell me shit.” There was no need to ask if he was sure, his voice told me all I needed to know.
“I’m on a case. I need to wrap it up, and then I can head up that way. It’ll be early morning.”
“Thanks. I’d feel better if you could look around and see what you can find.”
“Consider it done. I may snag a few extra sets of eyes on the way.”
“Do what you need. I can pay?—”
“No, we got this. Just hang tight and keep an eye on her.”
“Will do.”
Two days of watching Kara from afar has done nothing to change my feelings for her. They’re just as strong today as they were when I left. I should have made it clear when I joined the Army that it wasn’t to get away from her. I didn’t want to leave, but it was the way my life needed to go at that time.
Long story, but I wanted to do more for my country and for myself. To give my inner demons something else to focus on.
It was selfish of me. I’d left her without telling her how I felt, and she’d suffered.
Now it was time to make amends.
I would do that by finding out who was messing with my girl.
“We have movement on the street. Black hoodie, face hidden.”
I pulled out my binoculars and watched the figure hurry up the street. The only distinguishing feature was the jacket they wore. Black with a red flame on the sleeve. The figure went up the stairs adjacent to hers and within seconds, was inside the duplex. Another dead end.
Dan has been watching her classroom and office for me. Until I could find a way onto the campus. Tomorrow morning, I’d be going in as a sub for the class next to hers. It took a little string pulling and calling in a few favors, but it was worth it. I could follow the instructions left by the teacher.
She had been more than happy to get a week’s paid vacation to let me sub her class. It paid to have friends in high places sometimes. My number one goal was to get settled in before Kara saw me.
After that, I would be on her like a trained K-9 was to his partner. I would make sure she was safe, and I would find out who was behind the notes and dead flowers. If she would have just told Dan about this sooner, we could have put a stop to it already.
