Page 87 of Solo

It’s ten thirty by the time I get home from my post-rehearsal postmortem with Russell, and all the spots close to the apartment building are gone. But I don’t mind. Between the conducting, Danny Gillies, and my toasty new blue parka, I’m lost in my own swirly, dreamy, happy place. I look up at the stars in the black sky and smile. I’m happy. And that’s something I haven’t been for a very long time.

I’m so caught up in my reverie, that I don’t notice the shadowy figure ahead of me until I’ve walked right into him. Before I can recoil, he’s locked his hands onto my upper arms, squeezing tightly. I can just make out the blue-green color of his eyes, though they don’t look as bright in the dark.

“Kate, Kate, Katie Kate,” Stalkerazzi Kevin sings cheerfully. “So nice to see you again! It’s been awhile since our last date.”

“Let go of me!” I spit at him, but he just sneers down at me.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Kate. C’mon! I just thought I’d pay you a visit. Why don’t you invite me up to your apartment? I was going to surprise you there, but for some reason my key doesn’t work anymore. Did we change the locks, Katie?”

I force myself past the initial jolt of fear and try to pull away from him. But he’s bigger and stronger and he just tightens his grip.

“Help!” I yell.

He pulls me close to him in an airtight embrace, putting his mouth to my ear when he speaks.

“Now, Kate, you don’t want to cause a scene, do you? What would the papers say about a fleet of police cruisers in your parking lot? Come on, why don’t we go on up to your apartment and have a chat? I’d just love to hear some of your personal thoughts on your father and his political views.”

He lets go of me without warning and I’m so off-balance that I fall to the ground with a thud. I’m not hurt, just stunned. And really, really pissed.

“Did you just put your hands on me and—and push me?” I growl up at him incredulously.

“Nah, I think you’re just clumsy.” He grins. “But hey, look at you with a new winter coat. I’m sure it softened your landing. What happened? Did Daddy feel guilty when he saw you shivering outside of the restaurant last week?”

“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to follow me anymore, you son of a bitch!”

“No, no, no, Katie! After our little encounter, I was even more intrigued by you. You’re a tough cookie. I like tough, Kate. I like it very much,” he says with a self-satisfied grin.

Son of a bitch. Time to wipe it right off his face. I lunge forward toward his shins and he falls backward, substantially harder than I did. I crawl out of his reach and scramble to my feet, already fishing for my cell phone. But it’s not in my pocket.

“Looking for this?” he asks, producing the phone from his pocket.

Damn! He must have grabbed it when he was holding onto me just now.

“You’re insane! You think you can just show up outside my building and threaten me? And for what? A sound bite?”

He sits up slowly, wincing with the effort. “Fuck! I think you fractured a vertebra!” he whines as he lumbers back up onto his feet.

“That’s not all I’m going to fracture if you don’t give me my phone back and get the hell out of here!”

“Yeah, right, Katie…”

Before he can finish his obnoxious thought, I move to kick him in the ribs. My mistake. He’s totally expecting that. When he grabs my sneaker and pulls, I go down again, this time flat on my back. I hit the frozen ground with a grunt, even as he’s getting up again. We’ve switched positions now, which might have been a bad thing, except for the fact that I can see what’s behind him…and he can’t.

“I reckon you might wanna rethink that,” Clinton says, baseball bat leaning against his shoulder.

Kevin spins to the side and I see several expressions pass over his face. First, his mouth forms a surprised O. After that, his brows draw into an angry V. Finally, his mouth twists into a perfect U as he smiles at the old man standing there. I’m wondering what other letters he might be able to imitate when he swings around to face Clinton, who doesn’t move so much as an inch. That is, until Stalkerazzi pulls back his arm to punch him. Apparently Clinton doesn’t like that idea too much, because the bat shoots straight out like a bayonet, nailing Kevin in the chest. Hard. He doubles over and drops to his knees on the icy asphalt, the phone flying out of his hands.

“Katie, your phone fell over there on the sidewalk,” Clinton says with a nod. “I’ll keep an eye on this sombitch, you call the police.”

Stunned by everything that’s just transpired, I scramble up onto my feet again and retrieve my phone so I can dial nine-one-one on this creep. Again. Once that’s done, I make the other call. The one I’m afraid to make because I know if I do, he’ll freak. The one I’m afraid not to make, because I know if I don’t, I’ll freak.

Chapter Forty-One

Drew

She’s waiting for me just inside the front door of her building when I pull up. She comes out and hops into the cab of my truck with a small gym bag over her shoulder. I pull the truck into an empty space, throw it into park, and pull her across the bench seat into my arms.

“Are you okay?”