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“I won’t say it again,” he hisses. “Stay away from the streets. My girlfriend keeps better company than that.”
His girlfriend. The guy is a psychopath. I watch him as he walks to a sleek black car, climbs in and speeds away.
Shit. Will Joel believe me if I tell him what happened?
After the scare Blake gave me, I just give up and go home. I’m jittery and need to talk to someone about him.
I look for my brother, but he isn’t home. Out with his buddies, my mom says. Dad’s still at work.
Not many options there. Mom it is.
“Mom...” I sit next to her on the sofa and try to think what to say not to stress her. I don’t want to have my family freaking out over Blake and forcing me to stay indoors. I spent enough time at home these past months to last me a lifetime, thank you very much.
Mom is a pretty woman with her dark brown hair and blue eyes. Joel looks like her a lot. She’s absorbed in a fitness program on TV and cuts me an annoyed look.
“What is it, honey?” she mutters. “Can’t it wait?”
“It’s about Blake.”
She sighs. “Is the crisis over? Are you two back together?”
“What? No.” My hands writhe in my lap as if they don’t belong to me. “No, we’re not. Mom, Blake is sick.”
She frowns, glances at the TV, then back at me. “Sick?”
“His mind is twisted.”
“Don’t be theatrical, Evie. What do you mean?”
“He’s following me around. Says he doesn’t want me talking to people on the street.”
Unbelievably, Mom’s gaze softens. “Oh, honey, he’s looking after you. Can’t you see he wants to be with you? He’s—”
“He’s crazy, Mom. He threatened to hurt any person on the street I talk to.”
“He’s joking, Evie... You know he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Do I? “How do you know he won’t?”
“He’d never hurt you. Has he ever done anything to you?”
“No, but he was there! He told me I shouldn’t talk to the homeless and then—”
“See? He’s looking out for you. He brought you to the hospital after your accident. He cares for you.”
I close my eyes and shake my head. Both she and Dad, not to mention Joel, think Blake is a saint. “I’m telling you, Mom. Something’s off with that guy.”
“Just stop going to dangerous places, honey.” Her attention is back on her TV program. “Blake is right. You could get hurt.”
I won’t let Blake destroy my life. I won’t live in fear. I need to be myself again.
Yet when I see a man rolled up in a sleeping bag lying on a bench, I hurry past, an itch between my shoulder blades. Is Blake watching me?
Christ.
The morning flies at work. I stash the walking stick away again, and the boss says nothing. Cassie and I exchange hurried words as customers go in and out.
Well, Blake’s threats won’t stop me from seeing Micah. I’m worried about him. Blake wouldn’t dare touch him. Micah isn’t one of the homeless he marked.
