Caught in Darkness (7 page)

Holding perfectly still, Veronica
prayed her eyes would adjust as she tried to discern the shapes of her
furniture in the darkness. Light switch, her mind whispered, as if even her
thoughts were susceptible to being overheard. There was a light switch along
the left wall, just a few feet in. All she had to do was reach it.

Okay, I can do this. She swallowed
past a lump that had formed in her throat sometime after she’d stopped
breathing, released her pent up breath, and slowly moved forward. It occurred
to her call out, but then she wondered if that wouldn’t be incredibly stupid. If
someone was going to break into her house they certainly weren’t going to panic
and run away if she called out to them. In that regard, turning on a light
wasn’t likely to help, either—but at least she’d be able to see.

Her hand slid along the wall, palm
flat and probably clammy, until she finally found the cool plastic of the
switch cover. Another inch over and she was able to slip her thumb beneath the
switch and shove it up a little harder than was necessary. Fluorescent light
immediately flooded the kitchen, covering a decent amount of the living room
space as well, and for a moment Veronica had to squint against the intrusion. Between
her squinted eyes she saw another blur of movement, but before she had time to
really register the sight there was someone leaning over her and snarling.

He was standing so close that each
exhale sent a wave of hot, heavy breath rolling across her face. Dark, angry
eyes locked onto hers and it was in those eyes that Veronica realized exactly
who he was. Gregory Richards.
The man who had tried to
threaten her in the park the day before.
The man who
had talked about killing people.

“H-how did you get in here?”
Veronica heard herself asking. Her voice was a bit shaky, but she figured that
was understandable. “What do you want?”

Richards narrowed his glare at her
and all of a sudden he had one hand wrapped around her throat and was pinning
her to the wall, the toes of her shoes just barely touching the carpet. “You
screwed things up for me, Veronica,” he hissed, leaning closer as if she needed
help hearing him.

Her blood ran cold at the
realization that he knew her name. What else did he know about her? What was he
going to do to her?

“What’s wrong?” Richards taunted,
lips lifting at one corner in a heartless smirk. “Cat got your tongue?”

Veronica choked when she tried to
speak around the hand at her throat but she managed, “Get…out.”

Richards’s eyebrows rose at her
apparently-unexpected show of backbone. “Do you really think telling me what to
do is a good idea for you right now?” He shook his head almost before he was
done and added, “Never mind. It doesn’t matter, ‘
cause
I’m
gonna
kill you. And then I’ll ‘get out’.”

Her heart stalled in her chest, the
once-delicious food in her stomach suddenly thinking about making a second
appearance. She hadn’t expected him to say his intent so casually. It didn’t
matter that she wasn’t all that surprised to know what he was planning, but hearing
it said out loud was different. Those words put everything in perspective. And
as soon as the first wave of fear had settled, Veronica realized she was angry.
She didn’t have any intentions of dying that day.

“Now hold still,” Richards
instructed,
his voice nearly a purr. His other hand came up,
grabbed hold of her upper arm, and latched on to it. A moment later he eased
his hold on her throat, putting awkward pressure over her collar bone in order
to keep her off of her feet, and then he leaned in.

Veronica watched in horror as he bowed
his head, for a second thinking he intended to do something unspeakable to her
before killing her, until she realized he wasn’t aiming for her lips. He had an
awkward hold on her, and he seemed to be leaning toward her throat. And then,
as she watched, his lips curled back and the kitchen light reflected off of
something far too long and far too pointy to be an ordinary canine. Is that a…?
She shoved the thought aside. It didn’t matter; what mattered was getting the
hell away while she could.

Before Richards could lean too
close to her chest, Veronica shoved her free arm between them, hoping he’d
believe that she was trying to shove him away. A mirthful chuckle drifted up
from him as he paused to flash
her an
arrogant smirk
and she knew he’d fallen for it. She gave a little shove with her elbow—now
pressed into his ribcage—for
effect
even as she dipped
her hand into the edge of her purse and prayed it was facing the right way. Her
hand wrapped around the slim canister she was searching for just as she felt
his slimy tongue touch her throat and she nearly gagged. Instead, she turned
her head as far away as she could, squeezed her eyes and lips shut, held her
breath, and tugged the pepper spray free before firing it into his face.

Richards immediately leapt backwards,
releasing her with a string of colorful curses as he began coughing and choking
violently.

Veronica stumbled once, nearly
dropping the pepper spray, before spinning and darting toward the door. She
didn’t know whether or not her pepper spray would stall him for long, but she
wasn’t willing to take that risk. And, when this was over, she was buying stock
in the company.

“Bitch!”
Richards
roared,
his voice raw. What little effect it
might have had was ruined when he immediately began choking all over again.

His renewed choking fit had barely
begun when Veronica yanked the front door open and all but jumped through. She
was fighting the need to cough herself and her eyes were watery, but if she
could just get away then it would be worth it. There was a sharp tug at her
shoulder, indicating that Richards had latched on to her purse, and Veronica
nearly twisted her ankle in her rush to slip free of the leather straps. And
then she was sprinting forward again, putting as much distance between herself
and her attacker as possible.

She didn’t stop running until she
was across the street, when it occurred to her that all she had was her pepper
spray and her cell phone, and she turned cautiously back around. If he came at
her again she could at least scream and hope someone heard her.

But he wasn’t right behind her. He
wasn’t chasing her at all. He was glaring through undoubtedly-watery eyes and
standing calmly in the entryway of her house. Her purse was hanging carelessly
from one hand, and as she watched he managed a cocky smirk and stepped
backwards. The door shut a moment later, leaving him alone in her house and her
stranded on the street.

Veronica sucked in a breath,
feeling an entirely different burning beginning in her eyes, and shoved it
back. There would be time enough for tears once she had a little more distance
between them. And definitely once she’d figured out where she could go.

“I want you to call me
immediately.” Those had been Seth’s words at lunch earlier that afternoon. And
that had been his instruction for if she thought she saw one of them.

If I call him I won’t have to worry
about dragging anyone else into this mess. That certainly made her decision
easier. But she wasn’t going to call from across the street of her house. She
didn’t want any of her neighbors to see her and start asking questions, and,
more importantly, she knew full well that Richards had at least two partners. The
last thing she needed was one of them sneaking up on her.

Without a destination really in
mind, Veronica turned and started walking down the street. She was still
holding her pepper spray and at this point tears were dripping down her cheeks.
She was blaming the pepper spray for the tears as well as her nose sniffles and
sore throat. And though it occurred to her that she probably looked like a
mess, she walked.

****

Seth’s mind was racing, his anger
building, as he turned onto the street Veronica had called from. Her voice had
been choked over the phone—which she’d attributed to semi-pepper-spraying
herself—and the story she’d had to tell had him nearly running out to his car. He
told himself it was because he had a good lead on Richards, but he knew he was
lying. For one thing, he had no intention of detouring to her house to look for
him.

There she is
,
he thought as his eyes landed on the now-familiar head of the blonde perched on
the park bench. And he wondered if she’d considered the irony of going to the
park for refuge.

He was parked—poorly—a moment later
and striding across the sidewalk to where she was seated. She was hunched over,
her head bowed and shoulders slightly shaking. Salt was heavy in the air, as
well as the lingering aroma of the spray, and he knew she’d been crying. “Veronica,”
he called as he dropped to a knee in front of her.

She sniffled, her head snapping up
in surprise, and then her face relaxed and she swallowed. “Hi,” she offered.

Seth reached out carefully and
wrapped one hand around hers. “Is there somewhere you’d like to go?” he
asked,
glad to see that she at least didn’t appear to be badly
injured. There were a couple of bruises forming that he could see, but he
couldn’t smell blood, so she wasn’t bleeding. It was a start.

“Somewhere safe,” Veronica replied
tiredly. Her blue eyes were rimmed with red—likely as much from the tears as
the spray—and he had the strongest urge to reach out and wipe the tear tracks
away.

He refrained. Instead, he gave her
hand a light squeeze before standing and tugging her gently to her feet,
saying, “I know a place.” He actually knew several, but most of them were out
of state and, like it or not, he still had a job to do.

No words were spoken as he guided
her to his Corvette and pulled open the door for her, but his chest ached at
the pitiful smile she tried to offer him as she sat. Once she was seated he closed
the door, moved around the car, and slipped back into his seat silently.

They were on the road before
Veronica managed, “Thanks for coming. I’m sorry…I doubt this was what you had
in mind when you offered.”

“You’re welcome, and you don’t need
to apologize,” Seth assured her. “I never said my offer had limitations.”

Veronica offered up a bitter
chuckle and replied, “Maybe you should have, then.”

“Maybe,” Seth allowed, knowing he
didn’t mean it the way she did. His fingers tightened over the steering wheel
as he snuck a sideways glance at her. She wasn’t crying, but she was still
distressed. And something about the sight of her in that state made him want to
break every bone in Richards’s body.

They lapsed into silence again
until Seth pulled into the private driveway in front of his rented condo.

“Is this…your place?” Veronica
asked,
an honest tone of curiosity beneath the rawness of
her voice.

“For now, yes,” Seth replied with a
nod. He cut the engine and released his seatbelt as he added, “It’s also safe.”

Veronica smiled, and though the
gesture was sad, it didn’t make him ache as much as the previous one, as she
said, “I like it already.”

They climbed out of the car
simultaneously and Seth led the way inside, stepping aside to let her pass
before shutting and locking the door. Then he turned and gestured toward the
spacious living room, saying, “Make
yourself
comfortable.”

She nodded and turned her gaze
outward, and for the first time Seth found himself wondering if it was obvious
that the furniture had come with the condo. It was just more convenient to rent
already-furnished places, but she couldn’t know that. Would she judge him
poorly for that? Was that the kind of thing that even mattered to her? Suddenly
it was obvious how much he really didn’t know about this woman. And, as he
watched her move toward the large sofa, he realized he didn’t like not knowing.

But that was a dangerous train of
thought, so Seth grabbed hold of it and shoved it aside. There were more
important, more pressing, things to be taking care of right now. Introspection
could wait.

Veronica watched him as he quietly
moved toward the couch and sat
beside
her, leaving a
cushion between them in hopes that that would be enough to make her feel
comfortable. He held her gaze for a long second, studying the light within
their depths until he was satisfied that the damage Richards had caused wasn’t
irreparable. Then, carefully, he asked, “Can you…tell me what happened?” He
already knew the basics of course—she’d told him those over the phone. It was
the details he needed to hear.

She pulled in a deep breath, closed
her eyes, released the breath, and nodded.

****

The story seemed strangely surreal
as Veronica recited it for Seth—especially the part about the sharp, pointy
tooth that had looked suspiciously like a fang. Still, she told him everything,
sparing no details. Whatever Richards was involved in was obviously bigger than
what she’d overheard at the park, and she wanted to be sure to help stop him
however she could.
Even if that just meant repeating her most
recent traumatic event.
As she spoke her voice seemed to find itself
again, and by the time she was done she had stopped stuttering or stalling. Saying
it all out loud seemed to have been at least a little helpful, in a perverse
way.

Watching Seth’s face was an
interesting event, too.

It was obvious that he had been
trying to keep his expression neutral in the beginning, but by the time she got
to the part about Richards choking her she could see the anger building. His
eyes narrowed as she continued and his jaw tightened with tension. He was the
human interpretation of the tiger crouched and just about to pounce.

But before she could find any
heartwarming amusement in his obvious anger something else occurred to her. Never
at any point during her story had he looked startled or confused. And while she
mostly understood that, there was definitely a part that probably should have
jarred the anger, even if only for a second. Unless…. Oh, that was a
frightening thought.