Christmas Hideout. Susan Sleeman

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СКАЧАТЬ This was too much.

      How had he even gotten into her apartment?

      Wait. Could he still be here?

      She spun. Scanned the room, her heart racing.

      Emilie. She had to protect Emilie.

      Nicole grabbed the knife. Held it tight and raised it. Armed now and prepared to save her child, she charged down the hallway, fear stealing her breath. She shoved open Emilie’s door. Her sweet child lay in her bed. Curled on her side. Her thumb firmly planted in her mouth.

      Nicole sighed out her relief but didn’t relax. She jerked open the closet door. He wasn’t there. She knelt to look under the bed. Nothing.

      She bolted for the door and checked her own bedroom. The closet. Under the bed. No intruder. She raced to the hallway bathroom. Knife raised, she slid open the shower curtain.

      No Grady. No one.

      A sigh of relief came to her lips, but she stifled it. She couldn’t relax. Not for a second. Not when he’d stalked her. She saw him everywhere. At the grocery store. Outside the school where she taught third grade. At her church. He texted her. Demanded to get back together. Then started threatening her life. Daily. Sometimes hourly.

      She’d reported everything to the police, but he used an unregistered phone and they couldn’t trace it. She’d considered moving out of Austin to get away from him, but she’d have to quit her job. Her husband had been a great provider before he died, but he’d spent every penny he’d earned and left her with nothing. She had to work, and if she abandoned her job, how would she take care of Emilie?

      And what would the point of moving be, anyway? Grady was a police officer, and he had ways to locate her anywhere. Especially here in Texas.

      He’d even gotten into her apartment. He could come back at any time. Now. Tonight. Tomorrow. When she didn’t know. Couldn’t predict.

      Panic raced along her nerves. She gulped for air. Couldn’t find a breath. Panted. Tried harder. Looked for answers. For what to do.

      She suddenly realized she was still clutching the knife and dropped it on the counter. The solid metal landed with a clang, ratcheting up her fear.

      She needed help. Her sister. Piper. She’d call Piper. She was a voice of reason and could help Nicole think logically.

      She grabbed her phone and dialed. “He’s been here. Grady...in the apartment.”

      “Are you in danger?” Piper’s urgent and worried question was nearly Nicole’s undoing.

      She took a breath and blew it out. Took another. “We’re fine at the moment. He’s gone, but he could come back.”

      “You need to call the police. Now!”

      “What good will that do?”

      “He violated his restraining order. They can lock him up, and all of this will be over.”

      Nicole snorted. “Like that’s made a difference. I’ve called 911 on him so many times, and he’s long gone before anyone arrives, so they think I’m crying wolf.” Piper had to realize by now that as a cop, Grady knew how to play the game. To disappear as fast as he’d appeared. “I’ll report him, but I can’t rely on the cops to make sure he’s punished for violating the order.”

      “Why did I ever date him?” An ache settled in Nicole’s chest. “Him of all people to be the first guy to go out with since Troy died.”

      She hadn’t dated in the three years since her husband had been killed in a motorcycle crash. She’d shut down for months, needing Piper just to get through her daily activities. But Nicole soon realized as a pregnant woman she had to find her footing again for the baby. To honor Troy and give their child the best chance in life. She started dating Grady after he came to her classroom to talk to her students. He was so compelling. So sweet with the kids, and she’d never been able to resist a guy who loved kids this way.

      “You’ve got to quit beating yourself up about that,” Piper said. “I still think you should call the police.”

      Nicole shot a look around her tiny apartment. “Grady wouldn’t have touched anything without wearing gloves, and there’s no sign of a forced entry.”

      “Then how did he get in?”

      “I don’t know. Maybe the windows.” She ran to check the locks, window by window. “No, they’re locked, and there’s no sign he forced them open.”

      “What about the door?”

      She raced to the front door. “No scratches or gouges from prying it open. He had to have a key.”

      “Did you give him one?”

      “No. He insisted I have a key to his place, but I never gave him one for my apartment.”

      “Then how?”

      “Maybe he used his status as a police officer to get the building manager to let him in. Yeah, that has to be it.”

      Piper sighed. “No matter what, you’re not safe there. Come stay with me.”

      “No. No way. He’d find us at your place. I need to leave. To run.” Nicole didn’t need to think twice about her decision when Grady threatened to kill her, leaving Emilie an orphan.

      Running was the answer.

      The only answer.

      But how and where?

      She’d just have to play it by ear.

      “I’ll call you once we’re safe.” A thought burrowed into her brain. “No, wait. I can’t take my phone. He can track it. I’ll have to leave it here. I’ll buy a prepaid phone the minute we’re safe and call you.”

      She couldn’t believe she was even thinking about running? Was it the right thing to do? Would they be safe?

      “Honey, don’t go,” Piper pleaded, breaking Nicole’s heart even more and raising her doubts. “Not like this. Not alone. I’ll come—”

      “I can’t ask you to come along. I’ll go to that cute bed-and-breakfast in the Texas Hill Country I stayed at with Troy. I’ll call you the minute I get a new phone. I love you, sis.” Nicole disconnected before she caved in.

      She left the phone on the counter and raced to her room to jerk a tote bag from the closet. She needed clothes, sure, but she had to take items that were important to her, too. That gave her comfort. She didn’t know when she would be back, if she would be back, and the journey would be tough. Nicole would ask Piper to pack the rest of their things and put them in storage.

      She grabbed her mother’s necklace. Her wedding ring. Her father’s watch. Put them in the bag. She located Emilie’s baby book and added it, too.

       What next?

       Should she even be doing this? Could she do it?

      She СКАЧАТЬ