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When there is a knock on the door, she opens it, and the medics walk through. I see my stepdad, Jim, standing off to the side. He’s a volunteer firefighter with the local department. He must have heard the call and came to check on me.
“She doesn’t know, does she?” I ask him, fearing my mom will worry if she finds out.
“No. I was coming into town behind you when I got the call.” He walks over and takes my hand in his. “Are you okay?”
“My head hurts, and they pulled out some hair. But I’m okay. If it wasn’t for Karma, it could have been worse.” I wave my hand toward the general store manager.
“Thank you,” he says to her, and then the troopers walk in.
“It’s escalating. You need to think about your son and safety,” one of them says, and I nod. I’ve given them all of the notes I’ve received as I got them.
“I can’t close the shop, but I’ll make sure I’m not alone coming here anymore. I have security at my house.” At that statement, I realize I didn’t set the alarm when I left. I grab my cell to do that now.
I check the cameras and don’t see anything out of character. When Renee was here, she had a security company in Europe watching over everything. However, several months ago, a New York company took over, and since then I’ve had issues. I should look up the company that was doing it before and see if I can hire them again. I probably won’t be able to afford them, but maybe that will give Renee the boost to help me get the business loan.
“Does Betsy know what’s going on?” the other trooper asks, referring to the name Renee used for years. No one else knows it was an alias and that her real name is Renee. I know because of the business and because we are friends.
“I sent her an email. That’s the only way I can contact her, but she hasn’t responded.”
I wish I had a better way to contact her. I’m frustrated that both she and Ilan left me email addresses and not phone numbers. Renee once told me it was because she might have to use a burner phone or change her number. I don’t know exactly why that is, and I didn’t question her. As for Ilan, it probably made it easier for him to break everything off with me. I knew he was going to go get revenge for his father’s murder. I wasn’t scared of that. But to completely walk away and ignore me when I tried to tell him about Gideon is too much.
The officers gather what they need for their report and leave. After the medics bandage my forehead where the skin split open from hitting the door, they leave too with a promise from me that I’ll seek medical attention if my headache gets worse. We only have a small clinic here in town. The main hospital is in Wasilla, which is just over an hour away on clear roads. With the ice and snow of winter, it could take longer. I don’t want to go if I can help it. When Charley shows up, we get to counting the current inventory, but I end up calling it an early day because of my headache.
With a pizza in the passenger seat of my car that almost didn’t start again, and my son in the back seat, I pull into my driveway. There’s an unknown car parked off to the side, and I realize the perimeter alarm didn’t alert me. I glance around and don’t see anyone at first, but then Ilan walks around from the front of the cabin. The front doesn’t face the driveway. It faces the lake the cabin is set on. In the setting sun of the day, I take in his form. He’s bigger than I remember. He’s still heart-stopping sexy with dark hair and eyes and his olive complexion.
Instantly, I’m angry. How dare he show up now. Why is he here? My head aches and I’m hungry. I look in the rearview mirror to the mirror that’s facing Gideon’s face and see he’s asleep. He’ll be waking up shortly for dinner. He has a schedule that he doesn’t deviate from often. I need to get Ilan off my property before Gideon wakes up. I leave the car running so the heat stays on and step out to confront the man who broke me.
I blink my eyes several times to ease the headache that is now forming between my eyes. This one I know is from stress and not the attack earlier. My forehead still throbs, and the bandage is hidden under my hat. I need some acetaminophen to help ease all the pain.
“What are you doing here?” I try to make my voice sound strong, but it comes across timid.
Ilan
I take her in. She’s in a pair of jeans, a heavy winter coat, and a stocking cap that has a pink puff ball on top. She pulls out a set of mittens from her pocket and slips them on over her thin driving gloves. The jacket must be extra puffy across her chest because it looks like the zipper is straining.
I move toward her, and she moves toward me, leaving her car running. I don’t see anyone else in it and wonder why she left it on. I don’t have access to the security feeds any longer. I can’t figure out why Securities International is no longer the company she uses. The cameras still have S.I. logos on them though. When she had them, I had access. But now, the feeds say incorrect login when I try to pull them up. I texted the company about this and am waiting to hear back. I circled the house and saw the cameras and everything are still up.
“I needed to talk to you,” I answer when she’s standing in front of me.
“Now. Now you want to talk. I don’t want to talk to you.”
I hear a noise from the car, and she turns to look at it then back to me.
“What was that?” I ask. My voice comes across gruffer than I mean it to. But thinking there’s possibly another man in the picture, I can’t stop it. I look at the car and again don’t see anyone in it.
“That was my ringtone,” she says but won’t look at me. I suspect she’s lying.
“Well, I want to talk. What’s going on with you?”
She keeps looking back at the car and won’t look me in the eye. I start to reach for her, but she steps back.
“Ilan, you had months to respond and talk to me. I emailed you, and you ignored me. Now you need to leave.”
A loud cry comes from the car, and I swear it sounds like a baby. I want to call her out on the lie, but I’m trying to win her back, not alienate her more.
“Your man coming?”
She finally looks up at me and smirks. “No. He’s here.” She squints and looks back at the car. “Get off my property,” she orders as she stands taller.
