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Thank you, Jesus!!
“What’s the status on Ezra’s murder? Do we have any suspect information?” I inquire, lifting the slice to my mouth and taking a large bite.
“The police have been tight-lipped with information. There was a calling card of some sort on the body. They ran it through their system to see if there were any matches across the country but no luck. I wish I had more answers for you, but they are stumped.” Her voice is full of disappointment. I don’t blame her; I know how important it is to her to get the band back on the right track. Her job relies on them playing music.
However, I can’t help but feel concerned with her answer. If the police saw the calling card, there should have been a hit in the system from when I reported it years ago. It’s never changed. I gave them everything. The photos of the calling cards and notes left for me and the one I had received before I ran. They should have been on file. The police said they would record it and look into it.
Did they lie?
The second she leaves, I’m going to see what I can find online and reach out to Knox. I’m sure he expected me to check in already as it is. I can kill two birds with one stone with a phone call. Our company should have enough contacts to figure out how evidence just up and disappeared.
Rome and Valentina ask a couple more questions of the band manager that I tune out. My brain spins with all the different possibilities.
The stalker could have an inside man at the police department. The stalker could be a police officer. Or it’s someone with enough money to bribe someone. Whatever the answer is I plan on getting to the bottom of it.
Long forgotten is my slice of pizza. My appetite is gone with the news. “Excuse me,” I mumble, getting up without waiting for an answer. I ignore their questions as I exit the room.
Air.
That’s what I need.
I need fresh air to try to breathe and calm the impending panic attack. I can feel it clawing its way up my throat, waiting to take me over. My hands clench and unclench as I walk. My eyes glaze over, no longer seeing anything in front of me. The only thing I can focus on is getting outside. Far away from everything here.
Bumping into something, I’m thrown backward, stumbling and trying to catch my footing. Before I fall on my ass, a pair of arms reach out to catch me, righting me until I can get my feet back under me.
“Sorry,” I mumble and attempt to move around them.
Their hands remain on my biceps, their grip softening just a tiny bit. “Sky, what's wrong?” an almost familiar voice asks. I can barely hear their words over the chaos in my mind. Looking up at their faces, I don’t even recognize them. They are just blurry images. A silhouette of a person.
I try to pull out of their hold, but all it does is make them grasp me tighter. I feel them give me a small shake, but it barely phases me. The only thing it does is make me feel more trapped, and my fight or flight response arises. I yank my arms once again with no avail before a strangled noise leaves my lips, and tears slip out of the corners of my eyes.
Why won’t they let me go? I just want to get some fresh air. I need it, or I’m going to die. I can’t breathe in here.
“SKY,” the voice calls out more firmly.
“She’s having a panic attack,” another voice clarifies. It comes out softer than the one who was calling my name. “Give her to me.”
The one holding my arms lets me go, but before I can bolt around them, I’m being lifted into a set of arms. One arm is under my knees, and the other is wrapped around my back. The body holds me close to their chest. I can hear their heartbeat from where my head rests against them. It’s the only thing I can focus on. It’s the last thing holding my mind here when all I want to do is run away.
The person holding me starts to move quickly. They must have bypassed the elevator and chosen the stairs. I’m being jostled with every hurried step they take. I had expected us to go down. That had been my plan, to go to the outdoor pool. The person who has me must have thought differently though because I think we're going up the stairs. After a couple of minutes, they kick a door open, and the fresh night air is assaulting my lungs.
“I got you, Demon Queen. It’s going to be okay,” the male voice mumbles against the top of my head. A few more steps, and then he comes to a stop. I thought he would put me down, but he doesn’t. Instead, the male moves to sit on the ground, cross-legged with me still wrapped in his arms sitting on his lap. He holds me close to him in a protective manner while mumbling soft and soothing words.
I have no idea how long he held me like that just trying to get me to calm down. Finally, eventually, my panic attack starts to abate. As I start to come back to myself, I realize it is freezing up here, and I don’t have a jacket on. The only heat I have is from the person holding me.
It’s one of the three people I never thought would come near me ever again. I know I shouldn’t let my heart or my head look too closely at what he just did for me. It shouldn’t mean anything. It doesn’t. But just maybe it does. If he cared enough to help me stop my panic attack, then wouldn’t that mean there's some small part of him that still cares?
Before I can open my mouth to ask him why he helped me, exhaustion takes over, and I pass out, the darkness of sleep claiming me.
Chapter Ten
I don’t want to wake up. My body feels as if I’ve been hit by a semi-truck. Every muscle aches, and my head is pounding like no other. It’s not a migraine because I’m not nauseous or sensitive to light and noise, but it is right behind my right eye, making it completely miserable to open my eyes and look around me.
I honestly have no idea what happened last night. The only thing I remember is leaving the room to get some fresh air after the news we received. Everything after that is a blur. How I ended up in this bed is blank in my mind. The one thing I do know is that it’s the comfiest bed I’ve slept in in a while.
With a groan, I slowly roll over and try to push myself up in the bed to a sitting position. I don’t get far before I fall back down against the pillow. I think I moved maybe an inch or two before it was more than I could handle. Instead of trying that again, I pull the covers up to my chin and move my right arm just enough to reach up and massage my head. It helps the pain some. Not enough to make it disappear, but it’s enough to lessen it.
“Sky,” Valentina whispers right before I feel her sit on the bed near my legs. A groan escapes me from her jostling the bed. “Sorry, how are you feeling?”
