Page 42 of Keeping Kara

“And we’re going to have chicken nuggets!” Bowie exclaimed.

“That sounds awesome,” Kara told her. She wasn’t lying. She hadn’t been to many wedding receptions, but the ones she had attended were stuffy and formal, and the food hadn’t been at all to her liking. But chicken nuggets sounded right up her alley.

“I know Casper wants to marry Laryn as soon as possible as well,” Jen said.

“Yeah, we’ve talked about it. We might combine our receptions. I mean, we know all the same people, so it kind of makes sense.”

“Oh, that would be awesome! You wouldn’t feel weird about sharing your special day with someone else though?” Jen asked.

Penny immediately shook her head. “No way. I love Laryn, and I’d feel honored to share a celebration with her.”

Hearing the sincerity in Penny’s voice made Kara understand a little more how close the friends were. She wasn’t quite ready to say her luck had finally changed for the better, but she felt blessed to be exactly where she was, and among the people she’d found herself with.

By the time the mother-daughter duo left, Kara felt much better. For a brief while, she’d forgotten all about Nolan.

But the second they were gone, it was as if a switch had been thrown, and memories threatened to overwhelm her once more. The fact that she had only a handful of belongings to her name made the complete restart of her life feel overwhelming. How in the world was she going to afford to get her own place? And would she even be able to live by herself again? Kara wasn’t sure.

The threat of Nolan hung over her head like an oppressive cloud that wouldn’t lift.

It was around five-thirty in the afternoon when Jen got a call. She and Fred were being requested to help track down a three-year-old girl who’d wandered out of her yard when her mom wasn’t looking. The house backed up to a marshy area, and the parents were freaking out, with good reason.

Jen was reluctant to leave, but there was no way in hell Kara was going to tell her not to take the job.

And, once alone in the apartment, all Kara’s fears began to creep up on her. She imagined Nolan was in the parking lot, waiting for his chance to grab her.

To keep busy, she began to clean an already spotless apartment. She found a vacuum in a closet and used it in all the rooms. Then she wiped down the countertops in the kitchen. And still feeling the need to stay busy, she started organizing the cabinets.

An unfamiliar noise made her jerk with fright, and it took a moment for Kara to realize it was her phone ringing. Included in the bags of stuff the women had bought was one of those pay-as-you-go cell phones. It wasn’t the fancy kind she used to have, but Kara was grateful for it all the same.

Rushing into the sitting area, she grabbed it from one of the small end tables next to the couch and saw Arrow’s name on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Kara. It’s me. Arrow.”

“Hi.” Simply hearing him made some of the voices in her head go quiet. She supposed she should probably be more concerned about how much she’d already come to rely on the man on the other end of the line, but at this moment, she didn’t care.

“How’s your day been?”

“Good. Jen and I talked a lot. Then Penny and Bowie came over. Jen got called out on a search.”

“Shit. You’re there alone?”

Kara couldn’t help a small grin. Knowing he was so concerned made her feel good. “Yeah, but it’s okay.”

“The door’s locked, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Still, that makes what I called to tell you harder…”

Kara tensed.

“I’m not going to be able to stop by tonight. I thought I could, was planning on it. But something came up at work and we’re going to be here a while going over some tapes.”

Disappointment hit Kara hard, but she pushed it down. She’d lived alone for a very long time. She didn’t need a babysitter.

Though, the voice in the back of her mind that had reared its ugly head the moment she woke in Nolan’s trunk started screaming. Telling her Nolan was watching and waiting. That he was going to get into the complex and come up to the apartment. That he was going to steal her away and take her somewhere no one would ever find her, before he tortured and killed her.