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“Go into your office and wait for me with the door open.”
I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking if he would bring Eva in. It was consolation that I had a good idea where she was. Within the walls of my office blocking Chad’s view, I texted Andre that Eva may be in Chad’s trunk. With no need to send Malaysia my location, I sat down at my desk, patiently. The newly-installed buzzer went off at the front door. I didn’t bother to tell Chad about it, he’d find out about it the hard way.
I got up to answer his summons. Through the glass, I peered at Chad. Eva was nowhere in sight. He grinned. I leered back at him, which caught him off guard. He wasn’t ready for my defiance or when Tobin jumped down from the roof behind him. Chad spun around right into Tobin’s fist. I winced. Chad stumbled into the glass window.
“This is where you lock the door behind me and call the cops while I search Chad’s car, Cherise,” Andre coached from behind me. He’d been here the entire time since Chad’s first call, laying low behind Athena’s desk in case Chad made it inside the building. We had no plans for him to get that far. When darkness had fallen, Tobin climbed the roof, anticipating this moment of meeting Chad fist to face.
“I’m going to check for Eva.” Dialing 911, I placed the phone to my ear and escorted Andre to the exit, locking it when he was on the other side.
God, please let her be alive, I prayed as the emergency line rang. Only one person was supposed to die here tonight. Tobin leaned to the side and kicked Chad square in the jaw. He fell flat on his back. A dispatcher picked up as Andre reached Chad’s car, opening the driver’s door.
“Send Detective Cortez to Johnston Psychiatric Services. We have his corpse thief and kidnapper here.” I hung up.
Tobin roaring, “Get up!” snagged my sole interest.
Chad rolled sideways onto all fours. One hand edged to his right side in my line of vision, not Tobin’s. Chad had a hunting knife clipped to his belt. Panicking, I fumbled with the lock to get out.
“Stay in, Cherise!” he directed, sidetracked.
“Boy, you’ve crossed a line you can’t come back from now! She’s fucking mine!” Chad shouted then lunged up on his feet to stab Tobin, who jumped back too late. I screamed. Chad’s downswing had caught Tobin in the thigh, splitting his pants. Blood welled up on his exposed skin, which only seemed to piss Tobin off. Successfully getting the door unlock, I stayed put. I was a bigger detriment to Tobin than assistance. Then, the most beautiful thing in the world happened. Tobin charged Chad, delivering a knee to his chin. Chad lost the knife as he tumbled back into the door, half unconscious. Tobin kicked the weapon away then grabbed Chad by the back of the shirt, hauling him up on his knees as if he was going to execute him. He was, all a par
t of the plan.
Chad wasn’t fit to breathe air. But first, Tobin nodded once at me. I imitated him and closed my eyes. I didn’t hear or see Chad’s neck snap, but I imagined how it took place, and I had never been more glad of a death to happen before that night. The door opened before me. Arms enclosed me.
“It’s over, love,” Tobin whispered to me, “He can’t or won’t hurt anyone else again.”
It was over. Three words had never brought me such peace. Happy, my waterworks’ button failed. I bawled like a baby into his shoulder.
“Can I please have a glass of water?” a woman croaked, shuffling into the building. Eva was alive.
Tobin moved aside. I took in Eva in a wrinkled, brown skirt and sleeveless blouse that she must’ve been in for days at least. Red splotches were all over her pale face, wrists, and arms as if she’d been duck taped and maybe poked with a cattle prod. Her shoes were gone, her hair a strawberry blond mess. Still, she was a sight for sore eyes.
Eva pulled a face. “Cherise!”
“It’s me, Eva.” I ran to her, hugging her tight. “Everything’s alright.”
She embraced me back, sighing. “I have never been so glad to see a familiar face in all my life. That fucking Chad was absolutely crazy. Not even Ambien could help that son of a bitch.”
For a moment, nothing or no one moved. Then, we all laughed.
Cherise
“This is my shit, Cherise! Come dance with me!” Malaysia scooted out of the booth, heading to the dance floor.
I didn’t follow her lead even if the fast tune was hitting my dancing buttons. Embarrassing myself in public with cutting a rug hadn’t been my thing in years. In Tobin’s arm, draped snugly around me in the booth, was where I wanted to be. He kissed my jaw and took a swig from his beer. Smiling like a loon, I took a sip of my white wine, tapping my feet to the beat under the table crammed with plates of half-eaten food. Browsing the bar we’d started to frequent in the last three months, I noticed a big man lurking in a dark corner. He only had eyes for the crowd on the dance floor.
Maybe, he’d found the one woman perfect for him and had hoped to meet her here.
I looked back on the last ninety days of almost pure bliss with the man perfect for me. Everything had its setbacks, of course. Malaysia and I had been kicked out of our condo for the run-in with Chad. We still hadn’t finished unpacking at the new place. My business hadn’t taken off like I wanted, but three new clients was a gift. Shane had escaped prosecution by putting a large lump sum in the District Attorney’s hand, or so we believed. How the hell else could he not be indicted when they found a shitload of dope in his basement?
Shane wasn’t happy with his freedom or Tobin. He’d sent a cryptic message last month to Tobin, accusing my guy of abandoning him fifteen years ago. We could deal with that tomorrow. Tonight, we weren’t going to let anything stop us from celebrating Tobin getting his FBI badge today. It was bittersweet that Greg couldn’t be here to celebrate with us. Andre was doing a real nice job of helping Tobin celebrate by hitting on the women at the bar forty feet away. If anyone had been abandoned, it was Tobin and me.
He tipped my chin back, leaning my head on his shoulder. “Sure you don’t want to dance with Malaysia? Apparently, that song is her shit.”
Giggling wildly, I gazed at the man who would kill for me. “I’m sure you’d break up with me if I got on that dance floor, so I’m staying right where I am. Losing you over something that trivial is the last thing I want to do.”
“Nothing can make you lose me, Cherise. You are my everything, my air, my love.”
