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CHAPTER 9
PIPER
Sometimes bliss makes you stupid and careless. It’s the only excuse I have for the position I’m in right now. I shouldn’t have ignored the threats, even if I haven’t seen the ones which have come in after the first one. I shouldn’t have left the safety of Sullivan Protection, even if I was trying to do my job.
It was stupid.
I’ve never stared down the barrel of a gun before, but now I’m in a dirty as fuck alleyway doing just that. The woman aiming at me looks disturbed to a point I’m not sure if I’m more scared because of the gun or the look in her eyes.
Fuck.
Landon is going to spank my ass if I get out of this in one piece.
When lunch time rolled around and the guys were still in a meeting, I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal for me to walk a few blocks to the deli we order food from. I thought I’d be safe considering it’s the middle of the day and I wasn’t going very far. I was wrong. I know it now.
The only good thing in this situation is I don’t have any regrets when it comes to my life. I finally told Landon how I feel, and I’ve been so damn happy since the moment the walls between us crumbled. I should have remembered the only reason things happened between us was because I was in danger, and it snapped him out of his excuses.
Now? Fuck. If this goes badly, I know he’ll never forgive himself. He’ll never let anyone else into his heart. He’ll let himself fall victim to his demons again. It’ll be all my fault if it goes down that way.
All for some fucking sandwiches.
I hold my hands up and keep my voice low, “Look, I don’t know what you want, but I have some cash. I’ll give it to you.”
The maniacal laughter coming from her chills me to the bone even with how hot the day is. She shakes her head and sobers when I try and inch away from her since her laughter caused her to drop her gun slightly. I freeze when the barrel is pointed at me again.
As much as I hate to admit it, all my self-defense training goes out the window. All I can feel is the fear and the need to flee. I hate how it makes me feel weak. I hate how much power it gives this woman.
“You think I want your cash?” Her voice is lyrical, but in a creepy, taunting kind of way. “I don’t. I want you out of the way?”
“Out of the way?” Maybe if I can keep her talking, I’ll be able to figure something out. “What are you talking about?”
When she narrows her eyes at me, I hazard a glance over her shoulder to see people walking past the mouth of the alley, but no one looks our way. I’ve always liked how you can feel anonymous in the streets of New York, but right now I hate it. I hate it so damn much.
She seethes, “Don’t even think about it. If you scream for help, I will shoot you.”
I straighten my spine and try to exude as much confidence as possible. “Won’t you shoot me anyway?”
She sneers at me. “Yeah, I will. You’re in my way.”
I wish I could stomp my foot in frustration, but I can’t. Tears prick at the back of my eyes, but I can’t let my emotions get the better of me. Not right now. My life is on the line. My future with Landon is on the line. I can’t let myself get pulled under.
I shake my head and soften my voice to a gentle plea, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She barks out a laugh. “You’re a lying slut.” She takes a step toward me, but I’m thankful there’s still some distance. I know what a close-range gunshot wound would do to me. Sometimes the job I have is a blessing, but right now it’s a damn curse. “You tried to take Ezra away from me and I can’t have that. I can’t.” Her voice drops and is deathly calm, too fucking calm, “He’s mine.”
“Ezra?” I scrunch up my face. I knew this had something to do with Ezra since the photos used for the first threatening card has the photos from our dinner, but hearing it said out loud is something different. It knocks me off balance. “I’m only Ezra’s friend. We grew up together.”
“He hugged you and you kissed his cheek,” she screeches the words and I flinch.
“We’ve known each other forever.” My mind is whirling so fast. I wish I could see Landon one more time, but I can feel the situation ramping up with every heartbeat. I know I don’t have a lot more time and I don’t know how to talk this woman down considering she’s not listening to a thing I say. “I’m very happy and in love with someone else. Not Ezra,” I put as much conviction into those two words as I can, hoping she believes me.
She seems to falter for a moment, but then her eyes narrow and she shakes her head sharply. “You’re lying. You’d say anything right now. I saw you. My Ezra looked at you with love in his eyes. Love that should be mine,” her voice is getting louder and louder with every word and the crazed look in her eyes only gets more severe.
I whimper with the thought of dying here. I don’t want to. I want to get to be in Landon’s arms again. I want to be able to tell him I love him. I want to wake up with him wrapped around me, just one more time would be enough. I close my eyes for a brief moment and remember how damn good it felt this morning. He was so warm and comforting. I could feel the love between us like a living thing.
Now, I’m cold, even on this summer day, and surrounded by trash and who the fuck knows what else.
I’m never eating a sandwich again if I get out of this.
