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“WHO’S THAT MAN?” Sophie asked, always full of sweetness and light and all the good things Guy wanted to suck out of my life.
I tried to breathe, but the air got stuck halfway down my throat. Wouldn’t reach my lungs. I needed to calm down enough that I could breathe and figure out what to do. This was for real this time. He was actually here, and he intended to act, not just threaten me. Didn’t he? Why else would he be here? No reason I could fathom.
Think. Think! By now, Guy was already closer to my phone and my pepper spray than I was. No time to go get them.
I didn’t have the first clue what Guy intended, but if he was deliberately going against the protective order and coming closer to me than he should, I had to get Sophie to safety, to make sure she understood how serious the situation might be, but not scare her—all at once. That was my first order of business. Everything else had to come later. But how? No clue.
She was skating toward me, thank goodness, so I waited until she came to a wobbly stop in front of me. Then I put an arm around her shoulders and started guiding her toward the opposite side of the rink from Guy, who had almost reached that door.
“Sophie Bug, I need you to do me a favor,” I said quietly.
“What favor?” she asked.
At the same time, Guy shouted out, “Where do you think you’re going, Cadence? I need to talk to you. I came all this way for you. You can’t just skate away from me like that.”
Sophie looked up at me, her big, caring eyes filled with concern. “He’s the bad man, isn’t he? Bergy told me about him.”
There wasn’t a chance in the world I’d lie to her about this. Getting her cooperation was too important. I nodded, a thousand thoughts racing through my head at once.
“I can help you fight him.”
“Not a chance.”
It was true that she’d gone to a couple of self-defense classes with me, but I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to her. As it was, I was worried sick about Gord. There was no way he would have just let Guy walk past him. Something awful must have already taken place, and more seemed to be on the way.
How stupid had I been? I should’ve gone straight to the police as soon as I’d seen the envelope on my windshield this morning. Instead, I’d fallen back into my old habits, and I’d convinced myself it was no big deal. Nothing more than Guy pulling the same things he’d been pulling.
No more stupidity. It was time to act decisively. To get this asshole out of my life once and for all, whatever it took.
“He’s not going to hurt you, though, okay?” I said, trying to ease both of our minds. “He’s going to leave you alone. I’m going to make sure of it. But I need you to go up to the office and tell Mr. Gord that we need help. And if you can’t find him at the front desk, or if anything’s happened to him, then pick up the phone on the desk and call nine-one-one. Can you do that for me?”
She nodded. “Yep. Mom taught me how to call nine-one-one.”
“Good girl.” I opened the door and helped her steady herself, glancing behind me to find that Guy had already come through the other door and was halfway across the ice. “Hurry, Sophie. Go as fast as you can. And stay out at the desk after you call, okay? Do exactly what they tell you.”
Once she disappeared, I stayed on the ice, hoping to keep him as far away from that little girl as I could, and I spun around. Guy was only ten feet away from me, fast-walking across the rink. How the heck was he moving so fast in his shoes? He’d clearly spent way too much time on the ice in his life. Shaking but determined, I did my best to assess the situation. That was one of the first things I’d learned in my Krav Maga classes. I needed to think calmly and clearly about what he could use against me and, just as importantly, what I could use against him.
This wasn’t just self-defense. I had to be ready to attack.
He was bigger and stronger than me, but I wasn’t at a total disadvantage. He was in shoes on ice; I had on skates with sharp blades. I didn’t see anything close by that would make a good weapon, so that was out. It was going to be me and my wits.
“I don’t know what you’re so scared of,” Guy said, gradually inching closer. He’d slowed down once he was almost within striking distance, after wobbling a couple of times. “I’ve never treated you like shit the way your boy toy does. You let that punk fuck you up against the wall, toss you on the floor, spread you out on the kitchen counter… He’s a fucking animal, the way he treats you. But you’re living with him and issuing protective orders against me. Doesn’t make any sense, Cadence.”
With every step he took toward me, I backed farther away. I didn’t say anything. Something told me Guy wanted to hear himself a hell of a lot more than he wanted to hear anything I might have to say, unless it was along the lines of, “Yes, you’re right, I’m coming back to you right this second.”
No way would I tell him anything of the sort.
“Is that what you wanted from me? I was always gentle with you. Didn’t fuck you like a beast. Maybe I should have, since it seems to get you off.” He smiled in a way that made my stomach churn with fear. “We could do that right now if you want. I could bend you over the boards and fuck you raw.”
Had Sophie found Gord yet? Was she on the phone with nine-one-one? God, I hoped so.
Guy took another step, and I pushed back, never taking my eyes off him. Didn’t look like he had any sort of weapon on him, but there was no telling what might be under his coat. He hadn’t reached for anything yet, though.
“Would you scream for me the way you scream for him?” He chuckled, and my insides curdled. “I’d like to hear you scream again. It’d make me think of the sound you made when you fell that last time we skated together.”
“You mean when you dropped me,” I shot back. Couldn’t stop myself. The more he spoke, the closer I got to being ready to fight back—to really fight back.
“Falls happen in figure skating,” he said, brushing it off. He was still moving. Closer to me all the time.
