AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, Samara, how are you feeling?” her sister-in-law asked as Chloe and Tom followed Fin into the room.
“I’m doing okay,” she replied, although she felt like she’d been run over by a truck. “I'm not sure I can tell you anything helpful. I don’t know who he is, I don’t know his name, and I was too afraid to ask him any questions. I didn't want to make him angry because I was scared he would kill me.”
“You did the right thing, Samara,” Fin said, reclaiming his grip on her hand. “Everything you did was exactly what you should have because you're still alive.”
Fin had to say that because he was her big brother. Samara’s gaze moved to Chloe and Tom Drake, but both of them nodded their agreement.
“The most important thing is that you're alive,” Tom said. “And you saw him, so you can give us a description, that’s more than we had this morning.”
She supposed that was true. Still, she wasn't ready to let herself off the hook just yet. “I didn't even get a plate number.” She had to be the worst witness on the planet. She had nothing useful for them at all. How could she expect them to find this man if she couldn’t give them something to work with? If she’d been able to get the plate number, it would have been as good as a name, and this could have all been over by the end of the day.
“We found the car,” Chloe informed her.
“You did?” Samara asked, surprised.
“Witnesses saw you jump and got the plate number of the SUV. We were able to find it, it was stolen, and he must have known we might find it because he dumped it and set it on fire about a mile from where you were found,” Tom explained.
“A dead end,” she sighed, disappointed.
“Can you run down for us everything that happened from thetime you saw him until the time you jumped from the car?” Chloe asked.
For the next fifteen minutes, Samara relayed everything she could remember about the man and what he had said to her during their brief encounter. Chloe or Tom interrupted sporadically to ask a question or clarify something, and she did her best to elaborate or give them the answers they needed. By the time they were done, she was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and fall into sleep where she didn't have to think, and she didn't have to feel.
“I think that’s enough,” Fin told his wife and her partner. “She really needs to rest.”
Samara smiled gratefully at her brother, between his doctor instincts and big brother protectiveness, it was nice to be loved and cared about like that. Because of the disjointed childhood they’d had—their mom had left when she was three and Fin was six, their father left when she was ten, and they went to live with their grandparents, their grandfather left when she was twelve—they had grown close. They were all each other really had.
“Okay,” Chloe agreed. “One more thing though. Samara, we were talking, Fin, Tom, and I, while you were out, and we all think that you're in danger. He probably knows where you live, he knows where Fin and I live, he knows enough about you to make another abduction attempt. We think the safest option is for you to have a bodyguard until we get this guy.”
“Don’t argue, Samara, please,” Fin said, squeezing her hand tightly, conveying his fear. “I don’t want to lose you.”
That was hard to say no to.
And the truth was that shewasafraid about him coming after her again.
Maybe having a bodyguard was the right thing.
“Who?” she asked.
“I called Michael. You're going to be spending the night here,and he’ll take you either home or to his place in the morning,” Fin said, watching her anxiously to find out whether or not she was going to be cooperative with their plan.
She and Michael were great friends, they were the last two of their group of friends who were still single, and they often commiserated about it. It was hard seeing everyone you loved moving on, finding their other half, getting their happily ever afters while you were left behind.
“Samara?” Fin’s blue eyes were watching her anxiously.
She hesitated for one more second.
Having a bodyguard would be a huge intrusion on her life. She was used to her own company, the quiet, the solitude, if Michael moved in that would change everything.
But at least she would be safe.
“Okay, Michael can be my new bodyguard.”
*****
8:11 P.M.
He had messed up.
