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“Stay on the phone with me,” she says, reassuring me that everything will be ok.
My heart pounds and the sound fills my eardrums. I can barely hear anything she’s saying to me, but I grip the steering wheel tightly, my knuckles turning white, and keep going.
I hope she’s right. I spot the police station up the road, and I breathe a short sigh of relief. The car is still on my tail, but hangs back a bit.
I pull into the station parking lot, and drive toward the front door of the building. If I have to, I can make a run for it inside. I glance at Tenny through the rearview. He’s sleeping, with his favorite stuffed giraffe and yellow blankie in his hands.
The station is full of activity, with a few cops standing outside, chatting away to one another. They look over at me, but I don’t make a move. I just sit. And wait.
The black car doesn’t follow me into the lot. Instead, they pull into the mini-mart across the street. And now, it’s just a game of who leaves first. It won’t be me.
Hope whoever it is knows I’ll wait all night if I have to.
And so the game begins, and I try my hardest to see who’s driving the car parked across the street.
“Did they leave?” Erin asks, and I almost forgot she was on the phone.
“No, they’re waiting it out on the other side of the road.”
“Are you at the police station?”
Yeah. Oh, wait, they’re driving away.” The car speeds off, tail lights disappearing into the night. “They’re gone.”
A cop knocks on my window, and I tell Erin to hold on before lowering it. “Is everything ok, Miss?”
“I had someone following me,” I say to the man. “He just drove away.”
“We’ll do a drive up and down this road. Where are you headed?”
“Just up the street to my friend, Erin’s.” I hold up the phone, like that explains anything.
“I’ll follow you there, make sure you get there safe.”
“I appreciate it, officer.”
He smiles, glancing into the back seat at Tennyson, and then strides to his squad car.
“Erin, the cop is going to follow me to your place.”
“I’ll be waiting outside. It’s probably some crazy reporter trying to catch a scoop.”
I nod, even though she can’t see me. “Ah, maybe you’re right.”
Fear is a funny thing. It makes you believe things that may not be true. A random reporter following me in a black sedan with tinted windows darker than the night is entirely possible. Or some paparazzi person trying to get a picture of Gabriel Prince’s future wife. I cling to the idea, because I’m too afraid to face the alternative. This is the life, and it wouldn’t be unheard of.
“I’ll stay on the phone with you until you get here.”
I take a deep breath. “Change of plans. Why don’t you and Troy come to Gabriel’s and spend the night?”
“You got it. Give me thirty minutes to get our things and I’ll meet you there.”
We hang up, and then, I let the officer know I’ll be returning home. The cop car follows closely behind on the ride back, and when I arrive safely, I thank him and take a sleeping Tenny inside to his room.
Gabriel is nowhere to be found, so I let Amy know I’m having guests and she makes sure a room is ready.
When Erin arrives with Troy, Tenny is awake and Faye takes the excited boys to the playroom. After Erin is settled in her room, we convene in the kitchen for a much needed drink.
“This is the life,” Erin says, sliding into a stool at the island.
