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“Oh.” She stopped and turned to face me. I kept my gaze focused above her head, not wanting to melt into her soft brown eyes.
She pointed down the street. “But we’re closer to my car than the office. Let me give you a ride back to the office.”
My toes felt like ice cubes. My fingers were like popsicles. I wanted the warmth of a car. The warmth of sitting next to her. But what if an employee saw her dropping me off? Saw us together inhercar. “Have a good night, Ms. Bloom.” I forced myself to walk away, and turning the corner, I rejoined the holiday shopping crowd.
Half a block later, I froze in my tracks as I realized that the street she had turned on was very dark and quiet, and now she was alone without even an old guard to help her. I sprinted back up the street and peered around the side of the building on the corner. Laura was hurrying along the sidewalk, her head quickly scanning left, then right.
Was she nervous? I was such as asshole. I kept an eye on her from the corner as I vigorously rubbed my hands up and down my arms to warm them up. Come on…get to your car so I can run back to the office. Why did you pick a lot so damn far away?
I scanned the street she was on. No shops. No holiday lights. A bunch of old warehouses that looked mostly empty. No pedestrians either, except for a man in a parka with the hood up, walking in the same direction as her, but across the street. His head turned as if he was watching her.
Laura kept scanning the street, looking left and right again and over each shoulder. She did a double-take when she spotted the man in the parka and quickened her pace. But he quickened his too.
They were the only two people on the street. No reason for him to go faster. He looked around as if checking to see if anyone was nearby, then started to cross the street to Laura’s side. I rounded the corner and sprinted toward them, my heart pounding in my chest as adrenaline shot through my body.
Laura looked back over her right shoulder toward the other side of the street, probably to see if the guy was still there. She craned her neck to look directly behind her and nearly stumbled when she saw him and sped up to a jog. So did the asshole.
I barreled up the street, my legs pumping. I was gaining on him. Luckily, parka guy didn’t look back. Predators never did.
He took something out of his pocket and started to run toward Laura. She must have heard his steps, because without looking back, she screamed, the sound pushing me to run faster than I ever thought was possible.
Laura sped up too, but then she stumbled.
The asshole was faster than her.
But I was faster than him.
Don’t fucking lay a finger on her, you bastard.
Almost close enough. Just a little further. Faster, Steven.
Laura threw her purse on the ground and whipped around, holding a can in her hand. What the fuck did she think she was doing?
Parka guy was almost on Laura.
Ihad to act now.
I lunged, tackling him and sending us both crashing onto the cold concrete sidewalk. Whatever he had taken out of his pocket flew out of his hand and landed with a metallic clang at Laura’s feet.
He yelled and brought his elbow back to deal me a blow, even as he buckled under me. But before his elbow could connect with my ribs, my MMA training kicked in. I grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back and kneeled on his wrist, putting all my weight on it to keep him pinned down. The moves were automatic, as I had been doing them for years, except this time, I used ten times more force.
He screamed in pain. “Get the fuck off me!”
Laura froze on the spot, her eyes wide, her hand still holding up the can as if she was ready to use it.
A few feet away, a steel expandable baton rolled back and forth on the sidewalk. I smacked the guy behind the head with my free hand. “What the fuck were you going to do with that, you piece of shit?”
“Nothing,” he whimpered.
Images of what he had planned for Laura with that weapon flooded my mind. I wanted to beat him until he begged for his mommy and then beat him some more.
He struggled and squirmed. “You’re hurting me,” he cried.
Good. “You deserve far worse. Quit whining like a little bitch.”
Laura was still standing on the spot like a statue, staring at the guy on the ground.
Was she in shock? “Ms. Bloom, are you ok?”
