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“Did you know he was going to be there the night of the attack?” she asks. “Is that why there was so much security?”
“I got an anonymous tip just before. I tried to get you out.”
She glances away and stares across the room in thought. “That’s why you were on the way to the bathroom.”
Sudden determination flitters through her expression and she stands. She goes to the kitchen and digs through a cabinet, behind the spices, and produces my phone.
Handing it to me, she says, “I think it’s time you end it.”
* * *
I didn’t end it. Not yet.
“It’s late,” I told her. “First thing tomorrow, after Lola goes to school.”
We’re both exhausted. Tired of pretending we don’t want each other. That we don’t want to simply touch.
When she gave me the phone, I glanced at the screen, saw the many missed calls, voicemails and texts. But I didn’t read them.
Instead, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her on top of me. We didn’t have sex, though my body was primed for it. All we did was lay, listening to each other’s breathing.
I traced my fingertips over the soft skin of her back, until she fell asleep. Then I dozed off too, content and comfortable even though my legs hung off the end of the old couch.
It was a selfish concession I made to myself. I should have known better than to relax my defenses. Should have never allowed myself to become vulnerable.
But when I hear the footsteps outside the window at three in the morning, I realize my mistake.
My eyes open and I stare into the darkness, listening intently, my heart beating erratically. There it is again.
Quietly, I reach for the gun Andie left on the coffee table.
I gently swipe the hair from her face. “Andie.”
“Mmm.”
There’s a click in the lock of the front door and my blood rushes to my limbs, urging me to run.
“Don’t make a sound,” I whisper. “Your life depends on it.”
“What?” She makes to bolt upright, but I snatch her by the arm and tug her back to me.
“Shh.” My mind racing, I think through all the possible exits. There’s only one. “The bars on the bedroom window, you can open them from the inside?”
“Yes.”
We both stand quietly, and begin to walk in that direction. Meanwhile, the front door handle rattles as the lock is released and whoever is out there begins to work on the deadbolt.
When we move through a stream of light from one of the nightlights, I check the gun’s magazine and tug back on the slide. Six bullets, one in the chamber.
I stay pressed to the walls, with Andie beside me. Although I’m sure she’s anxious to reach Lola, she doing what she’s supposed to by letting me guide the way.
First, I clear the room. Then, I move to the window and move the curtains aside only enough to check there’s no one there. As I thought, it wasn’t worth the effort of trying to break through the bars.
“I’ll get Lola,” I tell her. “You open this thing.”
She nods and goes to work as I bend over Lola. “Hey,” I say in a calm low tone. “Wake up.”
Lola blinks sleepily at me. “Gav?”
