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I should run it out to the dumpster so it didn’t sit overnight. If there wasn’t leftover food inside, I wouldn’t care. I brought the dinner Ted made tonight in with me while I worked. But given the situation, my appetite was damn near nonexistent.
I pulled the bag out of the waste basket and tied it tight. I’d just run it outside to the dumpster, then come back in and grab my purse. It’d be so fast Ben wouldn’t even know I’d left the building.
I kept my cell on me because I wasn’t a complete moron. And strode outside into the alleyway. It was a balmy night out. The air was changing, though. There were storms on the way in the next few days.
My feet clicked over the rough pavement. Ben would be mad when he found out I took the trash out. And I know he meant well, but my confidence was shaken by this stalker nonsense. I tossed the trash in the dumpster. What was I going to do when he left? He said himself that he had to report back to base in Little Creek. He could report to base and then be shipped halfway around the world, where I might never see him again. My heart clenched at the thought of never seeing him again. Then I turned back toward the door to head back in.
I jolted and sucked in a ragged breath. Fuck me.
Standing in the shadows was a man in a dark hoodie. He stood in front of the door, blocking my escape.
Terror unlike any I had tasted descended over me. It was my stalker. I knew it with certainty.
Shit. How was I going to get out of this? What the hell was I thinking taking the trash out by myself? I knew better. But Ben’s confession had knocked me off my center of gravity. And I made a stupid decision that was liable to get me killed.
Ben would be so pissed. But at least with his skills, he could avenge me.
They were blocking my escape inside and the shortest route through the alleyway to the front of the building. If I tried to run that way, the psychopath would catch me. He took a step toward me, and I spied the silver glint of the knife in his hand.
Biting back a whimper, my survival instincts kicked into high gear. Taking off at full speed, I sprinted in the opposite direction. It was the longer way through the alley to reach the front. But it was my only way out that didn’t end up with me dead.
Heavy footsteps sounded on the pavement behind me as he pursued. My heart felt as if it were about to burst outside my chest. I didn’t stop to pull my cell phone out for fear it would give the guy the edge he needed to overtake me. Instead, I ran as fast as possible, pumping my legs and arms, pushing my body as I sprinted. But I was running in heels which made my mad dash around the building more precarious.
What had I been thinking? I should have just put the trash in one of the bins elsewhere to get collected at the end of the night.
I rounded the back corner of the building, increasing my speed. It was dangerous, but not any more so than getting caught. I laid on more speed, feeling as if I had the Grim Reaper breathing down my neck.
With a last burst of energy, I exploded from the alleyway but didn’t stop until I reached the front of the building. Ben and Dan had been amicably waltzing to the front door. Ben took one look at me and scowled.
“What the fuck happened?”
Panting, gasping for air, I said, “I took my trash out. There was a man in a hoodie. He chased me.”
Dan’s face hardened. “Get inside, and don’t leave until we get back.” He glanced at Ben. “Cover my back.”
Ben nodded. “I’ve got your six.”
They ushered me inside the door. I waited with Bruno while they went to check it out. My heart was still hammering away when Ben marched inside. The look on his face was murderous. His dark gaze zeroed in on me.
“Time to go.”
“I just need my purse.” But before I could head toward my office, he put a hand on my arm. Ben steered me past curious onlookers to my office. My purse sat on top of my desk where I left it. I grabbed it off the desk. “Did you find—”
“Not here, babe,” he muttered through clenched teeth.
“But—”
That’s when he finally glanced my way with the full brunt of his fury on display. “I sincerely doubt you want me yelling at you in front of your employees after that stunt. If you’re done here, let’s go. Dan is waiting outside for us.”
Anger seethed from him. As much as I wanted to buck his orders, I’d had enough excitement for one night. “Fine.”
Ben escorted me out of the club and into Dan’s sedan. He put me in the back seat like I was under arrest or something. After strapping myself in, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Did you guys find anything?”
“Whoever it was left the scene. Moira, I don’t have to tell you this, but what you did tonight was dumb. You put yourself at risk over a bag of trash. Don’t do that again. I really don’t want to be the one to tell your employees that you were killed.”
“That’s not going to—”
Dan turned and pegged me with a hard glare when we were stopped at a red light. “You’re a smart woman Moira, and you did a dumb thing tonight. If I need to, I will place you under police protection until this is done. And I don’t want to hear excuses for why you did what you did. You could have gotten yourself killed tonight. No more going off on your own until this case is solved, understood?”
