Page 15 of Wicked Bite
I sighed. “By guy.”
He nodded. “I feel that. My girl is pretty bad, too.”
“Jimmy.” I lowered my voice. “You’re dating the hostess. She’s sweet enough.”
“Yeah, and she bat-shit crazy, too.” He winked. “It’s always the sweet ones you gotta watch out for. But I love me a little crazy.”
I gave a humorless chuckle. “Yeah, well, I love me some stability.”
What was I expecting? Him to show up like some knight in shining leather to come and be with me? Shit like that didn’t happen to people like me. Deep down, I thought he was going to show up. I took extra time with my hair and makeup. I even got new underwear for the occasion . . . just in case. Busted out my cutest work shirt and pants. But this was typical for me: they promised, and I believed. For someone who had walls like the Great Wall of China, I really was an ass for letting that sweet smile and accent behind mine. And it wasn’t even difficult for him. I might as well have opened the doors and screamed, Please come and do your worst.
Jimmy nodded. “I got you.” He opened a brown paper bag and dumped even more fries in it and a few chicken tenders. On top of the turkey burger I’d ordered, and cake.
“You’re a good man, Jimmy.”
He placed the bag of food on the shelf between us. “Feelings have to be eaten sometimes, Bo.”
“Damn straight.” I grabbed the bag of food and headed out of the kitchen. The last few people were mopping the floors and doing side work. I gave them a wave as I shoved my arms into the jacket.
“Bye, guys.”
They all gave mumbled goodbyes. The kind of goodbyes that only exhausted servers said at the end of the night. I held my food closely, ready to dig in and let the deliciousness soothe my ghosted ass.
Disappointment. It was a way of life for me when it came to men . . . or family. When I opened the door, the cool air hit me, and I huddled into my jacket. Fog drifted from my lips with each breath I took. The heat from the bag seeped into my fingers, and I hurried my steps down Essex Street. It was after midnight and this time of year Salem shut down. The busy season was over, and it was dead. The stores that lined the street were dark and empty. I’d done this walk almost every night from the bar on Essex to the house Dice and I rented together.
I glanced over my shoulder for the third time. The hair on the back of my neck stood on edge, like someone was watching me. I wrapped the handle of the plastic bag around my hand again and gripped it tightly. If someone was coming after me, I would swing this bitch for their head, hoping the glass bottle and heavy food container would make an impact. Usually, it didn’t bother me, but tonight there was something eerie in the air I couldn’t put my finger on. Tonight, when all I had was the whipping wind to comfort me, I minded a whole hell of a lot.
I slid my phone from my pocket and hit the number for the one person I could always count on. One ring. “What’s up?”
“Dice?” I lowered my voice to a whisper and looked over my shoulder again to the empty streets and dark storefronts.
“What’s going on? Are you okay?” Her voice rose with alarm.
“I’m being followed.” Even though I couldn’t see anyone or anything, I felt it in the shadows and in the cold chill on my skin.
“Okay, where are you?” I heard her crashing through our house, the scrape of the closet door where we kept our bat, and her heavy footsteps down the hall leading toward our front door.
“Essex. I’m on Essex. Almost to the ice cream shop.” The street was wide enough that I could walk down the center of it and not be too close to the storefronts of any place I could get grabbed. Yet, when I looked around again . . . nothing.
“I’m coming. Stay on the phone with me. Just keep moving.” The sound of our door creaking open and closed filled the line, and I knew she was already on the street heading toward me. We lived so close to town, we both walked to and from the pub for work. “Can you see them?”
“No.” There was nothing but the sound of my own breathing. I knew I wasn’t crazy. There was something here, something dangerous.
“How many?” Her breaths were coming in quick puffs now, and I got the feeling she was running.
“I can’t see anyone. I just know.” A low hiss came from a few feet away and I spun in a circle. “Shit! Who’s there!”
“Stay with me, Piper. Keep moving. Run if you have to. I’m almost there!” Panic rose in her voice and my own strangling heartbeat matched it.
I didn’t want to run, didn’t want to seem crazy. But something or someone was following me. I took a running step forward and was instantly yanked back. A vise-like grip crushed my wrist, sending shooting pain through my arm. Something stabbed through my jacket and dug into my skin . . . Knives?
A scream ripped from my throat, and I was shoved to the ground. My face slammed onto the cobblestones, and I felt my cheek split open. Warm liquid seeped down my face. Dice screamed into the phone, but it was too late. I was being dragged down an alley into thick darkness. I held that damn phone like a lifeline, like if she could just hear me, she could find me. “Dice! Help!”
The stone scraped across my skin where my shirt rode up. I pulled back, fighting for my arm, fighting the hold. I glanced up, trying to fight my assailant, yet my mind couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing in the darkness. This figure, this shadow, couldn’t have been more than five feet tall.
I pulled back on my arm hard, yanking it free. I scrambled to my feet and swung out the bag of food. It connected with the dark figure. The sound of shattering glass filled the air and the bagful of contents exploded wide open, littering the area with food and glass. The thing moved so fast I could barely see it. Cracking pressure smacked into my chest, and I went airborne. Another scream ripped up my throat. I slammed into the brick building behind me and my elbow went through the glass window, cutting my jacket to shreds.
I sucked in a gasping breath as I slouched to the ground in a balled-up heap. This was it. I was going to get raped and die here in an alley like some freaking statistic. My arm was yanked away from my body and then a set of sharp teeth sunk through my jacket into my skin. I groaned, my head spinning and swirling with black dots. Yet, that pain brought everything into sharp focus for a split second. My hand flexed and I dropped both the food and the phone.
