Page 36 of Nothing to Fear

“Something about your voice.”

Her flat feet slid up the bed, raising her knees. “I guess you’re not allowed to call me,” she said. “If you are and you need to talk… We all need someone. Anonymous isn’t bad. People in your life have their own agenda, not necessarily bad, they have skin in the game. I don’t. You can tell me anything.”

“That’s not how this works. I told you the first night, I don’t matter. This is about you and what you need.”

“I need you to be honest. This has to be honest.”

“I’d never lie to you.”

“Are you in an office somewhere? At home? In a crowded bullpen?”

She couldn’t hear anyone in the background but wanted a better picture of his surroundings. For some reason. The why made no sense. It just mattered to her, he mattered.

“I’m… alone.”

In life or just at that exact moment?

“You went through a trauma, you said you had experience.”

“Enough to know being held hostage would damage even the sanest of people.”

“And I sure couldn’t wave that flag to begin with, I hear you. Maybe you’re my sanity.”

“Then we’re both in trouble. Talking about it will help.”

So many people seemed eager to tell her that. Okay, so two people, her sanity and her supervisor.

“I thought I was alone. My earbuds kept me company. I was counting, typing, sorting, nothing strenuous. Doing something I’d done a hundred times before.”

“When did you become aware of him? Aware you weren’t alone?”

“That’s one of the things that makes my skin crawl when I think about it.”

“You don’t know how long he was watching.”

That, right there. “I don’t know how long he was watching.”

“The cops should know, shouldn’t they? If they have him on camera.”

“They’ll know, they didn’t tell me.”

“You should ask—”

“What difference will it make? The answer doesn’t matter, he still had my life in his hands. He could’ve killed me and I’d never have seen it coming. Maybe that would’ve been the merciful way.”

“If they have him on camera, why can’t they ID him?”

“He used the employee access. Less cameras than in the public areas, and basically not patrolled at all. His face was covered the whole time. They have rough height, build, skin color, blue eyes, soft voice, quick to anger.”

“They didn’t get those last three from a tape.”

“He kept his promise. I did what I was told, and he let me live.”

“Lighting Darkness has connections in law enforcement. Let me reach out to them and—”

“No. Thank you,” she insisted. “No one wins by dredging it up again.”

“When did this happen? A year ago? Two? More?”

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