Page 106 of The Banned Books Club

The only thing that was bothering her now was being unable to speak directly to her parents. Worry for her mother, knowing she was missing Ida’s last days and wasn’t there to comfort her, broke Margot’s heart.

She’d done what she had to do, she reminded herself, and pulled the pepper spray she’d purchased a few days ago from her purse. While she was researching how to use it and why it worked, she’d watched a video where a police officer had suggested she spray herself to see what it was like. She hadn’t gathered the nerve to do that quite yet—and certainly wasn’t going to do it in the house, where the boys could come in contact with the solution. But she was glad she had a can. Gia’s message on Instagram made her nervous. She’d tried to cover her trail well enough that even a professional couldn’t find her. But had she thought of everything?

She’d sold the Subaru, so that didn’t create a link to her any longer. She’d purchased her new vehicle, a Toyota RAV4, with cash using her new identity. The apartment was in her new name. She’d gotten her job under her new name. And she’d left her old cell phone behind so it couldn’t be used to trace her and purchased a prepaid one, also using her new name. Even the Instagram account she’d created to be able to comment on Gia’s posts, which she’d deleted after Gia warned her, was under her new name.

So she was pretty sure she was in the clear. She had the pepper spray, just in case she was wrong. But she knew if Sheldon ever found her, there was no way that would ever be enough.

Gia followed Sheldon from his house to the bar and sat at a table not far away. He didn’t see her at first, but once he did, he kept turning around to glower at her.

Cormac kept trying to reach her, but she couldn’t respond. She didn’t want him to know where she was or what she was doing, wouldn’t draw him into the fight. She didn’t want to create a feud for him to deal with after she left town. And she knew that with someone like Sheldon, who was basically a coward, she’d have a better chance of drawing him into the open if he thought the odds were stacked securely in his favor.

He wouldn’t be afraid of a woman. He felt too superior.

She ordered a Coke and watched him as he had a beer, got up and went to the restroom, then walked over to throw a few darts before finally returning to his table.

She wondered if he really had any interest in the basketball game he was watching here and there, or if he was just reluctant to go home to an empty house and be reminded that Margot had gotten one over on him. But then Cece walked in, and she knew he’d been waiting for his girlfriend.

Gia spotted her right away and tipped her head, and Cece had the good grace to look slightly abashed.She said something to Sheldon as soon as she reached the table, and he looked back at Gia again.

Gia grinned at him.

He narrowed his eyes and, after a glaring contest Gia refused to lose, got up and came over to her table.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

She lifted her Coke. “Having a drink.”

“You don’t have to do it here.”

“I like this place,” she said.

His face reddened and his hands curled into ham-like fists. “You’re flirting with danger,” he warned, his jaw clenched.

He looked mean—and dangerous—which was unsettling. She wondered if this was what Margot had seen whenever he got angry, if she had to live with someone who looked as if he was about to choke her to death and throw her in a river. It was frightening enough to make Gia reconsider her plan. But he was trying to scare her and she wouldn’t concede. Backing away would only mean she’d have to continue to worry about her loved ones indefinitely.

She shrugged as if she wasn’t remotely concerned and took a drink of her Coke. “It’s a free country.”

Calling her all sorts of names under his breath, he returned to Cece but didn’t sit down. He paced around the table like a caged panther, throwing a few peanuts in his mouth every now and then, ordering another drink and looking back at her again and again with that malevolent expression.

Eventually, he must’ve suggested they leave, because he threw some money on the table and escorted his girlfriend out.

Gia hurried to pay her bill so she could go, too.

Cece’s car followed directly behind Sheldon’s truck, but she was in third place as they drove through town. As they stopped at each of the two stoplights, she could see Cece’s worried eyes as they glanced nervously into the rearview mirror.

Once they arrived at Sheldon’s house—the house Margot had lived in for probably ten or twelve years—they pulled into the driveway, and Gia parked at the curb.

When Sheldon saw that she’d had the nerve to follow him home, his eyes widened in disbelief. It looked as though he was going to come over and say something to her again, but Cece grabbed his arm. Although Gia couldn’t hear what was said, she guessed the other woman was pleading with him to just ignore her.

After a few seconds, he reluctantly allowed his girlfriend to lead him into the house. But Gia knew the fact that she was sitting out front was bothering him, because he kept peering out through the blinds to see if she was still there.

At ten thirty, she received a text message from him.

Why are you doing this? What do you hope to accomplish?

If the police won’t keep an eye on you to stop you from damaging my parents’ property, I will.

If I wanted to damage anything, you’d be the last person who could stop me.

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