Page 120 of Another Love, Another Time
“River? Hello? Are you there? River, are you okay?” I hear him ask.
I step forward. “What’s going on?”
“Forget about the statement.” He pockets his phone. “We need to get to River’s house now. Something’s wrong.”
He takes off in a sprint to the exit. I follow close behind, leaving his partner.
My heart is beating out of my chest. I just pray she’s okay. I can’t fucking lose her.
Chapter 39
River
My phone clatters on the floor at the mention of Auggie being at the hospital. I hope he’s okay. When I go to pick up my phone, I see the shadow of a person.
I scream. I scramble to pick up my phone, but I accidentally hang up on Mackey. When I look up, I see someone in my house that I don’t know. I immediately go into defense mode.
What is this guy doing in my house? This guy is bigger than me, but I’ve taken down people bigger than me before. “Maybe he walked into the wrong house.” I know the thought is naïve.
“I think you may have the wrong house,” I try. I look at the door he must have come through, without taking my focus off him. I had left the door unlocked earlier since I was waiting for Auggie. He still hasn’t said anything, so I stand there for a second. He looks like he’s contemplating what he’s going to say.
“Okay, well, I’m not sure what you might need, but I think you should leave.” As I’m saying this, I’m putting distance between us. I can tell he’s nervous.
I’m getting ready to run when he starts to talk. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He holds up his hands in front of him. “I tried to knock, but then I heard someone cry out, and I came in. I know you don’t me, but I think we should talk.”
“Okay.” I’m hesitant. I’m not sure what this guy wants to talk to me about.
“I know your cousin Melissa.”
I stiffen, my heart racing. I know he said he wouldn’t hurt me, but he walked into my house without permission. All I can think about are the threats Melissa has made and that Auggie is in the hospital. Did she hurt him?
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he repeats.
I question, “Then what are you doing here?”
“Look, I can tell you are not comfortable, but we really should talk.”
“Well, you just walked into my house, and I don’t have the best track record with Melissa. So, I’ll ask again, what are you doing here?”
“Do you mind if we sit? I’ll stay over here.” Even though I should be afraid, I’m not. I do as he asks, sitting down slowly in the chair I’m closest to. He does the same.
“We can talk, but I need to hurry. One of my friends is in the hospital.” I need to get to Auggie.
The stranger nods. “Again, sorry for scaring you, but I thought you should know your cousin tried to get me to attack you.” I think he expects me to be shocked, but I’m not. I don’t really care. “Did she hurt Auggie?” I think again.
“Do you have any evidence?” I ask. We need to hurry this up.
“Yeah, I do. I have text messages and a couple of voicemails,” he finally responds.
“What did she want you to do?”
“She wanted me to act like it was a robbery and attack you. I was supposed to knock you unconscious.” He looks down in shame.“I’m not going to lie. I thought about it, but I just couldn’t do it and live with myself.
I cross my arms. “What does she have on you?”
His eyebrows furrow. “How do you know she has something on me?”
“Like I said, Melissa and I don’t have a very good track record.”
