Page 26 of Run for Her Life
“Tough case?” Jim sauntered in and opened the fridge.
“Yeah.” She ground her teeth. She wasn’t the only one who hadn’t showered or combed her hair. “Busy?”
“I’m just playing this game and can’t get to the next level.” His bloodshot eyes were wide and possessed. “I have to grind for XP, optimize my loadout, or figure out the exact mechanic?—”
“How was your interview?”
“Ah, Lisa…” He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding her eyes. “I rejected it.”
“What?” She dropped the dishcloth from her grasp.
“They weren’t paying me enough! I’m a software engineer, Lisa. Not some entry-level analyst. I used to easily pull in six figures and they were paying a measly?—”
“Sowhat?” she snapped. “You’ve been sitting at home for months! Isn’t something better than nothing?”
He flinched at her outburst and guilt flooded her. Had she gone too far? “Lisa, I asked you to hook me up with a gig at that local cybercrime unit but you didn’t help me.”
“I told you that I didn’t have a solid contact there. People aren’t able to line up interviews and this is the fourth offer you’ve rejected, Jim. In this economy, that’s just plain stupid.”
“I’m trying.”
“You’re playing video games all the time! I come home after a long day at work and you haven’t even done the laundry or the dishes!”
“You know, that’s rich coming from you.” He scowled. “Did I ever complain about your fertility issues? Did I ever make you feel inferior? I’ve always been supportive. I’m even okay with never having children. And you have the audacity to make me feel like some chump just because I want to take it easy for a couple of months and wait for the right opportunity?”
His words pricked her skin. They undid her. All that boiling anger dissipated in an instant. Her tongue weighed heavy and all thoughts scattered.
“Ah, damn it.” Jim broke the cloud of tension. “Babe, I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry. Come on—” He stepped forward, his arms extended to hug her, but she pushed past him and ran up to the bedroom, letting her tears flow unchecked.
SEVENTEEN
PAST
The woman wasn’t supposed to be here. She knew that. If her boss found out, then she’d be in trouble. That was an understatement. She would probably be “taken care of.” The way she had taken care of so many people for her boss.
She had accepted that there was something pathological about her. A sensitivity chip that the higher power had forgotten to bestow her with. And then a switch flipped. A burst of energy surged through her, infusing her cells with an emotion she had never experienced before.
Guilt.
With a trembling hand, she knocked on the door. A middle-aged woman with shoulder-length hair and skin sagging from the bones opened the door. Her eyes were dead. It sent chills down her spine.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m Celina,” the woman replied. “I knew Michael. May I come in?”
She looked inconvenienced but still let her in. Stepping inside, Celina breathed in the stale air. It was a big house with dark wood paneling, ornate ceiling trims, and crown molding. An entire wall was covered in pictures of Michael and hismother, tracking his journey from when he was brought home from the hospital to his last birthday—two weeks before he died.
Celina’s breath stuck in her throat as she stared at his picture. His face was always in the forefront of her mind. His ghost always in her periphery.
“How did you know Michael?” His mother frowned.
“School. I was a substitute teacher.” Another lie.
The silence was suffocating. What was she thinking of, coming here? She never cared to visit the carcass she left behind.
“Thank you for coming.” The mother’s voice cracked. “Michael was always a lonely boy. He didn’t have many friends. I… I was surprised when he decided to go that night to the carnival. But I was so happy.” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I thought he was making friends finally. I w-wish I-I had stopped him.”
Words choked inside her. “He was a very kind boy. He didn’t deserve this. None of them did.”
