Page 67 of A Merry Little Christmas
Caleb drew into the car park. ‘We can go to ground here until Monday morning and the trial.’
I nodded, thinking how much safer I felt now, knowing he’d be with me.
Then something occurred to me. ‘Oh, hell, I’m manning the bakery stall tomorrow.’ How could I have forgotten about Ellie’s Christmas market? I supposed that under the circumstances, it was excusable – but I couldn’t possibly let her down.
‘Bakery stall? Oh, you mean at the Christmas market?’
‘Yes. Ellie’s worked her butt off, organising it and we’ve all been helping. I have to do it, Caleb. It’s all in aid of the local homeless charity.’
‘Well, that’s a shame, but you really have no choice,’ said Caleb bluntly. ‘They’ll just have to find someone else to man the stall.’
I groaned. ‘But it’s too late in the day to say I can’t do it. I’d feel terrible and I’d have to tell her what’s going on.’
‘You can say you’re not feeling well. Really, the fewer people who know what’s going on, the better. We need to keep this between ourselves.’
‘But I’ll feel awful having to let Ellie down – especially after all the effort she’s put in to make it happen.’
‘Listen, Katja, it’s your safety that’s at stake here. You’re just going to have to be selfish for once in your life.’
I stared at him miserably. ‘I guess so.’
‘Come on. Let’s get you inside,’ he murmured. ‘You look shattered.’
‘I am,’ I confessed.
The truth was, I was desperate for sleep. I hadn’t been sleeping properly for a while now, what with the nightmares and all the recent turmoil in my life. But finally, tucked away in this little village miles from Sunnybrook, and with Caleb at my side, I felt safe and protected for the first time in ages. We hadn’t been followed. At least, I didn’t think so. ‘They’ didn’t know we were here.
I was looking forward to crashing out in that hotel room and sleeping for hours.
Even if I wanted to, I doubted I’d be in any fit state to man a Christmas market stall bright and early the following morning...
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
I stood at the window, staring out into the darkness.
The TV clock said it was four-twenty-five, and behind me, Caleb’s rhythmical breathing told me he was still out for the count. But my mind was far too restless for sleep.
I’d conked out as soon as my head had touched the pillow shortly after midnight. But then I’d been woken at two-thirty by the throaty noise of an engine, and instantly, my mind had flown into overdrive, thinking about the trial on Monday and how we were going to get through the days until then. I’d known I’d never get back to sleep so eventually I’d pushed back the duvet and slid out of bed, moving slowly so as not to wake up Caleb.
I felt safe and warm, tucked away in this hotel with Caleb.
But out there, it was freezing. The trees beyond the car park were etched with silver and the ground was a skating rink.
I felt shattered and so bone-weary. But at the same time, I was filled with a growing sense of injustice and bitterness towards the people who were doing this to us.
Maybe it was the fatigue talking, but I was angry –so angry– at these criminals, whoever they were, who were trying to intimidate Caleb into potentially causing the collapse of the Terry Garner trial.
I’d been so looking forward to helping run the Christmas market with my best friends. We wanted to help the homeless at Christmas and into the future, and I was damned if I was going to be terrorised into being a prisoner in this hotel, instead of being out there, helping Ellie to make the market the success it deserved to be!
Standing there at the window, I raised my chin, my mind made up.
Caleb wouldn’t approve. He hated that he’d got me mixed up in something bad and I knew he was desperate to keep me safe. But thinking about it, they hadn’t actually harmed me, had they? Not physically. Yes, they’d scared me all right! But that was probably all it was: scare tactics. What could they do to me while I was at a Christmas market, with hundreds of people milling around everywhere? I’d be lost in a crowd. Hardly an easy target like I was when I was walking along in the dark to my flat, the street deserted, with no one else around to witness that car heading towards me...
I would have to be careful, of course. And I would be.
I’d have eyes in the back of my head and so would Caleb. (I knew he wouldn’t let me attend the Christmas market alone, without his protection.)
Whoever had mounted this campaign of intimidation didn’t even know where I was now, hidden away in the countryside. So how would they know I’d be at the Christmas market later today? Unless they had spies everywhere, they absolutely wouldn’t...
