didn’t know. She tells me everything.” Brea was one of two people in the world that she trusted.
“Think she’ll help con your mother?” He was halfway through his second slice of pizza before she took her first bite.
“As long as it doesn’t get back to her mother she will.”
Adam checked the time and threw out his paper plate. “It’s getting late. I have to go.”
Harmony kissed him , hating how vulnerable she felt, but relieved to know the man who had attacked her was hospitalized, at least for the night.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Hey, come out here and have a look at this.” The smiling man is honking in the driveway, calling for Harmony to come out.
She eyes the peck of apples on the kitchen table and smiles at her mother peeling one over the garbage can.
“Can I , please?”
“Only if you put your jacket on.”
Her purple and pink windbreaker smells of campfire and has the sticky remnants of s’mores on the collar.
Her mother follows her to the front door and watches as she runs off the porch.
A cherry red IROC-Z Camaro gleams in the sunlight. It’s the shiniest thing she’s ever seen and she runs to the man, flinging herself into his arms.
“Is it ours?”
“It’s ours, baby girl.” He nestles against her, grinning from ear to ear. His beard tickles her face and she shoves him away with a giggle.
“ We have to show Mommy.”
The man sets her down and when she turns to run into the house, the front door is shut.
She heads around to the back screen door and calls in.
“Mommy, come see the car!”
The kitchen chair her mother had been sitting in is toppled. Apple peels cover the green linoleum floor.
“Mommy? ”
Muddy footprints trail to the top of the basement stairs . She follows them, but doesn’t go down.
She smells dirty water and mold, hears a struggle.
“Daddy?” The man she left wiping down his new car with a cloth diaper is missing. She returns to the stairs, drawn by the noise. “Mommy? Daddy?”
A gust of wind threatens to suck her in and she screams. She loses her balance and grabs the jamb, white-knuckling the wood until the breeze passes.
She flips the light switch . A single bulb casts the cinder block room in shadows.
“Daddy? Where are you?”
She hears the t hud-thud of sneakers in a dryer, the sound of feet shuffling through water.
“Mommy, are you down there?”
“Down here, baby girl.” Something’s wrong with her mother’s voice. “Come downstairs.”
She knows better. The basement is off limits.
Harmony screamed and woke up , sweaty and nervous.
“Adam?” She threw the blanket on the floor and jumped up from the s ofa. The television was the only light in the otherwise dark apartment. “Adam, please answer me.” She squinted to read the microwave clock, confirming what, deep down, she already knew. It was 2:34 in the morning. She counted down the seconds in slow Mississippis, expecting the time to change, and panicked when, at seventy-five, it still hadn’t.
The TV shut off first, then the microwave, and finally the night light in the kitchen.
Her hands shook as she searched the junk drawer for a flashlight.
“It’s just a power outage. Pull it together.”
A cold breeze travelled up her arm and surrounded her body like an anti-blanket that caused her to shiver.
The vertical blinds fluttered as if blown by some invisible fan and the dark, shadowy figure of a man stood in the corner.
Her mind went immediately to the man from the alley.
“How did you find me? Get out of here. Get out of my house.” She pulled the pointed chef’s knife from the butcher block. “I mean it. I’ll kill you if I have to.” If it was her or him this time, she’d do what needed to be done. “I’m warning you.” She flipped the switch, but the light wouldn’t come on. Her heart pounded and her hands shook. She hoped the man couldn’t see her terror. “I’m going to call the police.”
Still, he stood there, wavering in and out
“Think she’ll help con your mother?” He was halfway through his second slice of pizza before she took her first bite.
“As long as it doesn’t get back to her mother she will.”
Adam checked the time and threw out his paper plate. “It’s getting late. I have to go.”
Harmony kissed him , hating how vulnerable she felt, but relieved to know the man who had attacked her was hospitalized, at least for the night.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Hey, come out here and have a look at this.” The smiling man is honking in the driveway, calling for Harmony to come out.
She eyes the peck of apples on the kitchen table and smiles at her mother peeling one over the garbage can.
“Can I , please?”
“Only if you put your jacket on.”
Her purple and pink windbreaker smells of campfire and has the sticky remnants of s’mores on the collar.
Her mother follows her to the front door and watches as she runs off the porch.
A cherry red IROC-Z Camaro gleams in the sunlight. It’s the shiniest thing she’s ever seen and she runs to the man, flinging herself into his arms.
“Is it ours?”
“It’s ours, baby girl.” He nestles against her, grinning from ear to ear. His beard tickles her face and she shoves him away with a giggle.
“ We have to show Mommy.”
The man sets her down and when she turns to run into the house, the front door is shut.
She heads around to the back screen door and calls in.
“Mommy, come see the car!”
The kitchen chair her mother had been sitting in is toppled. Apple peels cover the green linoleum floor.
“Mommy? ”
Muddy footprints trail to the top of the basement stairs . She follows them, but doesn’t go down.
She smells dirty water and mold, hears a struggle.
“Daddy?” The man she left wiping down his new car with a cloth diaper is missing. She returns to the stairs, drawn by the noise. “Mommy? Daddy?”
A gust of wind threatens to suck her in and she screams. She loses her balance and grabs the jamb, white-knuckling the wood until the breeze passes.
She flips the light switch . A single bulb casts the cinder block room in shadows.
“Daddy? Where are you?”
She hears the t hud-thud of sneakers in a dryer, the sound of feet shuffling through water.
“Mommy, are you down there?”
“Down here, baby girl.” Something’s wrong with her mother’s voice. “Come downstairs.”
She knows better. The basement is off limits.
Harmony screamed and woke up , sweaty and nervous.
“Adam?” She threw the blanket on the floor and jumped up from the s ofa. The television was the only light in the otherwise dark apartment. “Adam, please answer me.” She squinted to read the microwave clock, confirming what, deep down, she already knew. It was 2:34 in the morning. She counted down the seconds in slow Mississippis, expecting the time to change, and panicked when, at seventy-five, it still hadn’t.
The TV shut off first, then the microwave, and finally the night light in the kitchen.
Her hands shook as she searched the junk drawer for a flashlight.
“It’s just a power outage. Pull it together.”
A cold breeze travelled up her arm and surrounded her body like an anti-blanket that caused her to shiver.
The vertical blinds fluttered as if blown by some invisible fan and the dark, shadowy figure of a man stood in the corner.
Her mind went immediately to the man from the alley.
“How did you find me? Get out of here. Get out of my house.” She pulled the pointed chef’s knife from the butcher block. “I mean it. I’ll kill you if I have to.” If it was her or him this time, she’d do what needed to be done. “I’m warning you.” She flipped the switch, but the light wouldn’t come on. Her heart pounded and her hands shook. She hoped the man couldn’t see her terror. “I’m going to call the police.”
Still, he stood there, wavering in and out
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