Close To Danger (Westen #4)(2)
Dashaun, the security guard.
“Oh, thank God,” she whispered, willing her heart to slow once more as she lowered her window, clutching one hand to the center of her chest. “You scared the life out of me, Dashawn.”
He scrutinized her from head to toe, concern definitely in his dark eyes. “Sorry, ma’am. I saw you running through the garage on the security camera. Just wandered if you were in some kind of trouble?”
“No,” she hurried to reassure him with a shaky laugh. “Halfway through the parking garage I realized I was alone, and the dark outside…” She left the words to trail off, hoping he would believe she had a fear of the dark.
With a nod of his head, he gave her a reassuring smile. “Nothing to be embarrassed about, Ms. Roberts. My little sister has always been afraid of the dark. Next time, you give me a call and I’ll be happy to give you an escort.”
“I will. And thank you for checking up on me,” she said, returning his smile.
“No problem. I’ll just wait ‘til you’re on your way,” he said, stepping several feet away from her car.
Embarrassed that he’d seen her fear and that she’d acted like a kid panicking in a haunted house, Chloe started her car and gave Dashaun a wave before she pulled out. She forced herself to concentrate on driving until she was out of the business district and on the interstate towards Mount Adams, the hilltop area where her condo sat.
It was ridiculous that she was letting a few anonymous phone calls make her feel so scared. In law school she’d stood up to both male classmates and some professors who didn’t think women should be pursuing a career in law—many of whom believed if they talked over her, she’d turn tail and run. She hadn’t. In high school she’d gone out for cheerleader even though she didn’t have a mother like the other girls to do her hair and makeup, or haul her to cheer camps or competitions. She’d not only made the team, but became team captain her junior and senior years—all with the support of her older sister Bobby, who’d been better than any mother as chaperone. And in middle school she’d stood up to the cruelest girls in school when they’d made fun of Dylan for being so smart and quite the nerd. Breaking Cindy Seacort’s nose in two places had been worth every minute of the month-long detention.
So why were these texts and phone calls making her so nervous?
Because they were anonymous.
They lurked in the dark.
Like monsters.
Ever since she was a little girl she’d been frightened of terrible things that she couldn’t see in the dark. Things that came out of nowhere. Threatened her family. Killed her parents.
She clenched the steering wheel once more. Heart racing again, she exited the interstate and pulled into a local fast food parking lot.
Breathe.
Slowly she let the fear dissipate. She wasn’t an eight-year old little girl whose whole world had turned upside down by tragedy.
Her phone buzzed, startling her. With shaky hands she pulled it out of her hand bag. A new text message had come through. Her shoulders sagged in relief. It was her sister, Bobby.
Just landed at the airport in Cleveland. Honeymoon was great. Call you in the morning.
Chloe smiled and wiped at the tears that had welled in her eyes. Despite the terror her life had turned into lately, hearing her big sister and new brother-in-law were back in Ohio safe, sound and apparently very happy was just what she needed tonight. She’d been worried when Bobby decided to stay in Westen, becoming a deputy sheriff and falling head-over-heels in love with the Gage Justice, the town sheriff. Now they were married and expecting their first child. Despite missing her older sister, Chloe saw first-hand how happy she was last month at the wedding. If anyone deserved that kind of happiness it was Bobby.
Now anticipating talking to Bobby in the morning, her world didn’t seem quite so dark and dangerous. Relaxed, she put her car in gear once more and headed to the safety of her home.
Once home and securely inside her condo, she double-checked the deadbolts on both doors then reset the alarm system. Snagging a bag of chips from the cupboard, the bottle of wine from the counter and a glass. What she needed was a warm bubble bath, a snuggle in her warm bed and over indulging in a good book.
“You need something nutritious, Chloe,” she heard Bobby saying in her head. “You can’t live on junk food and alcohol.”
Grinning in mock rebellion at the conversation they’d had over the years, she poured wine into the glass and gave a mock salute northward towards Westen, the town Bobby now lived in. “Maybe you can’t, big sister, but tonight it’s exactly what I need to relax.”
By the time she’d finished her first glass of wine and a good thirty-minute soak in hot bubbly water, the fear and tension that had driven her hurriedly through the parking garage had seeped away from her body and mind.
Really, how scared should she be? A few phone calls with no one speaking when she answered. Odd texts about what she was wearing, where she’d had lunch. Nothing but an anonymous bully too cowardly to confront her face-to-face. Up until tonight, she’d handled the person like she would any other nuisance, ignoring it and going on with her life. So what had triggered tonight’s near panic?
The dark.
Ever since she was a little girl and Bobby had wakened her in the middle of the night to tell her there’d been an accident and both her parents were dead, she’d hated the dark.