December 20, 7:00 pm
Dominique Miller paused inside the door of the restaurant and pulled her white wool beanie down over her curly wig, and pushed some of the errant black strands out of her eyes. She tucked the travel coffee cup between her arm and waist as she slipped on her leather gloves then pulled out her keys with her free hand. After a fortifying breath, and with her drink in hand, she pushed open the glass door. The golden bells above the door tinkled merrily as she left behind the repetitive Christmas music only to gasp as the first bite of cold air sucked the warmth from her skin in an instant.
It would seem winter had come to California at last and brought snow with it. Her boots crunched atop the falling powder as she made her way to her dark-green rental Jeep. Her worried eyes darted around as she walked. She tightened her grip with each step and jumped at every shadow. The closer she got to her car the more the sound of her own beating heart filled her ears, drowning out all other sounds.
A sudden movement to the left caught her attention and she jerked around to look, the quick movement nearly throwing her off balance as she stumbled onto a small patch of ice. She sighed in relief when she realized it was only a trick of the light, but that didn’t stop her from shifting her grip on her handbag to have a better hold as she continued on her way. Something else moved, and she snapped her attention in that direction. Only another shadow but she quickened her pace until she was nearly running to her car, wishing she’d found a closer parking spot. If only, she thought, not for the first time, I’d grabbed a weapon before fleeing town.
The vehicle she’d rented with her friend’s help was vastly different from her red Honda Accord and would hopefully keep her ex-boyfriend from finding her before she reached the safety and comfort of her family. Or at the very least, she hoped it would slow him down and give her a head start before the bastard figured out what was going on and tracked her down.
She tugged her trench coat closer around her body and pressed her thumb beneath the lid of her coffee cup in case she needed to throw the hot liquid in someone’s face. Her eyes continued scanning the parking lot as she jogged to her car. It was nearly empty save for the other cars and a handful of eighteen-wheelers, many of which had cheery, pine-green wreaths on their grills with dark-red bows. The lot was lined with skeletal trees that glistened with falling snow and ice.
Dominique was jumpy, and the fact that her eyes continued playing tricks on her didn’t help in the slightest. There were times when it looked as if someone was following her. Then it would be one of the truckers returning to their rig or nothing more than a shadow. The prospect of seeing her family again should excite her, but instead, her mind was consumed by the fear her ex-boyfriend would follow her home or run her off the road on the way there and beat her to death. Or perhaps he’d skip the beating and shoot her as he’d threatened to do when she’d gotten the restraining order. Her mind continued to run through various scenarios until she was nearly sprinting to her jeep in a panic.
The very thought of him caused the bruises he had left on her body to throb. Had she flown home as she’d originally planned, she’d probably have been safer, but even that option left her paranoid. He might have gotten onto the same plane or maybe even stopped her from getting to the airport. After all, he’d have expected her to have to fly home because she didn’t like driving long distances by herself, and Dominique had even left her old notes about the flight to throw him off. She’d also burned all of her receipts and notes about driving across the country and flushed the ashes in a moment of paranoia. She should have taken Peggy up on her offer of driving to Alabama with her, but Peggy had a final to make up. Dominique didn’t want her friend to miss the exam in her desperate attempt to flee.
The moment she reached the Jeep, she jerked open the door and plopped her large purse on the seat beside her. Her cat, Selene, meowed in protest from inside the bag and poked her head out. As she was pulling the door shut, Dominique noticed something out of the corner of her eye. As she got a better look at the pewter raven pendant hanging from the rearview mirror, a shiver of fear raced down her spine and her throat went dry. The bird’s wings had been partially sawed-off, connected by only a thin piece of metal. Instead of the chain it normally hung from, there was a length of braided leather with a dangling shark tooth. The tooth that now joined her pendant was similar to her ex-boyfriend’s necklace. In fact, if she didn’t know any better, she’d say it was his signature necklace. The only difference being the wire securing the tooth to the leather was a dark red instead of blue.
The car door was still open, but she barely felt the cold air. She heard a strangled scream somewhere in the background and realized it came from her own mouth. Time seemed to slow down as the sound of her heartbeat filled her ears, drowning out her inner voice, yelling at her to shut the damn door and get the fucking hell out of there.
* * * *
Edgar Himura had noticed her the moment she’d walked past him, black curls bouncing against her shoulders as she went. She smelled of ripe apples and the fall. He watched her from the corner of his eye as she took a seat at a table near the crowded bar, sitting with her back against the wall and keeping an eye on everything around her. She checked her large purse on a constant basis. Her shadowy blue eyes, almost unnatural in color, nervously darted around the room more often than not. Briefly, her eyes met his, and a surge of heat flowed through him. He couldn’t help but wonder how easy it would be to get lost in those eyes. When she looked up at the waitress, he found himself missing the warmth her gaze had inspired.
“You do realize that you’re practically drooling, right Ed,” commented one of the other truckers, with a soft laugh as he took a seat next to him. “A lady generally doesn’t like to be drooled on, even from across the room.”
“Chris, how goes things?” Ed turned his full attention to the older male, who was often confused for Santa by excited children thanks to his full beard.
“Pretty good, pretty good. I just got done picking up another load earlier today.” The older male scratched his chin through his snow-white hair. “Snow’s supposed to get worse, though. So I would probably try to get a few miles down the road before too long.”
“I can put in another hour or so after dinner before I have to stop for the night.”
“Well, if you wind up not being able to get ahead of the storm, I’m sure you can find someone to keep you warm.”
He followed Chris’s line of sight to the woman he’d noticed earlier. She was leaving with a cup of coffee. He smirked slightly before waving over the waiter for two cups of coffee to go, some muffins for the morning, and his bill. He left as several children gathered around Chris, smiling as the man laughed cheerfully and handed out the miniature candy canes he always carried with him for such occasions. He could hear the older man assuring them he couldn’t wait to taste their cookies on Christmas Eve.
Ed stepped into the night and zipped up his windbreaker before heading toward his truck. He paused when his gaze fell on one of the cars in the lot. Something wasn’t right.
Beneath the shining light of the lamps, he saw a dark-green Jeep with the door wide open and a slender jean-clad leg resting on the pavement. The metallic buckles on her boot shone in the lamplight. The leg wasn’t moving and the door stayed open, an unsafe move at night.
Was she having problems starting her car? He frowned as he called out to her,
“Ma’am?”
Receiving no answer, he walked closer, continuing to call out to her. As he did, he noticed the vehicle’s tires were flat, and, from the looks of things, someone had slashed them open with a hunting knife. As worry tied his stomach in knots as he noticed the driver didn’t seem to be moving at all. Leaving the door open wasn’t exactly safe in an empty parking lot under any condition.
He sighed and walked to the car to see if he could help the driver by either calling a tow truck or dropping them off somewhere. From several feet away, he saw the woman from the diner in the driver’s seat.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Ed asked as he got closer to her car, careful not to startle her. “Can I help you with anything?”
The young woman shrieked and jerked away from him, almost scrambling into the passenger seat.
“Ma’am, I apologize. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, holding up his hands laden with his to-go order. When she turned to look at him, he was once again struck by the intensity of her eyes despite the fear within them. “I promise I won’t hurt you. Do you want me to call a tow truck or a cab? Is there somewhere I can take you?”
Edgar inwardly winced, when the woman in the car leaned away, and he wondered what she saw in his eyes. He held her stare calmly as she dug her teeth into her lower lip until blood started to pool there. She averted her gaze downward, to the knife on his belt, and she attempted to lean away even more. He sighed and hid the knife behind the paper bag. While debating what to do next, Ed saw the mutilated pendant and sighed.
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