Chapter One
Aleena hung up the phone then stood and stared out the window. Her thoughts were a jumble after talking to her friend Nia.
She jumped when arms came around her.
“What’s going on, baby?”
She looked over her shoulder at the most wonderful man in the world. Kaleb had changed her life and made her happier than she ever thought possible.
“I was talking to Nia.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Not good. She says she got through the funeral and has had movers come and store everything in a secure storage place so her brother can’t get to it.”
Nia’s father had died a month before, and Nia was at a loss of what to do. Her friend didn’t know if she should stay in the town they grew up in, where she had no one left or move on. Fortunately, she’d gotten life insurance from her father, so she didn’t have to make a decision quickly. The problem was her brother, Russ, who was trying to contest the will and was harassing Nia.
Russ had left home before he graduated from high school. He’d gotten in with a wrong crowd, and he’d been in trouble ever since. Nia had stopped counting the times he’d been in jail since it had happened so often.
The only time Russ had paid his father and sister a visit was when he’d needed money. If she or her dad didn’t have any to give, he blatantly stole from them. They’d changed the locks on the house several times, but he always got in.
Nia had told her that after her father passed away, she was terrified Russ would break in while she was there alone. The last time, he’d brought a few of his friends, and they made her feel extremely uncomfortable, and the dark carnal looks they gave her made her skin crawl.
“Where is she right now?” Kaleb asked.
“At her house. Nia thought about moving into an apartment with security, but her brother catches her when she’s out. She told me one of the last times her brother beat on her. She says she thought he was high at the time. But now he’s also bringing around his friends to harass her, and they’ve tried to touch her.”
Aleena turned in his arms and laid her head on his chest. “I’m so afraid for her. I want to go and see if I can help…”
“Absolutely not, baby girl. She needs to come here.”
Aleena leaned her head back to see his face. “Really?”
“Yes. She can stay with us until she decides what to do.”
She squealed and hugged him tightly, making him grunt.
“Easy. Get her on the phone for me.”
Aleena hurried to call her friend back, and the sound of her friend’s voice made chills run up her spine. “Nia … Nia, what’s wrong?”
Her eyes filled with tears, and she looked at Kaleb. “She’s hiding in her house. Her brother is there and got in somehow.”
“Has she called the police?”
“Yes. They’re on their way.”
“Let me talk to her.” Kaleb took the phone and put it on the speaker. “Hi, honey. This is Kaleb. Where are you hiding?”
“In the attic.”
“Can he hear you?”
“I’m being very quiet. I don’t think he knows I’m here. The house was dark except for a light I was using to go through some things I left in the attic. I turned it off right away when I heard him.”
“That’s good. I want you to get as far away from the door as you can and hide.”
“I am,” she whispered. “I also unscrewed the lightbulb, so there won’t be light if he tries to come up here.”
“You’re a very smart girl.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Aleena heard Nia moving around but likely being as quiet as possible.
“I’m afraid I’m going to trip over something. I can barely see with just the light from the windows.”
“Then stop and hide behind the closest thing.”
“Okay. Oh, hey, I hear sirens.”
“Stay where you’re at. I’m calling the police and telling them where you are. They’ll come to get you in the attic.”
“Okay.”
Aleena listened to her friend’s frightened breathing as Kaleb stood off to the side and made his call.
“I hear running feet,” Nia whispered.
“Good,” Aleena said. “Hopefully, they heard the sirens and got scared.”
Kaleb came back. “The officers are in the house, and one is coming for you. Your brother is gone.”
Nia exhaled. “Good. He’s getting worse, and I think some of it might be the drugs he’s on.”
“It’s possible,” Kaleb told her.
There was a thump as the attic door was opened and then footsteps.