Chapter Eight: Threats and More Threats
Delphia
Bear was the first man I’d ever trusted since my brother. I believed what he told me on our ride. My lips still felt as if they were stinging from his kiss. His raw power was so attractive to me. The whole day had felt like a dream and I hadn’t laughed so hard in a long time. As we sat in the movies watching Star Trek and throwing popcorn at one another I knew we were forming a bond, and that bond made me feel safe.
Being at work didn’t feel like a drag. Secretly, I found myself hoping Bear would come in to visit. I would look up and out at the pumps to see if I heard what sounded like a bike coming.
I unpacked stock with more enthusiasm and greeted the customers like people, not numbers. Most of them were used to my sullen appearance and a few of them gave me strange looks because of my unhidden joy. In recent times, I hadn’t had that much to be joyful about, but Bear showing up in my life was a good reason.
Even Brendan noticed the change in me. “You’re bright and bouncy today. What is his name? You’re too much for me.” He looked me up and down with interest.
I broke out with a knowing giggle. “I’m feeling better, that’s all.”
Brendan narrowed his observant eyes into slits. “I don’t believe it for one minute, but I’ll let you keep your little Holbeck secrets to yourself.”
“Thank you, you’re the best,” I said with a deft smile as he finished his shift.
There was another reason for the lift in mood. My readiness to fight back. I wanted to talk to the reporter.
Bear told me at the end of the date when he dropped me home. “Leave it with me, and Angie will get in touch with you. Trust me, this is going to work out better than you think.”
This time, I believed what I was being told. Bear gave me a reason to put my trust into another human, and it was a relief to stop having to watch my own back all the time. I walked into the back of the office and opened the back door to look up at the cameras. Now there was one directly above the door and another one near the far dark corner of the building.
I closed the door and recoiled from the wind blowing through. I would wait for Angie to show her face. I felt a little nervous about the things she was going to ask me. The more people I told about the tapes, it would be one more person that would have the information in their hands. I wanted to be sure, but this was a situation where I would have to take a leap of faith.
As the night dragged on, I waited for Angie to show up, but she didn’t. I’d been expecting her to charge through the door to come and meet me, but no such luck. All that happened was I served a number of customers that wanted to pay for their gas-guzzling vehicles.
As the night wore on, my boss called in. He’d been doing a lot more of that since the incident with the cameras. “Hey, just checking in to make sure you’re okay. Nothing going on?” he asked.
“Nothing going on except people paying for their gas. All good from this end.”
“Great. That’s what we like. How are you?”
I frowned. My boss asking me if I was okay was a weird thing. Normally, he could care less. He just wanted someone reliable to do their shift. “Um, are you okay, boss?” I asked tentatively.
“Yeah, why?”
“You’re asking if I’m okay.”
“I care for my employees, why wouldn’t I check on you?” He seemed mildly offended at this.
“Okay… if you say so.” My reply was quick and sarcastic enough to let him know this was a moment of disbelief.
“Okay, great talk. Do you need me to come there at the end of your shift?”
“No, I have someone that will come and get me at the end of my shift. I think…”
“You do?” My boss sounded surprised at the admission.
“Yes. I think so, if I need to check in with you, I will.”
“Okay good.” He hung up.
I got back to the quiet of the night. I was reading a trashy mag from off the shelf when I heard a bike coming. As soon as I heard the noise, I got happy, thinking it was Bear coming in to see me. I raised my gaze up from the magazine to look out the window. My heart then started to thump hard, because I couldn’t see the bike. I just heard it.
Maybe I was hearing things and it rode past.
I squinted my eyes, peering out of the smoggy gas station window and into the dark of the night. Whoever was on the bike was clothed in all black, and the roar of the engine reminded me of the growl of a lion, not a purr. The bike skidded as a plume of grey smoke flew up in the air. I put my hand on the emergency buzzer, as there were no other cars in sight. Nobody else—just this person who I knew with everything inside me was Rocky. I saw the plume of smoke fly up in the air as he performed another lap in front of the gas station and sped off.