Sinking back down onto her bottom, she dropped what she’d collected so far and cradled her bleeding hand. Why did everything in her life have to go wrong? Even cleaning up a mess couldn’t go smoothly.
Nicole blinked back tears.
She wanted to grab all the pieces of her life and stick them back together. She just didn’t know how to do that.
Drawing in a long deep breath, she let it out slowly, attempting to calm herself.
The answers to fixing her tattered life weren’t going to be found in this alley.
First things first. The pile of glass at her feet wasn't close to the café’s backdoor. When she’d come outside with a glass of water for some fresh air, she had found herself wandering aimlessly further down the dead-end alley that the café backed onto. It was quiet out here, only two other buildings had access to the alley, and one was currently unoccupied, so it had seemed like a good place to gather her thoughts. Or if she was honest, to have a good mopey self-pity party. She was just going to leave this mess and get Sean. He’d cheer her up. Then once she dropped him off with his father, she would start looking for a new job.
Positivity.
That was what she needed.
A huge dollop of positivity.
Wearily, Nicole pushed to her feet, rifling through her pocket for a tissue or something to use to try and staunch the bleeding. The cut looked deep, she sincerely hoped it didn’t need stitches. She didn’t want to spend her few precious hours with her son stuck in the emergency room.
She turned around and froze.
A man was standing a couple of yards away.
He was just standing there, staring at her.
An ominous feeling of dread settled on her.
Sometimes she encountered homeless men out here when she brought the trash out to the dumpster, but this man was clearly not homeless. He was clean-shaven, his hair was neatly trimmed, and he was wearing what looked to be a freshly pressed suit.
Maybe he was a customer from the café who had stepped outside to enjoy a smoke. Nicole hated the smell of cigarettes the smoke aggravated her asthma. Hoping that was all it was, she offered up a small smile, but the man just stared back at her. The sense of foreboding that filled the alley like thick fog grew until it almost took on a presence of its own.
“Uh, hi, can I help you with something?” she asked uncertainly.
“Yes.”
When he didn’t elaborate, she asked, “What did you need?”
“You.”
“Me?” She wasn't liking the way he was looking at her. He was pretty handsome, under other circumstances she might even have flirted with him, but the look in his eyes was odd, kind of cold and dead, like a shark’s. “Did Jay send you out here?” She wondered whether her boss was wondering what was taking her so long out here and sent someone out to get her.
“No.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say, and she wasn't spending one more second out here with this creepy man, so she took an uncertain step forward. “I’m sorry, I don’t have time to help you with whatever you need. I have to go and pick my son up from school, perhaps some other time.”
Nicole moved toward the door, but the man took a menacing step toward her, blocking her path. He took another step and another, and she backed away from him. She knew it was a bad idea, she was moving further and further away from the safety of the café and the street. She was trapping herself.
“I need to go,” she said lamely.
The man took no notice, just sidled closer. “I don’t think so.”
“You said you needed me,” Nicole stammered. “I don’t understand. Do I know you? Are you a customer at the café? What did you need me for?”
“I need your help with something.”
She didn’t like his voice. It sent shivers spiraling up and down her spine. Perhaps this man was just trying to ask her out, but he was so shy and socially awkward that he was having trouble just getting the words out. “With what?”
He pulled something from his pocket, cradling it in his hand. It looked like a rock, but she couldn’t be sure. Her eyes traveled from his hand to his face, and she knew that he wasn't just some dating etiquette inept guy. “I need a dead body, and you're going to oblige.”