“No,” she heard Ron say. “She has an appointment. She can’t see you right now.”
A man suddenly appeared in the doorway to her office.
“Mike, you can’t go in right—”
Abigail looked up and screamed. “No! No! No!” Her chair flew back, and the plants on the windowsill crashed to the floor.
“Hi, Ms. Swanson. I’ve been waiting to see you,” Justin said as he started to walk into the office. Ron stepped in beside him and grabbed his arm.
“Listen, man—”
Justin tore his arm away from Ron and headed straight for Abigail’s desk.
She sidestepped around him and ran toward the file cabinet.
“Abigail, I got this. Mike, you need to get the hell out of here.”
“Abigail, what’s the matter with you?” Justin’s sickly sweet voice made her dry heave.
Tears stung her eyes as she stood frozen, disbelieving the fate slapping her right in the face. “You…you bastard!” The words were all she could blurt out as her legs did what her brain couldn’t seem to comprehend. She rushed around Ron and tried to hit Justin, but the son of a bitch caught her wrist and squeezed. She felt Ron’s arms tug on her waist, and Justin let go. The rush of bravery was fading. The sight of the man who’d almost killed her was too much. She did the only thing her frantic brain could think of. She tore out of Ron’s arms and ran.
* * * *
Sean racked the dumbbells and stretched his biceps before pulling the heavier set for the next set of reps. As he curled the weights close to his chest, he waited for the mind-numbing release that always came when he lifted. No go. The only thing going through his brain as he lifted was the image of a curvy ass swaying from side to side to the radio as its owner swept the floor.
The trap bar was free, so he sat on the bench to catch his breath. After setting the pin, he got into position and pulled on the bar. Breathe in.
Perfect lips smiling up at me
. Breathe out. Pull.
Full tits stretching a white tank top
. Breathe in.
Soft thighs curled up on the couch
. Breathe out. Pull.
Soft fingertips wiping pizza sauce from my lip
. Breathe in. Breathe out. Pull.
He knew when all the blood in his body rushed to his dick. The front of his shorts tented with the thought of his feisty, auburn-haired vixen. The images were turning his mind-numbing workout into a virtual porn session.
His phone rang. He let the bar snap back into place and grabbed the cell in his pocket. The number scrolling across the screen didn’t look familiar. “Hello?”
“S-S-Sean? P-P-Please come and g-g-get me!” Abigail’s sobbing voice made him shoot off the bench and run for the locker room. Something was wrong. Very fucking wrong.
“I’m coming,” he said while grabbing his bag from the locker. “Where are you?”
She snorted and sniffled, then coughed. “I-I’m in a b-bathroom.”
He flung the bag over his shoulder and jogged to the front door of the gym. “Calm down, baby. Calm down. It’s okay. Tell me where you are so I can come get you.”
“Th-The d-d-diner. They let me u-use the phone. I-I-I’m hiding.”
Hiding?
“Is it the diner by the warehouse, the one with the big coffee cup on the sign?”
“Yes, the coffee place. Please hurry. Oh, Sean, p-please hurry. He’s g-g-going to find me.”
Sean unlocked the truck door, tossed the bag in the extended cab, and jumped inside. “I’m on my way. Abigail? Abigail!”
“Y-Yes?” she whispered.
“Stay on the phone with me, baby. Don’t hang up.” He could hear women talking in the background. “Where’s Ron?”
“In the office. Oh, Sean, I hope he’s okay.” Another crying spell erupted, and he waited for her to get under control. “We have to check on him,” she finally said. “Oh God, he has to be okay!”
Sean fought the urge to ask her what in the hell was going on. Another crying jag bubbled out from her, and his foot slammed on the gas. “I’m almost there, baby. Stay with me. Talk to me, Abigail. Tell me something, anything.”
“I-I really like my n-new wall.”
He wanted to laugh from relief. She liked the work he’d done for her, but more importantly, she was making sense. The quiver in her voice made his grip almost crack the wheel. “I’m pulling in. Stay right where you are. I’m coming in to get you.”
“Is he…is he out there?”
“That bastard better not be there.” He slid the truck into a parking spot. “I’ll kick is goddamn ass.”
“Pl-Please hurry, Sean. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.”
“You’re not going to die. I’m here. Are you in the girl’s bathroom?” As he raced past the booths lining the wall by the windows, the old men sipping their coffees shot him a wave of curious looks. “Which stall, baby?”
“H-Here.”
Sean flung the door open and stalked into the small bathroom. Three closed doors lined the west wall. “Baby? It’s me.” One of the stall doors opened, and a woman walked out. She gave Sean a disapproving frown and started to wash her hands. A faint sniffle came from the far stall. He pressed his hand to the door. It was locked. “Baby?” he said to the chipped pink door.
“Is it you?” she whispered back.
“Yes. Unlock the door. Let me take you out of here.”
The moment the latch clicked, he pushed the door open to find his woman huddled on the floor. Her body shook as she pulled her knees closer to her chest. When her tear-soaked cheeks peered up, he stalked into the narrow stall and picked her up, cradling her fragile body in his arms. “Jesus, baby, you scared me.” All he could do was hold her close as she dropped the phone and he carried her out of the bathroom.
After settling her onto the passenger seat and buckling her in, he jumped into the driver’s side and started the truck. She sank in the seat and laid her head on his lap. He had no clue what had scared the shit out of her, but he sure as fuck wasn’t going to let anything hurt her. He pulled out his cell and dialed the office. Hopefully, Ron would be there.
“Sean! Where are you?”
“What in the fuck happened?”
“Thank God, have you heard from Abigail?”
He looked down at his lap, where she’d unlatched the seat belt so she could curl up closer to him. “Yes. What the fuck’s going on?”
“I don’t know. A new guy came in to interview this morning, and she freaked out on the delivery guy. He’s been delivering here for couple of weeks now and said his name was Mike, but she called him Justin and ran out. She left her cell, so I couldn’t call her. She wasn’t answering the door at the apartment, and it was locked. I didn’t know where she went. Is she all right?”
Sean wanted to get off the damn phone so he could touch her, reassure her everything was going to be okay. “She’s with me,” he said. “I’m going to keep her with me tonight. Is that guy still there?”
“No. He left right after she did. It’s weird. The guy seemed so calm while Abs freaked out. He just stood there, like her reaction was no big deal. What’s going on, Sean? Will she talk? I kept trying to call your cell, but it went straight to voice mail. Is she all right?”
Sean turned off the highway onto the road leading to his apartment. “Not yet. She’s too upset. I’ll call you later after I get her settled in.”
A soft whisper came from his lap. “Penelope,” she sobbed. “Penelope.”
“I’m going to drop her off at Eric’s, then swing by her place and get her dog.” He turned the truck down another side street to backtrack toward Eric’s subdivision. “I’m not leaving her alone tonight.”
“I’m going to close up early here. Take care of her, Sean.”
“You don’t even have to ask.”
Sean pressed the button to end the call and tossed the phone on the dashboard. He sank his fingers in the soft cascade of her hair and petted her as she sobbed against his shorts.
“Penelope,” she whispered again.
“Shh, I’m going to pick her up. She can stay with us. Do you need anything else from your place?”
Her shoulders shook as she sniffled and cried. “Penelope.”
“Shh,” he soothed as he continued to massage her scalp in an effort to calm her down. “We’re going to get her.”
He pulled up into Eric’s driveway and left a crying Abigail in his care.
By the time he pulled into the warehouse parking lot, it was empty except for Ron’s car. He had already closed up for the day. Sean opened the door and jogged to the warehouse entrance.
“Where’s the dog?” he asked Ron as he let himself into Abigail’s office.
Ron’s voice barely registered as Sean rushed by to grab the bright yellow purse from Abigail’s desk. “I put her in the apartment. I didn’t know what else to do with her.”
Sean rushed up the stairs three at a time and let himself into her apartment. Tiny claws clicked on the hardwood floor. When he looked down, Penelope was standing below him with the squirrel in her mouth.
“Come on, girl.” He snatched the leash by the door and hooked her collar. “You’re going to stay with me.” The dog lopped her tongue out, dropping the squirrel. “We’ll play later. Let’s grab your food and head out. Come on.”
The dog picked the squirrel back up and squeak-squeaked behind him as they made their way into the kitchen, where Sean grabbed the bag of gourmet dog food from the cabinet. Penelope scratched at the cabinet door where Abigail kept her treats. Sean opened that door too and grabbed the box of dog biscuits. “Let’s go, girl.”
ABIGAIL STOOD IN front of the large picture window at Eric’s house. It seemed like hours since Sean had dropped her off to go get Penelope. She sipped on the mug of hot tea and sighed. The sound of an engine roared into the driveway, and she looked up.
“Sean.”
He opened the door, and she watched as two furry paws propped on the doorjamb and hopped out of the cab. She’d never been so happy to see that damn squirrel. “Penelope!” She scrambled to the front door and ran outside. “Come on, girl! Come on!” Penelope ran up to Abigail. She leaned down and nestled her nose in the dog’s fur. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Thank you for getting her.”
“I want to get you home.”
Eric came walking out onto the brick-paved driveway.
“I’m taking her to my place. Thanks for watching over her.”
Eric gave both of them a sad smile. “I don’t know what’s going on, but if you two need anything, just call.”
“Thanks, man,” Sean said. He took Abigail by the hand. “Come on.”
The dog struggled to get her back legs into the truck. Sean lifted her into the cab. Abigail raced to the passenger side and got in. She snuggled Penelope close to her side, rubbing her ears to comfort herself. “Is Ron okay?”
Sean scooted into the driver’s seat. “Yes, he’s fine. Worried about you but fine. He said that Mike guy has been delivering packages for a couple of weeks.”
“No! Oh God, I have to call Ron. He has to stay away from him. His name isn’t Mike.” They pulled out of the driveway. “Where are we going?”
“My place. Once I get you settled in, you’re going to tell me everything that happened. Are we clear on that?”
She watched his forearms tighten and release. His knuckles were bleach-white gripping the steering wheel. “Y-Yes. I’ll tell you…everything.”
After he’d gotten her settled in his apartment, she told him about how Justin had come to the warehouse and how she’d run. “We’re calling the police, Abigail. That’s final. No more running. That bastard’s had you running long enough.”
Sean picked up the phone and called 911. After speaking with the dispatcher, he hung up the phone. “They’re sending out an officer for you to file a report. I mean it, baby. It’s time for you to tell your story. I want you safe and that maniac behind bars. We can do this together.”
Abigail fought the urge to run straight for the door. She remembered the only time she’d told a cop about the abuse. Then, when they brought Justin in for questioning, she’d gotten too scared and dropped the charges. The beating that followed was a reminder to never tell.
“I…can’t, Sean. I’m…I’m afraid.”
He sat on the couch beside her and curled her up onto his lap. “You’re not alone anymore, baby. You’ve got me. Remember? I can fight anything. Come on, be brave for me.”
She nestled her face against his chest. He was so hard and strong. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Want to catch some lunch?” Sean spun around to find Ron standing in the doorway. “You’ve been stuck in the dungeon for days, and I’m starving.”
“Where’s Abigail?” Sean asked.
“She went to the hardware store. Carl gave her a list of things to pick up.”
It’d been three weeks since Abigail’s ex had shown up in her office. Just because the police were on the case and they hadn’t had any more run-ins with the bastard didn’t mean he got any less nervous when she went out on her own.
“Maybe Abby can meet us.”
Ron slung his arm around Sean’s shoulder. “At some point, you’re going to have to let her have some space, man. I’m scared as hell too, but she said she didn’t want to be a prisoner in her own home. How about you call and check on her? Then we’ll grab a burger down at the diner.”
Sean shut the storeroom door and grabbed the cell from his pocket. He knew Ron was right. Hell, after they’d told Ron about Justin, Ron broke a lamp in Eric’s living room. He blamed himself for letting the bastard in the office. Abigail assured him there was nothing he could’ve done, but that didn’t help the already shattered lamp.
“Sounds good. She knows not to come to the office unless one of us is here, so I’m just going to let her know to go home after she’s done at the store.”
Ron agreed and pulled the keys from his front pocket. “I’ll drive.”
Sean pressed the tab on his phone to call Abigail. “Hello.”
“Hey, baby. What’s wrong? You sound funny. Are you okay?” Sean felt the panic rising. Anytime his woman didn’t sound content, his heart clenched. Was she in a safe place? Was that bastard near her? Was she hurt?
“I’m okay, at least for the moment. Crap! Hold on.” Sean listened while some retching sound came through the phone.
“Abigail! Baby?”
“Okay, I have to go home. Hold on.”
Sean listened while she talked to someone about a trash can. She kept saying “I’m sorry” over and over until the guy in the background told her it was all right.