Chapter 34

"Don’t tell me you are getting cold feet?” Hunter answered after the second ring.

“Hunter,” I whispered as I closed my eyes and felt a tear roll down my face.

“Hana, what’s wrong?” he asked and I heard the change in his tone.

“They are trying to break into my apartment,” I told him in a hushed voice. He swore.

“I’m on my way, stay on the phone, sweetness,” he said.

“No, Hunter. They are two, I think. Maybe more.” I was trying to be as quiet as I could and at the same time let him know the danger of the situation.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“I’m outside, on the ledge.”

“What fucking ledge?” he barked.

“There is this decorative ledge going around the building,” I explained.

“A fucking decorative ledge? Have you lost your fucking mind woman?” he yelled.

“Y-you told me to get out. Not to lock myself inside. I thought I could get to the neighbour, but there is…” I had to stop to keep the sob from being too loud.

“Hey, I’m sorry, Hana. I didn’t mean to shout at you. You are doing good. I’m coming to get you, okay?” Hunter said, his voice was softer and I nodded. “Do you understand me, sweetness?” he asked and I realised he couldn’t see my nod.

“Yes,” I told him.

“Good. Stay on the line with me. I will be listening, but I need to do one thing okay?”

“Okay.” I kept the phone pressed to my ear as the other end became dead silent as it only did when you got muted. I leaned my forehead against the rough, cold bricks and tried to get strength from knowing Hunter was on the other end of the call. Time passed slowly.

“Are you there, Hana?” Hunter's voice almost made me jump. I was forced to focus on my balance for a moment. “Hana?” he asked, sounding stressed.

“I’m still here,” I told him in a whisper.

“Good girl. I called my friend at the police, they are also on their way. Can you see the people trying to break inside?” I should have thought to call 911. I felt like an idiot, my first instinct had been to call Hunter and now I would put him in danger.

“I can see one of them. Or I think he's one of them. He’s standing by a car,” I told him.

“Keep an eye on him. When he hears sirens getting closer he will get into the car and the one at your door should join him close behind. Then I want you to start making your way to your window. Do you understand?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“And stay with me on the phone as long as you can. I will get you out of this.”

“Thank you. The bolt is still holding,” I told him. It just popped into my head as I listened to the pounding against my door. One of my neighbours had to have called the police as well, I thought.

“I’m happy to hear it,” Hunter said. I could hear he was in a car.

“I tased him,” I confessed. It felt better to talk to him. There was a low chuckle on the other hand.

“You are becoming quite proficient with that thing. It’s good to know if I managed to piss you off sometime,” he joked. I heard sirens and they were getting closer.

“The police are almost here,” I told him.

“So am I. I’m about two minutes away.” I glanced down at the man by the car. He was looking around and when the sirens kept getting closer, he got into the car as he got his phone out. Not a minute later two other men came running outside with Amber in between them.

“They are getting in the car, I’m going to start to make my way inside,” I told Hunter.

“Good girl. Do you have pockets you can put the phone in?”

“Yes.”

“Keep the call going so I can hear what is happening,” he told me. I did as he told me and put the phone back in my pocket and then tried to shift my body to start edging back. I could hear the SUV start and drive off. My legs were stiff from the tension and the uncomfortable position. The way back seemed longer and I was terrified I would tip backward. All Hunter needed was to hear me fall to my death. When I finally reached my window I took a moment to try and figure out how to safely get inside. As I swung my first leg inside and could sit down on the windowsill, I saw a black SUV with blasting sirens and Hunter’s SUV pull up at the same time. Hunter rushed out of his car and I saw him look up as he ran towards the building, still pressing the phone to his ear. I heard the police shouting for him to wait. I was already making my way to my front door. I did my best to move the chair in front of the bedroom door, and was happy with creating a gap big enough to squeeze through. As I hurried out into the hallway I could see the damage to my front door. The bolt had held, but cracks had splintered the wood around it and in the middle of the door where they had been beating on it. I saw Hunter coming up the stairs, he had a wild look in his eyes that seemed to settle as our eyes met.

“You are safe now, Hana. Close the door and take off the locks,” he said in a calm voice that was a contrast to how he looked and how I felt. I nodded and closed the door. It went against my want to see him, but I needed to close the door in order to open it. I couldn’t close it completely, the assault had made it not fit into the frame. But I got it closed enough to disengage the two security locks and open it. I took in the fact that Hunter had been joined by the two detectives that had questioned me. Then I was swept up in Hunter’s embrace and everything I could do was to cling to him. I could feel myself start to tremble and Hunter holding me closer. “It’s okay, sweetness. You are safe. Let it all out,’ he whispered in my ear. As my tears started to fall he just held me. It wasn’t until later that I heard someone clearing their throat. I looked up as I had forgotten about the detectives. Hunter was glaring at them.

“Miss Bishop, we need to ask you some questions,” detective Monroe gently said.

“Right. Right, of course. I’m sorry. Please come inside,” I told them and wiped my face with the sleeve of my cardigan. Hunter stepped to the side and kept an arm around my waist. He let the detectives inside and then did a valiant effort to close the door. Without a word he took us into the kitchen. He made me sit down on a chair and gestured to the detectives to sit opposite me. Hunter then got a large glass of milk and put it in front of me before sitting down on the chair next to me. As if it was a signal, detective Monroe started speaking.

“It’s just protocol for me to ask. But do you have a weapon on you?” he asked.

“Um, I guess this would count as a weapon?” I asked and fished the taser out of my pocket and put it on the table. I thought detective Dundam flinched as he saw it.

“It would,” detective Monroe agreed and slid the taser to his end of the table. “Can you please tell us what happened here today?” he then asked. I took a sip of the milk and then I told them everything.

“Did the men you saw have any distinctive features? Any tattoos?” detective Dundam asked. I thought about it. I hadn’t registered it at the time, but the hand that had grabbed me didn’t have a tattoo.

“No. I just remember that the man that grabbed me had brown eyes. They all looked to have dark hair, but I can’t tell you much more, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. The woman that was with them, you said you had seen her before?”

“Yes,” I started and glanced at Hunter. I had no idea how much he wanted me to tell them.

“The woman called herself Amber and came here yesterday telling Hana she was pregnant with my son’s child. I looked into it and have her information, I will send it to you,” Hunter told them.

“Really?” detective Dundam asked.

“Which part of what I said are you having a hard time believing?” Hunter asked. his dislike for the detective was clear.

“Mostly the part where you are willing to give us information about the mother of your future grandchild,” the detective told him. I could see that his partner almost groaned out loud. He didn’t like how detective Dundam was acting.

“I said she claimed to be pregnant by my son. That doesn’t mean I believe her or that it’s true. And she put Hana in danger. I’m not protecting her,” Hunter told him. I was grateful for those words.

“I can see how that would be important things to consider,” detective Monroe said before his partner had a chance to speak. They asked me a handful of more questions before they reminded me to call them if I learned something more. “I think you better keep this. You seem to know how to use it,” detective Monroe said as he stood. He pushed the taser towards me.

“Thank you,” I said. I remained seated as Hunter showed the police out. I heard him speaking with someone as he walked back to the kitchen, but I was too scattered to listen to what he said. He crouched down beside me and made me look at him.

“How are you?” he asked.

“I’m better. Thank you for coming,” I told him.

“Of course I came,” he told me and cupped my cheek. I allowed myself to enjoy the touch for a moment. I knew there were things I needed to do. I needed to call someone about the door, I doubted someone could fix it tonight. That meant I needed to figure out how to deal with a broken door. But I could take one moment to let Hunter’s touch calm me down. He stood up after a while and leaned down and placed a kiss on my head. As he stood back up, I got up from my chair and carried my empty glass to the sink. “If you go and pack, I’ll wash the glass,” he said.

“What?” I asked.