Chapter 4

We spent the rest of the evening watching re-runs of Heroes. Through some miracle, Lauren was working, and we were left undisturbed. Right as Tommy and Roz were about to leave, my mother entered the room.

“Em, I need to drop you off at school early tomorrow. I’ve got a meeting at work, and Lauren’s got a test.”

“Why can’t I just take the bus? It’ll be fine,” I said.

“You know, my brother and I pass this street every morning on our way into Cannondale,” Tommy said.

“Oh, I don’t want to put anyone out,” she said.

“Demetri wouldn’t mind picking her up. We can drop her off after school, too. It’s no problem at all, Ms. Milford.”

“I don’t know…”

I was pretty sure she was debating whether or not I would be safe. “His brother is twice as wide as Tommy, and it’s all muscle. Needless to say, I’ll be all right.”

“Okay, if it’s not a bother,” she said.

“Of course not. He considers Em part of the family,” he said.

And for the first time in a long while, she genuinely smiled.

Roz hugged me goodbye and left. I walked Tommy out to the porch.

“Tonight was nice,” I said.

He wrapped his arms around me. “It’s always nice with you.” It seemed like he was about to kiss me, when he suddenly stopped, looking alert. “Em, I need you stay right here.”

He bolted down the street.

A car about three houses down fired up its engine and sped away, right before Tommy got to it.

It was him. My father was right there, watching me.

A feeling of vertigo surfaced. Afraid I would collapse, I sat on the steps. Tommy returned and sat down next to me.

“It was him,” I whispered.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to scare you, but I heard that same breathing. From the phone call.”

I hid my face in my hands, unable to stop the tears from falling.

Tommy’s arms closed around me. “It’s going to be all right.”

“What if he comes back?”

He didn’t have an answer to that one, except to hold me tighter.

“Please stay with me tonight,” I whispered. “I… I’m afraid.”

“Okay. Let me call Demetri.”

“Meet me around the side. I’ll let you use my cell phone.”

He nodded, and we parted ways. I was in my room in seconds, opening the window to let him in. I gave him my cell phone, and he made arrangements with his brother.

“Thanks for staying with me.” I hugged him again. “I feel so much safer with you here.”

“No problem.” He pulled away from me, sniffing the air. He walked closer to my bed, still inhaling deeply. “Uh, Em… when did you say that security system was going in?”

My heart began to pound. He picked up my father’s scent, in my room.

“He was here?” My voice cracked horribly. It was a miracle he understood me at all.

“He smokes. It’s the same odor from down the street, where he was parked.”

“Oh my God.” For a moment, I panicked, unsure of what to do next. Should I tell my mother? Should I call the police? I took a calming breath. I came to the conclusion that telling my mother would only unnecessarily worry her. And I was fairly confident the police would be worthless. Instead, I began a frantic search of my bedroom, trying to discern if anything was taken. After a few minutes of rifling through the contents of my drawers, Tommy’s hands rested on my shoulders.

“Are you all right?”

“I think everything’s here.” I turned around to face him. “What the hell was he doing here?”

His arms wrapped around me. “I don’t know.”

I felt a sense of fear from him, but it was more than that–concern, and perhaps disappointment. He cleared his throat. “But it’s okay now. You’re safe.”

Resting my head against his chest, in his warm embrace, I did feel safe. “Thank you.”

He gave me a final squeeze before he released me. “You’re everything, Em. My whole world.”

I smiled as I felt the conviction behind his words. “I can feel that.”

“What?”

“It’s like this wonderful feeling of affection. It’s nice.”

That warm smile appeared on his face once more, right as he moved closer to me, his face inches away. “Ready to take me to bed again?”

“Absolutely.” I was about to kiss him, when he scooped me up in his arms. I laughed as he released me on the bed. “Eager to start, huh?”

“Of course. Best night of sleep I ever had.” He went to kiss me, when I slid back away from him.

“Well, I better set the alarm then. Five, right?”

“Yeah, five’s good.”

I leaned over, and I was still in the process of setting it, when his hand rested on my hip.

“I thought you were ready to sleep,” I said, turning to take off my shirt. I wasn’t naked or anything, but I found most nights I was too hot to sleep in anything more than a camisole.

He stared unabashedly at my chest. “Not quite yet.”

“Your turn.” I helped him out of his shirt.

This time I was the one staring. It always excited me to see his chest unclothed, from the first time I watched him running in the park. I ran my fingers along his chest, feeling his warm skin, all the way down to his abs.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“As a matter of fact, I am.”

“Good. Now it’s my turn.” His hands started at my stomach, burrowing underneath my shirt. My heart pounded in excitement. The sensation of his warm hands on my bare flesh sent chills throughout my body. I leaned back, resting on my elbows.

“Are you okay?” he whispered. “You feel so hot…”

“Always with you.”

His hands settled on top of my clothing, and I let out a disappointed sigh.

“What? I don’t want you to overheat.”

“Thank you for your concern.” I sat up and positioned his hands higher on my body. I wrapped my arms around his neck. “But I am just fine.”

“You’re more than fine, beautiful,” he whispered, before he pressed his lips to mine. As he leaned into me, the kiss became intense. I moaned, feeling his hands massage me ever so gently. My body shuddered as I lay back on my pillow, enjoying his touch and the wonderful taste of his mouth. I’d never known such pleasure before, a perfect feeling of sheer bliss. His lips moved down to my neck, and the heat flared within me.

“I am so in love with you, Em.” He continued to lightly kiss my neck. “It’s going to be okay.”

The words had an uncertainty to them, almost like he was asking me a question. It was clear the whole situation with my father was affecting him, too.

I ran my fingers through his hair and felt him start to relax.

Tommy wrapped his arms around me and rested his head on my chest. All at once, his emotions flooded me, and I could feel the love that radiated from his heart. It was nothing short of amazing, to feel so adored. A few tears escaped my eyes.

He squeezed me tighter. “My love.”

His arms relaxed, and within minutes, he was fast asleep. Despite the ever-present dread of my father returning, it wasn’t long before I became drowsy myself. In the warm security of his arms, I drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

****

During my ride to school the next morning, I couldn’t stop thinking about my father snooping around my room. By the time I got to my locker, the thought of him in my house, going through my things, had me thoroughly unnerved.

Roz took one look at my face. “Em, what’s wrong?”

When I explained, she gave me a great big hug.

As I withdrew, she looked into my eyes. “Are you going to be all right?”

Wes approached our lockers, wearing his standard fare of a button-down shirt, slacks, and wonderfully geeky, black-rimmed glasses. His dark hair was neatly combed back in an efficient way, more out of an appreciation for neatness than style. “Is everything okay?”

Roz smiled awkwardly. “Em is going through some…family problems.”

I felt nothing but genuine concern from Wes. He was Roz’s friend, and she trusted him. I guess that meant I could trust him, too. “It’s a long story, but the abridged version is my father who kidnapped me when I was five is back in town again. And he’s coming for me.”

“Whoa” was Wes’s only reply.

“Yeah.” I wondered how bizarre my life must seem to someone normal.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Wes said.

Roz looked off to the side. “Actually, there may be something you can do.”

I looked at her quizzically.

“Well, you know how Wes is good with computers, right?”

I frowned. “With my father’s background, it’s going to be difficult to find anything online about him.”

Wes grinned. “Why don’t you let me give it a shot?”

I got the feeling he had access to resources none of us did. “Thanks, I’d really appreciate that. His name is Jonathan Milford.”

“Got it.”

Roz smiled, and I sensed a feeling of gratitude toward him.

Tommy joined us. “That’s a good idea, Em. The more we can find out about him, the better.”

A look of confusion appeared on Wes’s face. “How did you hear us?”

Tommy’s eyes grew large. “Oh, I was right over there when…”

Wes let out this adorable combination laugh-snort. “The human ear can typically hear ranges of 20 Hz to—”

“Wes, will you walk me to class, please?” Roz looped her arm through his.

And it worked like magic. Wes ceased his encyclopedic rant about the capacity of human hearing and smiled at Roz. “Of course.”

After they walked off, I turned to Tommy. “You’ve got to be more careful.”

He nodded. “Guess I’m used to it being just the three of us.” He pulled me in close to him. “Even better when it’s only the two of us.”

I rested my head against his chest and felt the comforting warmth of his body, his steady heartbeat calming me. With a groan, I finally separated myself from him and made my way to class.

Focusing on my schoolwork for the rest of the day kept me distracted enough to not be completely mental, but I couldn’t help being jumpy at every little unexpected noise. My father probably wouldn’t be bold enough to try to take me at school, but my mother and Lauren had me convinced he was a total psycho. It’s kinda hard to anticipate what a total psycho will try.

I somehow managed to make it through the school day. Gathering my books at my locker, I felt someone staring at me. I panned the hallway around me but didn’t see anyone. Tommy joined me.

“Ready to leave?”

“Yeah,” I said, but still couldn’t shake the feeling I was being observed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I took his hand in mine, and we left for Demetri’s truck.

Just outside of the school entrance, I happened to glance across the way, near the woods on the east side of the building. And there he was.

My father.

I gasped and then clamped my hand over my mouth, as if I were afraid my father would hear it.

Tommy sniffed the air. “Oh shit.”

“He’s here,” I whispered, pointing across the way, but by that time, he had already retreated back into the wilderness.

“Em, come on. We’ve got to get to the truck.”

Still in shock, I found it difficult to breathe, let alone run. I moved as fast as I could with Tommy, until we made it to Demetri’s truck.

“What’s going on?” Demetri said.

“Her father. He’s here,” Tommy said. “By the woods.”

“Do you want to go search for him?” Demetri asked Tommy.

“No!” I startled them both with the outburst, but I didn’t care.

“Em, you know I can take him,” Demetri said confidently. “Besides, if Tommy comes, it’ll be two against—”

“You don’t understand. My father is dangerous. I won’t have either of you getting hurt. Just please take me home and promise you won’t go after him.”

“Fine, we’ll do it your way,” Demetri said, dejected.

“Thank you.” I wrapped my arms around my stomach. Playing the role of helpless victim wasn’t my style. There had to be something I could do to even the playing field. To feel at least a little less powerless. An idea popped into my head.

“Can I ask a favor, of both of you?”

“Sure, anything,” Tommy said.

“Will you show me how to fight?”

Demetri burst out laughing. “Fight? You?”

I shot him a look that made his laughter subside into more of a chuckle.

“Em, I’m sorry, but you’re the most peaceful person I know. Why would you want to learn how to fight?”

I blushed in embarrassment. “With everything that’s been happening…”

“I thought I’ve done a fairly good job of protecting you,” Tommy said, and he actually sounded offended. I thought again of that feeling I’d sensed from him the other night. Disappointment. Not in me. In himself.

“You have. And I appreciate it. But I want to know how to defend myself. In case you’re not there.”

“All right, I guess,” he said half-heartedly.

“Hey, the parents are working tonight,” Demetri said. “We can come over after school, if you want.”

“That would be great. Thanks,” I said.

“Just be careful, will you?” Tommy said to Demetri. “Your punches tend to hurt.”

“Come on, Tommy, it builds character. Besides, Em can always heal you.”

They began a familiar banter that I usually found soothing. Not today. I kept my gaze on the woods, on the dark spaces between the trees, wondering if my father was still watching, hidden in the shadows. I shuddered and only felt a small sense of relief once we were out of the parking lot and on the road.

****

At home, my mother was beyond giddy about the security system. She demoed all the features, sharing the access codes and how to arm and disarm it. Another line of defense seemed useful and all, but it made my house feel like a prison. My mother gave strict orders to arm it the moment we entered the house, even if we planned to go back out. I was surprised she didn’t have gun turrets installed on the roof.

On the way to my backyard, I sensed Tommy’s feelings shift to a strange mixture of melancholy and uncertainty.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

His brow wrinkled. “Nothing.”

“You can’t lie to me, Tommy.” I took hold of his hand. “I can feel your emotions, remember?”

He half-smiled. “Man, I’m not going to be able to get away with anything, am I?” The adorable smile that surfaced made me melt, but I couldn’t allow myself to get distracted.

“Why were you sad just now?”

“Well, I… I should be able to protect you.”

“You have,” I whispered. “I wouldn’t be alive now if it weren’t for you.” The doctor would’ve killed me for sure if Tommy hadn’t sacrificed himself for me.

“This thing with your father—the phone calls, him breaking into your room, then showing up at school—and now you want to learn how to fight?”

It dawned on me what he was really saying. “You feel like you’re failing me as a boyfriend.”

He winced and looked down.

I squeezed the hand I held. “You are NOT failing. I know you’ve got my back, and you’re doing everything in your power to help me. What more can I ask for?”

He gave me a fierce hug, nearly knocking the wind out of me. “I love you, Em,” he whispered in my ear.

Demetri cleared his throat. “Shall we get to the beatdown or what?”

I smiled as Tommy released me. “Let’s do this.”

We spent a good couple of hours on a crash course of fighting 101. Tommy and Demetri taught me how to stand and how to throw my weight behind each strike for maximum impact. They even taught me how to breathe. I was amazed at how much there was to it—when they fought, they made it look easy. But toward the end I started to get the hang of it, and I felt a difference in my punches and kicks. The sun was setting when Lauren came outside.

“What are you doing?” she asked me, her arms folded against her chest. “It’s time for dinner.”

“I know we discussed basic communication last time,” Demetri said. “It goes something like this”—he cleared his throat before continuing—“Hello, Lauren. It’s nice to see you again.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Hello, Demetri.”

“Tommy and I were showing Em a few moves.”

Lauren’s eyes got large, and I burst out laughing.

But Tommy blushed in embarrassment and hastily clarified. “Fighting moves.”

Demetri grinned. “We can show you some, too, if you’d like.”

“That won’t be necessary,” she said dryly.

“It’s true,” I said. “I saw her once at her job. She almost put a drunk dude in the hospital.”

Demetri laughed. “Bet he didn’t tip you well.”

Lauren ignored him and turned to me, a hurt expression on her face. “You could’ve asked me,” she said softly.

“I didn’t want to bother you. Besides, you haven’t seen these two fight.”

Lauren’s jaw dropped for a second. “And you have?”

It suddenly occurred to me this conversation wasn’t such a good idea. “Well, uh… I…”

But Demetri chimed right in. “Yeah, she’s seen us fight. Had some trouble at the school.”

A huge smile emerged on her face. “You are delinquents. I knew it!”

With that, she turned and ran back inside.

“Oh, boy. This is going to be interesting,” I said, as we walked back toward the house.

Tommy hit Demetri in the arm. “Why’d you say anything? She’s going to tell her mother. Do you know how long it took me to get on her good side?”

“It’ll be fine,” Demetri said with an unfounded confidence. I wondered what it would be like to be that carefree all the time, to have faith that everything would turn out fine in the end.

Once we made it back in, we found Lauren and my mother together in the dining room. The smell of tomato sauce filled the air.

“Wow, that smells delicious, Ms. Milford,” Tommy said.

Lauren smirked. “No use sucking up. I told her already.”

But my mother didn’t appear upset. She calmly turned to Tommy. “What happened?”

“There was another boy who put his hands on Em, ma’am. She got away from him, but Demetri and I wanted to make sure it never happened again,” Tommy said, unapologetically.

“It’s why we were outside,” I explained. “They were showing me how to fight.”

My mother appeared deep in thought. Then a smile formed on her lips.

“Thank you both for watching out for her.”

Lauren’s jaw dropped in amazement. “But they’re—”

“Protecting her. That’s a good thing, Lauren.” There was an eerie calm to her voice and ominous tone that made me uncomfortable. I suspected she was nervous about the whole situation with my father. But I didn’t know for sure, I still couldn’t feel a single emotion from her.

Lauren mumbled something incomprehensible. Defeated, she left for the kitchen.

“Stay for dinner, boys,” my mother said.

“Oh no, we don’t want to be any trouble, ma’am,” Demetri said.

“No trouble at all. We always make extra. For leftovers,” she explained.

“Us, too. Our parents cook maybe three times a week, and then we have leftovers the other nights,” Demetri said. “Need any help with anything, ma’am?”

“Lauren’s getting it all prepared. You might ask her,” she said.

Tommy, Demetri, and I joined Lauren in the kitchen. I handed Tommy all the plates and utensils, while Demetri went up right next to Lauren. I was amazed he dared stand so close to her.

“How can I help you, Lauren?”

She appeared startled, but only for a second. “You’re lucky I didn’t hit you.”

“I already offered to be your punching bag. You declined, remember?”

She sighed dramatically and thrust a large serving spoon in the sauce. “Take that in.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As Tommy and I set the table, Demetri dropped off the sauce, looking over his shoulder at Lauren, who was still in the kitchen.

“Is she always so uptight?” he asked me.

“Don’t get me started,” I muttered.

“I heard that!” Lauren yelled.

Demetri returned to the kitchen, his conversation with Lauren drifting into the dining room.

“Too afraid to say it to my face?” she said.

“No. Are you always this uptight?”

“I’m not uptight,” she said, a little softer. “I’m just…” she trailed off. Her angry voice came back. “Why am I even discussing this with you?”

“You could use someone to talk to. We’ve had that conversation before. You really need to let off some steam,” he said.

I returned to the kitchen to get some napkins. He moved closer to her and whispered something in her ear.

“Ha! Like that’ll ever happen. Make yourself useful and bring the pasta out.” She turned to me. “What are you looking at?”

“We got everything else. Come to the table.” I smiled at her, in spite of her bitterness. But she was as cold as ever.

“I’ll be right in.”

When I returned to the dining room table, I found Tommy engaged in a conversation about guns with my mother.

“You’re not talking about that again, are you?” I sat down across from Tommy, on the other side of my mother.

“What’s the matter, Em, you don’t like guns?” Demetri asked.

“They’re just so dangerous,” I said.

“Only in the wrong hands,” Tommy said. “That’s what scares me the most. I mean, guns are great as self-defense, but you’re screwed if your attacker disarms you.”

I hadn’t considered that possibility. “Great. Like I wasn’t worried enough about the safety, loading it, aiming it, firing it... Now I have to be concerned someone’s going to take it away?”

Demetri laughed. “Guns are like anything else that’s new—once you get used to them, they’re not so bad.”

Not so bad until you have to kill your father with one. No thanks, I’m good.

Lauren finally entered. “What’s not bad?”

“Case in point,” he said and grinned, as he gazed at her.

“Think so?” I said. “You should live with her.”

“Emily, we have guests,” my mother said. “I won’t have you and Lauren bickering tonight.”

“No, Lauren disagreeable?” Demetri said. “I can’t even imagine it.”

She shot him a look that would’ve given me goosebumps. But he continued to grin, not turning his eyes away for even a second.

“You know, I’ve never seen your gorgeous face at the high school.”

“That would be because I’ve already graduated, genius.”

“Lauren! Could you please be nice?” my mother asked.

“No worries, ma’am. I’m used to it.” He turned back to Lauren. “You know I’ve heard of those higher learnin’ places—do you go there? What do they call them…colleges?”

It was hard not to laugh. Glancing across at Tommy, he seemed as entertained as I.

“What business is it of yours?” she said coldly. “Writing a biography? No, wait, you’d have to know how to write and spell. Can’t be that.”

“Lauren,” my mother said in a tempered voice, “if you can’t be nice to our guests, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

She scowled. “I go to the community college.”

“What are you studying?” Demetri asked.

At that question, Lauren’s lips parted. Then an evil grin appeared. “Automotive mechanics. No wait, you don’t need to go to college to do that, do you? You can just hang around a shop all day, and—”

I was horrified at her little rant—clearly a personal attack on both Demetri and Tommy.

“Must you be such a bitch?” I whispered to her, quiet enough that my mother couldn’t hear. Demetri didn’t hear either, but Tommy smiled at me.

“The question was stupid. The whole reason you go to community college is because you don’t know what you want to do,” she explained, as if that should be obvious.

“Sorry to have bothered you,” Demetri said quietly.

Lauren’s face softened. I was floored to see her look genuinely regretful.

“I knew it, you do have a soul!” Demetri laughed. “See, Tommy? She’s not the antichrist.”

Tommy chuckled, before his eyes grew large. “I…I never said she was the antichrist.”

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. My mother even cracked a smile. But Lauren, as usual, was not amused.

“What is it she sees in you again?” Lauren asked Tommy. “Can’t be that winning personality.”

“Now, Lauren, I won’t have you insulting my little brother,” Demetri said. “He’s a good kid.”

“Yeah, good at getting in trouble,” Lauren muttered under her breath.

“What was that?” Demetri asked, staring into her eyes as if challenging her.

The two of them engaged in a stare down for a solid minute.

“Nothing,” she finally said.

“That’s what I thought,” Demetri said. “Your eyes are incredible, by the way. I’ve never seen that color blue before.”

The compliment seemed to catch her off-guard. “Guess you don’t get out of Manchez much.”

“Well, that’s true. Us simple country folk are afraid of the big bad city,” he said.

“She’s got her father’s eyes,” my mother said. She’d been simply observing the interaction. I almost forgot she was there. “They are unique.”

“Well, there goes my theory,” I said. “Guess I won’t order the DNA test after all.”

“What theory?” Lauren asked.

“I figured Mom was impregnated by pissed off aliens from a distant galaxy when she had you.”

Tommy stifled a laugh.

“You’re a riot, Em,” Lauren said.

Demetri laughed. “She looks human to me.”

“Yeah, but you never know,” I said. “You remember that show V? She could be a lizard underneath.”

Lauren flicked me in the head. “Enough.”

“Ow.” I rubbed the spot and gave her a dirty look.

“Tommy’s got a crazy story about me, too. What is it you say—Russians stormed the shop?”

Tommy smiled but didn’t say a word.

“You don’t even look Russian,” Lauren said.

“Yeah, that’s what Em said, too. He says it explains why I’m huge.”

“Huge?” she said.

“Now don’t be coy, Lauren. I know you’ve noticed I’m larger than my brother here.”

She let out a snicker of disbelief. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t say huge.”

“That’s only because you haven’t seen him without a shirt,” I said. “He is huge.”

“And just when did you see him without a shirt?” Lauren asked in a tone that was half shock, half disapproval.

“At the fight,” I said.

“I take it off mostly for effect. I can avoid a lot of fights that way,” he said casually, somehow without sounding arrogant.

Lauren let out a curious squeak of disbelief that reminded me of the sound a balloon makes when you pinch the ends and let the air out slowly.

“I can see a demonstration is in order,” he said, as he pushed up his shirt sleeve and flexed his enormous bicep. Lauren’s jaw dropped, and even my mother looked impressed.

“Well?” Demetri asked, waiting for a response.

Lauren closed her mouth but still didn’t say a word.

“I guess speechless is just as good,” Demetri said, as he pushed his sleeve back down.

“Better,” I confirmed.

Lauren stood. “Well, as much as I’d like to stay and enjoy this riveting company, I have to go.”

“Hot date tonight, huh?” When she glared at him, he laughed. “Didn’t think so.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve got a major test to study for.”

“It was fun, Lauren. As always,” Demetri said, flashing her a playful grin.

“Uh, yeah, whatever,” she said, and left without further comment.

“She likes me,” Demetri said.

My mother actually laughed. It warmed my heart to see her happy.

“She still hasn’t hit you,” I said. “That’s got to count for something.”

“I remember when she was younger, before the kidnapping,” my mother said. “She smiled a lot back then.”

I couldn’t even imagine that. “She did?”

“Oh, I think you were too young to remember, Emily. You two were so close.”

At that comment, I almost fell out of my chair. “You can’t be serious.”

A nostalgic and melancholy smile spread across her face. “Inseparable. She shared everything, even her favorite dolls, playing with you for hours.”

“Wow, didn’t see that one coming,” Tommy said incredulously.

“So it was the kidnapping that changed her?” Demetri asked.

“It was a lot of things,” my mother said. “Her father… preferred Em. It broke her heart. Then he nearly killed her and left her for dead…” Tears welled up in her eyes, and she turned her face away. I hugged her.

“I’m sorry,” my mother said. “She’s been through so much…”

“We all have, Mom. But it’s okay now.”

She withdrew from me, suddenly serious. “No, it’s not, honey. Not until we stop him.”