The morning after her date with Xanthus, Sara’s temper had settled down and the hurt took up residence in her heart. The next four days were long and agonizing. Xanthus didn’t come to see her, didn’t call, and didn’t even show up in the building to supervise the repairs and upgrades that continued on without him. She kept waiting for the ache in her chest to lessen, but it didn’t. If anything, it was getting worse.
Oh, she used every argument she could think of to try to convince herself he wasn’t worth the heartache. She told herself she barely knew him. She couldn’t possibly care that much about him. She tried to remind herself what a jerk he was, blaming her for something he did. She also tried to tell herself it was for the best—he was a deeply disturbed man who regretted saving a woman’s life and because of that, she shouldn’t be getting involved with him anyway.
Day five proved to be a continuation of the torment she’d been living. Sara put in her ear buds and turned on her MP3 player. She listened to her programmed list of sad songs while she lay in bed. When her stomach started to grumble, she wheeled out into the kitchen to make dinner. A faint, unpleasant odor alerted her that she needed to take out the garbage. She pulled the garbage bag out of the can, tied it off, and headed out.
Sara wheeled her chair out the back door toward the dumpster, the trash bag swinging from her armrest as she listened to a haunting tune and sang softly to herself.
Phantom voices drifted through the trees. “So beautiful… beautiful…” The words misted through her soft voice and gentle music, caressing her ears. Sara stopped singing and pulled out her buds to locate the origin of the strange voices.
A moment later, a chilling rumble of laughter broke the entranced mood. “Tane, look who’s wandered into our web.” A familiar, thin stranger stepped out of the thick trees. His smile stretched across his face, showing crusty, yellow teeth. It was her creepy neighbor, Slink. To his left and right lurked two large strangers.
Sara froze. She was behind her building, completely isolated, and there were three scary-looking men staring at her with wicked grins plastered on their faces. Behind them was a thick, darkening grove of coconut trees. Her trusty pepper spray sat ready in her purse—on the floor next to her living room couch.
“Oh don’t stop singing, haole girl,” the man on the right said. “Your song is very pretty. Just like you. Don’t you think so, Ettie?” He glanced at the large man on Slink’s left.
“Oh yeah. That song sure has put me into the mood for tonight’s activities.”
Oh, dear heavens. What had she rolled into? She’d just wanted to take out the trash, not usually a dangerous event. She was in a panic as she stared up at the obvious threat.
“I have a phone.” Thank heaven she’d put Xanthus on her speed dial. He may not like her or want to talk to her right now, but she was sure he didn’t want her raped and murdered.
Sara yanked out her cell and punched his number. She had just pushed the send button when it was yanked away from her.
“I don’t think so, little haole.” Ettie walked over to the brick building and slammed the phone against the wall. Small fragments of the phone flew everywhere. Before Sara could react, she was nose to nose with Slink. His rancid breath filled her nostrils, making her gag.
“You should be afraid,” she said, trying to take control of the situation. She knew her best bet would be to talk her way out of this. Physically, she didn’t stand a chance.
Ettie laughed.
“And why’s that, princess?” Slink smirked.
“You obviously haven’t seen my boyfriend. He owns this building. He’s about seven feet tall, two hundred-fifty pounds of solid muscle, and very protective of me.” Lying seemed to be her best option.
