Titanium (2 page)

"What money are you talking about?"

Silence. "I'm sure we've mentioned your trust fund."

"And I'm sure you haven't. Are you saying that Steve
McConnell is sending me money?"

"Not nearly enough. When I think how he treated my poor
sister..."

Oh.

My.

God.

"For how long?"

"Their entire marriage."

"No, no, no. How long has he sent money?"

"Since we took you in. I can't tell you how badly I've wanted
to send it all right back, but Clint wouldn't let me. And now that
you've blossomed into a beautiful young woman, Steve is
undoubtedly going to use that money to weasel his way back into
your life."

I dropped my uneaten pizza in its Styrofoam container and
pushed it away. I couldn't possibly stomach it now. "It never
occurred to you that I might want to know this?"

Another weighty silence. "We did what we thought was best.
Steve doesn't deserve you, Riley. He's obsessed with his career. He
drinks too much. He cheated on your mother. I didn't want his bribe
to sway your feelings toward him."

"Do you think I'm that shallow?"

"I'm just saying it would be easy to forgive and forget if he
bought you a new car or something."

"Really, Leslie? I mean,
really
?"

"You don't know how he is, Riley Ann. A charismatic, amoral
genius who talks the talk but has no comprehension of what love
really is. Why, your amazing mother, smart as she was, fell right into
his arms. I tried and tried to warn her, but--"

"I can't talk now." I abruptly ended the call, stunned, hurt,
and confused. How could Leslie and Clint have kept something this
important from me?

It changed everything.

Just
everything.

Beginning with the fact that I wasn't the girl I'd always
thought I was.

Decidedly dazed, I worked in silence and in a funk until
midnight, when we finally closed. Since less greedy vendors had
done that two hours ago, the food court lay empty and quiet when I
joined my fellow workers in the nightly shut-down ritual of
T&M. Trash this. Scrub that. Count every freakin' thing. Analena
Rodriguez didn't trust anyone and steadfastly compared what food
went out against cash register receipts. Heaven forbid someone
should help themselves to a soda or snag a stray tortilla chip while
we slaved for her.

Five minutes before one, I finally dragged my tired butt out
a back door of the mall. Chilly damp air swirled around me. I zipped
my fleece jacket. Having left my car where mall employees were
supposed to park--the back of beyond--I had a miserable walk across
the asphalt. And since I was the only T&M employee who'd done
what she should, I braved it alone and under spotty lighting.

I saw there were three other cars parked back there but not
another human in sight, which always made me wonder why they'd
been abandoned. Had the owners hooked up with someone? Did the
cars belong to carpoolers? Or were they still there because they
wouldn't start?

I didn't consider these mysteries long. Instead, blocking all
thoughts of aunts, uncles, and MIA dads, I mentally worded the
notice I would soon place on every bulletin board on the UT campus:
Wanted. Housemate who doesn't smoke, drink, or live like a
slob.
Yeah. Me needing help with the rent unless... Wait. How did
trust funds work, anyway?

"Hello, Riley."

I squealed and fell back, my heart thumping wildly. "Jason?
Wow. You scared the crap out of me." Ha. Ha. Ha. Or not. "Why are
you still here? The mall closed ages ago." I began walking again,
faster since the hairs on the back of my neck now stood on end.

He kept up. "I thought you might need a ride home."

"Me? Nah. I have my car." I pushed the unlock button on my
hand-me-down Honda's key remote.
Blip-blip.
Flashing
taillights on a vehicle parked way too far away. "See?"

A shadow to my right shifted and split from one of the
parked cars in my path. Another zombie joined us, his face a replica
of Jason's, making me the middle of an undead sandwich. He wasn't
much taller than I, but still scary as hell. "Hey, Riley."

A shiver ran down my spine. "Do I know you, too?"

"As well as you know Jason."

Which, I now realized, was probably not at all. Could this
really be happening to me? Dead of night. Deserted parking lot. One
nervous girl and two zombies.

Make that
three
.

Another shadow had peeled free of another car and now
kept pace behind us, this guy tall and lanky. My heart pounded so
hard and fast that it hurt. I wished for the pepper spray I kept in my
makeup bag. A lot of good it did me there. Should I scream? Run?
Fight? Anything but play victim to this pathetic trio of losers.

I abruptly braked and challenged them. "What do you guys
want?"

Jason answered. "Thought the four of us could hang out for a
while."

"Not happening." I began walking again, my anxious gaze on
my car, just a few yards away now and unlocked. The zombies stayed
close. Too close. Much to my annoyance, my knees wobbled with
every step. Worse, I couldn't seem to catch my breath. So when I got
to my car, I yanked open the door with relief.

Jason blocked my way inside it and held out his hand. "Keys,
please."

Instead of handing them over, I desperately chucked them
into the bushes and spun away. But the other two zombies had
formed a barricade with their bodies. Swinging my hobo bag, I nailed
one in the head. He ducked under his arms with a yelp. I sprinted
across the parking lot to the building I'd just exited, with them two
steps behind me. I wrenched open the back door...or tried to.

It didn't budge.

Gasping, I turned to defend myself just as a fourth shadow
emerged from nowhere. Another guy. He stepped between me and
the two zombies who'd given chase, facing them. I easily recognized
the wide shoulders, the long legs, the burnt orange hoodie. Without
meaning to, I gathered some of it in my hand and stepped close
behind him, resting my forehead on his back while I caught my
breath.

His left arm kept me there. "What's up, guys?"

Peeking around my unknown hero, I saw both zombies
glance uneasily over their shoulders at Jason, now strolling up and
twirling my key ring around his finger. He eyed the guy in orange,
but didn't speak.

My hero tried again. "I asked what's going on."

"Nothing," said Jason. "Riley and I are old friends. I thought
we could go someplace and talk."

"You're lying."

Jason shrugged.

"Fun's over, dude. Leave now."

"Not without her."

"She stays."

Jason chortled. "In case you haven't noticed, UT, you're a
little outnumbered."

"I like the odds just fine." UT moved his arm to the front,
freeing me.

I instinctively plastered myself against the glass door.
Zombies one and two exchanged uneasy glances. If I'd been in their
sneakers, I'd have done the same. UT was way bigger. More
important, he oozed confidence. In comparison, they looked
undernourished and scared.

"We didn't sign up for this." Short zombie unwittingly
confirmed my assessment. His voice actually shook.

"Shut up."

Tall zombie shook his head. "He's right. You said she'd be
alone, just like always."

Just like always? What was that supposed to mean?

Jason's stare nailed him to the asphalt. "I said 'shut up,'
morons."

"I'm outta here." Tall zombie pivoted on his heel and began
walking away. A couple of yards from us, he bolted into the shadows.
Shorty hesitated, but only for a second before he bolted in the
opposite direction.

That left Jason alone, but he didn't seem worried as he
looked into UT's eyes. "Who
are
you? Not a boyfriend. Not
unless you two hooked up in the last fifteen minutes."

Zander visibly tensed. "How long have you been stalking
her?"

"I'm not."

"Liar."

Jason shrugged again and shifted his gaze to me. "You have
no family here and fewer friends."

How could he possibly know that?

UT widened his stance a little. "She has me, and if you ever
threaten her again, I'm the one you'll be dealing with. Got it?"

Jason smirked...until he was lifted onto his toes by a fistful of
his black hoodie.

UT got nose to nose with him.
"Got it, ass wipe?"

Hands up in surrender, Jason nodded and was released with
a shove that sent him stumbling back. As he meticulously smoothed
his hoodie, his obvious bemusement told me he thought
we
were the psychos and not
him
.

"Now hand over her keys and get the hell out of here."

Jason tossed them to him. With a flippant nod to me, he
turned, whistling a non-tune that lingered eerily even after the dark
swallowed him up.

I turned to check on the Riley chick, now sagging against
the door as if she might pass out. "You okay?"

She rounded on me, her brown eyes swimming with tears.
"How could you possibly know this would happen?"

"Didn't. It was a guess."

"So based on a
guess
, you hung around until the wee
hours of the morning to save me, a girl you don't even know?"

"Okay. It was more gut instinct due to intense training."

"You're a cop?"

"Special forces."

"You look too young for that."

"You know what they say about looks and books." I solemnly
held out her keys.

She reached to take them, but her trembling hand resulted
in a miss. They hit the asphalt with a jangle. I let her try to retrieve
them twice before I coolly scooped up the ring, took her hand, and
placed the keys in her open palm. Her gaze intercepted mine as I
closed her fingers over the ring.

"Who
are
you?"

"Zander Bennett." I solemnly offered her a formal
handshake.

She stared at my right hand for a sec before she gave me
hers so we could politely shake as if nothing had happened. But
something had. And as the reality of the past few minutes continued
to sink in, I watched her come unglued. The tears in her eyes
suddenly spilled down her cheeks. Gulping sobs wracked her body.
Yep, a total meltdown.

Aw, man.

Zander started toward me.

Embarrassed, I raised a hand to stop him.

He kept coming, wrapping his arms around me in a
decidedly awkward hug that felt wonderful all the same. I don't
know how long we stood like that--me, clinging to a stranger; him,
letting me and adding an occasional brotherly pat on my shoulder--
before I made myself disengage and step back.

I wiped my face on my sleeve and gave him a damp smile.
"Sorry about that. I'm okay now."

"You don't have to lie to me. Anyone would be upset after
something like that." He tucked a finger under my chin and raised it
until our eyes met. "Do you know them?"

"No."

"Yet they know you. Do you blog? Post your life on
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube?"

"I Facebook. My life is too boring to blog or tweet, and I've
never put anything on YouTube."

"Yet they know you. You should call the police."

"No way."

Zander's eyebrows shot up. "You have a problem with
authority?"

I shook my head. "I can't risk my aunt and uncle finding out.
It took me my entire freshman year at a community college to
convince them that I'm old enough to attend UT and survive alone in
the big city. They'd totally wig if they knew what just happened and
nag until I gave in and moved back to Rocky Falls, aka the arm pit of
Texas." I winced. "I'm whining, aren't I?"

Was that a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth?

"It's not that I don't love my family. How could I not when
they've been so good to me? But I've shared a bedroom with Jillian
since I moved in with them, and I want to go to UT. Contrary to what
Leslie and Clint think, business courses are not for everyone."

Zander appeared to be a little lost, and no wonder.

"Now I'm babbling. Must be something I do after being
attacked by zombies at midnight in dark parking lots." I choked back
the fresh sob rising in my throat.

"So it happens a lot?" That hint of a smile was back.

"Joking."
Sniff. Sniff.

"Knew that." He glanced toward my car. "Are you good to
drive? I could follow you home to make sure you get there."

Relief made me weak. "Would you? It's just a few
miles."

"Wait here--" He glanced around uncertainly. "Actually, why
don't you give me a lift to my truck? It's up front."

"Okay." With a quick nod, I headed to my car. As I slid
behind the wheel, he got in on the passenger side. Was I scared to be
alone with this guy I didn't know? Not for a second. In fact, I'd never
felt safer, which was only a little odd. He'd just saved me, after all.
We didn't talk as I drove to his black truck. He got out, climbed into
his own vehicle, and waved me on.

What the hell am I doing?

Not what I'd planned, for sure.

Planned? That was a freakin' joke. I'd been winging it since I
followed Riley to the mall parking lot when she got off. And thank
God I had. The thought of what might've happened made me taste
puke.

Now here I was, following her Honda to the bad side of
town. Dr. Davies would've been proud of me, I guess. I wasn't,
though. I knew the real reason I'd offered to follow her home--
loneliness. Being around Riley, even under these trying
circumstances, was sort of like having my own personal
sunbeam.

Shiny enough to blind me.

Hot enough to burn me.

Not that she'd do it on purpose. I knew instinctively that
she'd never. But a guy as dark as me couldn't help being drawn to
her light. Yeah, I had the thousand-yard stare that so many vets had.
And to save her own sanity, Riley would have no choice but flight
when things got too heavy, which they would.