Following Me (17 page)

Devon bit her lip and tried to
hold in all her emotions.  She had to deal with Hadley first.

After her conversation with
Brennan, who had immediately made himself scarce, Hadley approached her.

“Can we talk…in private?” Hadley
asked, obviously still unsure about it all.

“Yeah,”
Devon said.  “Let me just tell Amy that I’m taking a break.”

HADLEY AND DEVON sat in the break
room in the back of Jenn’s.  Devon missed her friend, and it was in that moment
that she fully realized it.  She wished she could unload all her problems on
Hadley and have her put them all together in the right order, but Hadley already
had too much to deal with.  She couldn’t also suffer from Devon’s issues.

“So…” Hadley said.

Devon nodded.  “So…”

“I see you have a job at Jenn’s.”

“Yep,” Devon said.  She didn’t
know what Hadley wanted to say, and she thought it was best to allow her to
direct the conversation.

“How did that happen?”

“Brennan helped me out when I
couldn’t find anything else.”

“He’s a nice guy, that one,”
Hadley said absentmindedly.

“So it seems.” Devon said.

“I guess I’ll just go ahead and
say it.  I’m pretty pissed at you, and it’s not going to get better right
away,” Hadley said.  “You violated my trust, not to mention my hospitality. 
It’s going to take a while before I start to trust you again.”

Devon nodded slowly, not sure
what to say. 
That much was true.

“But…I know that I violated your
trust, too.  I’m not going to talk to you about my problems.  They’re mine. 
When I’m ready, we’ll figure it out, but until then, I don’t want you to
interfere.”

“Hadley,” Devon interrupted.
 Hadley
had to be reasonable.

“No,” she said, holding up her
hand as she stood.  “They’re my issues.  I’m not begging you to tell me yours,
and I know you have some.  I’ve always known, but it’s your business.”

“I think you need help, Hadley,”
Devon said softly, feeling like a hypocrite.

“I think you don’t know
everything about what I’m going through.  All I’m saying now,” Hadley said,
taking a step toward the door, “is that I’m tired of tiptoeing through my
life.  I’ll come and go as I please.  I’ll be at the apartment and Jenn’s. 
Brennan has a gig coming up soon, and I’ll be at that, too.  I’m sure you’ll be
there, and I’m tired of it being awkward.  Let’s just go from there.  We’ll let
the trust rebuild naturally.”

“Hadley, please,” Devon said,
desperate to reach her friend. “I am sorry about what happened.”  She choked on
her words, wishing that it could all go back to the way it was.

“It’s too late,” Hadley said,
reaching for the door.  “The damage is already done,” she muttered before
exiting.

Devon stared at the closed door. 
She was beyond frustrated. 
Was this what it was like for people to deal
with her?
  No.  Nobody knew what her problem was.  Maybe that made it even
more frustrating.  She didn’t know.  She just didn’t know.

All she knew was that Hadley was
using, and likely, she was using more than she was before.  She was irritable
and uncompromising.  Devon wasn’t sure how she could reach her, but she would
try however Hadley let her.

IT WAS WELL past closing time.  Jenn
had been complaining about their work, and Devon was tired of hearing about
it.  So, she took extra care in cleaning the restaurant. Each table was sprayed
down and scrubbed clean.  Then, she moved on to the chairs and booths.  She
mopped the floors and cleared away any excess dust from behind the bar.  Brennan
had soaked down the bar, so she didn’t have to touch his area.

Moving out of the main dining
room to the kitchen, she set to work on washing the piles of plates, cups, and
silverware in the sink.  After putting them back where they belonged, she mopped
the floor in the back and then cleaned the countertops of any additional
residue.  The kitchen staff was pretty good at wiping down the counters, but
Devon put extra effort into it anyway.  She rearranged the cleaning supplies in
the closet, and then she closed the door with a satisfied grunt.

Jenn wouldn’t have any
complaints in the morning, at least not about the cleanliness of the
restaurant.
  Devon had made sure of that.

Locking up, Devon turned around
and began walking toward the nearby L station.  Even late at night, she was
getting accustomed to the walk.  Brennan typically waited and walked with her.
He had some intuitive knowledge that she didn’t like to walk in the streets at
night by herself, but then again, he didn’t think it was safe for her to be
here by herself.  He was probably right.  She wasn’t sure what he was doing
tonight. She wished he had stayed.

Taking the first right, she
headed down the dark street, holding her purse close to her side.  It would be
just her luck if someone mugged her on her way home.  She should have asked
Brennan to stay. 
That would have been smart.

She walked for a while, her
paranoia getting the better of her.  She knew that Chicago wasn’t all that
safe, but the area near Jenn’s was pretty nice.  Plus, it was less than a
ten-minute walk to the L station.  She knew cleaning had taken her longer than
normal, but she hadn’t realized how much more deserted that would make the
streets.

She didn’t like it.  The feeling
was unnerving.  She increased her pace in an effort to reach the train quickly,
so she could get back to the apartment.  There was no reason to be out on the
streets longer than necessary.

The faster she walked, the slower
it seemed like she was moving.  The buildings seemed to stretch farther and
farther down the street until she wasn’t making any progress at all.  She
checked over her shoulder to see if she was just imagining things, but the
buildings in front and behind her were unbelievably long…impossibly long.

Her stomach twisted, and goose
bumps broke out on her skin as fear prickled her body.  She could feel it
then.  Eyes were watching her, following her every movement.  She didn’t see
anyone, but she knew they were there.

Taking a deep breath, Devon tried
to rationalize what was happening.  She had hyperventilated before over
something like this.  Perhaps she was just imagining what was ahead and behind
her.  Her mind was playing tricks on her.  But she had been walking an
interminable amount of time, and it didn’t look like she was any closer to the
L. 
Wasn’t she supposed to take a left up ahead?
  She definitely hadn’t
come upon a cross street yet.

Devon broke into a jog, hoping to
put as much distance between her and the strange city buildings as possible. 
The faster she went, the farther the buildings stretched.  Her mind couldn’t
process it. 
How was it possible that she wasn’t even moving when her
breathing was ragged from running?

Finally, she saw her turn up
ahead.  She took off toward it, ignoring the nagging feeling that someone was
following her.  Devon cut the sharp corner and saw the L station up ahead in
the distance.  A stitch was forming in her side under her ribs, and she pushed
her fingers up into it to try to dull the pain.  She wasn’t a runner and never
had been.  Devon wondered why her pursuer didn’t just run her down.  She wasn’t
very fast, her speed was already slowing considerably, and soon, she would have
to stop.  Adrenaline was the only thing fueling her on.

But the person stayed a distance
away, her pursuer’s eyes locked on Devon.

She reached the stairs in a hurry
and scrambled up them, wanting to put as much distance between her and the
person after her as possible.  She swiped her card, pushed through the metal
turnstile, and stepped out onto the platform.  She flew up the second set of
stairs and prayed that a train was waiting for her.

The footsteps on the stairs below
her told Devon that the person was fast approaching.  She knew the train
schedule, and it would likely be another couple minutes before it arrived this
late at night.  She paced back and forth in front of the railway, debating her
options.

If someone was coming after her,
she didn’t have the luxury of time to wait out a train.  She needed to act
now.  Biting down on her lip, she decided to make a move.  She sprinted down
the platform to the opposite end where the elevator stood.  Her finger
repeatedly mashed the down button.  She could hear the rhythmic rise of the
machine as it took its time approaching the top floor.  Devon cursed its
slowness.  Even if she made it inside before the person reached her, her
pursuer might be able to get to the bottom floor before the elevator.

Her head whipped around and saw
that the person had made it up the flight of stairs.  Devon didn’t have another
choice.  She bolted into the elevator as soon as it opened and slammed her hand
down on the button to close the door.

Bouncing up and down on the balls
of her feet, she watched the doors slide shut just as her tracker realized
where she had gone.  She didn’t get to see what his move was. 
Was he
rushing down the stairs now?  Would he beat her there?  She didn’t know.  She
just didn’t know.

As the elevator slid down the
shoot, Devon jumped up and down, wanting it to move faster, but of course, it
took its sweet time.  It was old equipment, and it wasn’t likely to listen to
her pleas for help.  Finally, it reached the bottom floor, and the doors dinged
open.  Devon didn’t think twice.  Vaulting through the doors, she hoped that if
the person had already made it to the bottom floor, he wouldn’t be expecting
her to run straight at him.

Her burst of speed was
unwarranted because her body collided with a soft white bed that came out of
nowhere.  She face-planted into the mattress, sending her legs flying behind
her.  Devon shouted out in surprise, trying to right herself.

As she did, she felt a hand grasp
her arm and hold her in place.  She kicked out and smashed into something
solid.  She heard the person grunt, but he never loosened his grip on her arm. 
Her face was shoved into the mattress, muffling her cries and tears.  She
wasn’t sure if she could breathe properly, but the person didn’t seem to care
as he held her in place.  Her heart hammered in her chest as she tried to judge
what the person would do to her.

“You thought
you were safe,” the voice said, “but you’ll never be safe.”

TEARS WERE STREAMING down Devon’s
face even before she woke up.  She heard the television, and the bright light
from the screen hit against her closed eyelids.  She had the good sense to know
that she wasn’t alone.  Someone else was in the living room where she had
fallen asleep after she had returned from work earlier that night.  It was most
likely Garrett since he was always up this late with her.  She couldn’t face
him like this.

A shuddering sob raked through
her body.  She wished that she had been able to hold it in, but it burst out of
her unbidden.