Running Back to You (The Running Series, #1) (42 page)

I walk over and wrap my arms around him.  “Please don’t.  I love you for
it.  Evan should have told me sooner.  Who knows what would have happened,
anyway.  Everything worked out just fine.”  He returns my hug, but I can sense
he’s holding back.

“Auggie, what’s wrong?”  He’s not his usual happy self.  “Is it Brandon?”
I ask.

“Yes.  I mean no.  Well, sort of.  Shit.”

“Auggie, what is it?  You can tell me anything, you know.”

“Oh, Jette, I know I
can
, but I just don’t know if I
should
,”
he says.

“Just spill.  If I can help you, I will.  If something is wrong, we can
fix it.  What’s going on?”  Now I’m starting to worry.

“It’s not about me, it’s about you.  Jette, these things that are
happening to you frighten me,” he confesses.  “Last night, I saw something that
struck a chord with me.  I was getting a really weird vibe from someone.”

“I don’t understand.  What happened?  Did somebody say something to you
last night?”

“Nothing happened, it’s more of a feeling, an impression.  That’s why I
don’t want to tell you.  I could be wrong.”

“But you don’t think you are, do you?” I ask him.

“No, I don’t.  So I called Brandon last night, just to get an independent
perspective.”

“And?”

“He told me to step back and look at things from a factual point of
view.  Whoever is doing this knows you.   It’s not just a random person who saw
you at the bar.  He really knows you.  He knows your name, what car you drive,
where you live, what your phone number is, and even what your e-mail address is. 
It’s someone who knows you, very well.”

“Okay, you have my attention, what else have you pieced together?”

“Well, when you sit down and think about it, ask yourself, what does your
stalker want from you?” he asks.

“Nothing.  What do you mean?”

“Well, from what I’ve read online, the most common type of stalker is
someone who has an irrational and inappropriate infatuation with their victim. 
They often think the victim knows them intimately.  They confess their love in
strange and unacceptable ways and sometimes even create an imaginary loving
relationship.”

“That doesn’t sound like my stalker.  My stalker doesn’t love me, he
seems to hate me, with a passion.” 

“Exactly, your stalker wants to punish you and make you suffer.  I think
it’s someone you’ve hurt, either on purpose or unintentionally.  The goal seems
to be to frighten you and maintain power over you and your emotions.”  Auggie
is making sense.  A lot of sense.

“You said someone was giving off strange vibes last night and got you
thinking.  Who is it Auggie?”  My stomach is in knots.  Everything Auggie has
said so far seems credible.  But how could it possibly be someone I know?

“Jette, you had your eyes on Evan all night.  You knew where he was and
what he was doing each and every moment.  There was someone there who watched
your every movement, too.  His eyes never left you for very long.  Do you have
any idea who I’m talking about?”

“Auggie, you don’t mean to tell me ... you don’t suspect ... you can’t
possibly believe ... that
Evan
would do those things!  You’re insane!  He
loves me!”  I shout.  It’s not possible.

“Juliette Evangeline Fletcher, calm down and stop yelling at me.  Evan is
completely in love with you and would take a bullet for you.  No, I most
certainly do
NOT
believe it was Evan.  Think.  Think.  Is there someone
else
who might have romantic feelings for you that feels rejected and resentful?”

No way.  “I see where you’re going with this, Aug, and you’re wrong.  Absolutely
wrong!  It’s
not
!  It
can’t
be.  Derek would never...” 

“I hope I am wrong.  But Jette, you didn’t see the way he watched you
last night.  He’s got it bad.”

“That doesn’t mean he’d try to hurt me, Auggie.”  I just don’t believe
it.

“Are you sure?  What do you really know about him?  I asked around, and
no one I know has ever heard of him.  Where did he grow up?  Where is his
family?  Are there any former girlfriends?  He doesn’t even have a Facebook
page.  Can
you
answer any of these questions?  Because I can’t.”

“Listen, Auggie, I know him well enough to know that this isn’t
possible.  I’ve always known that he had feelings for me and for a little
while, I thought I might have feelings for him, too.  But we’re friends. 
Friends don’t do this to each other.”

“Okay, Jette, you’re probably right.  Just keep your eyes open, promise?”

E
van called three times throughout the day.  He called when he arrived
for his interview, he called from a cab on his way to lunch, and then again
just before I left for work.  He said he had a few errands to run while he was
in the city and he’d be in late tonight. 

Auggie drops me off at work for the night shift.  He doesn’t want me to
drive my car home alone after midnight.  I don’t like it, but I suppose he’s
right.  Better safe than sorry.

The last time I was here, the Suit ruined my night and nearly destroyed
my relationship with Evan.  I don’t think I’ll be seeing Evan at the bar
tonight, so I promise Auggie I’ll ask either Marcus or Emmy drive me home.  He
doesn’t want me alone with Derek until we figure this out.  I’m certain he’s
wrong, but I’d do anything for Auggie, including making this small concession.

Emmy, Marcus and I are working the patio tonight.  Derek’s here, too, but
he’s at the main bar tonight.  Marcus busies himself restocking the kegs while
Emmy and I clean the bar.  While Emmy and I are alone, I take advantage to seek
out her thoughts on Auggie’s revelations.

“So, Emmy, did you have fun last night?” I ask her.

“Oh, yeah!  Please thank Evan for buying dinner last night.  It was
great.  Adam is a real hottie.  Let me tell you, if I didn’t have Grant waiting
at home for me last night, I could have easily let Adam take me home,” she
says.  I was wondering what happened after Evan and I left.

“Emmy, can I ask you something?  Do you promise not to say anything to
anyone?  Swear?”  I only have a few more minutes to talk to her before Marcus
returns.

“Sure, Jette, are you okay?” she asks.

“I’m fine.  But Auggie has a theory about my stalker.  He says that the
stalker knows too many personal details about me to be a stranger.  He thinks
it’s someone I know.  Maybe someone I’ve hurt recently.”

“Oh my, God!  Do you two think it’s Derek?” she asks.

I can’t believe Emmy went right there.  She didn’t even hesitate to say
his name.  “Oh, Emmy, not you, too!  I told Auggie he’s dead wrong.  How could
you think that about our
friend
?”

“If we’re being perfectly honest, Jette, I’ve had my suspicions for a
while now.  He talks about you all the time.  And there’s something about the
way he watches you,” she admits.  “Holy shit, do you remember the day your
house was broken into?” Emmy asks.

“Of course I do.  But what does that have to do with Derek?”  She looks
at me.  She’s remembering something.  I think back to that day.  Emmy and I
worked the afternoon shift on the patio.  Marcus relieved us at four.  Derek
worked the main bar that day.  “Derek was here with us that afternoon.  See, I’m
right, it can’t be him!” I bellow as a sense of relief washes over me.

“Don’t you remember?  He showed up late for work that day, almost an hour
late.  He said he had a flat tire.  He was acting strangely odd all
afternoon.” 

Crap.  Emmy’s right, but that doesn’t mean he was late to work because he
was sneaking into my house.  I still don’t believe Derek is capable of such
horrible things.  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.  You have a
customer,” I tell her.  I have a lot to think about.

Marcus returns with two full kegs and quickly taps them.  I like working
with Marcus.  He doesn’t ask a lot of questions or push me on subjects I don’t
want to talk about, but I know I can talk to him if I want to, and he’ll be
honest with me.

The house DJ is here tonight.  By ten, the place is filling up and the
dance floor is rocking.  I like working when it’s busy, it keeps my mind
occupied.  The music is a wonderful distraction.

Marcus is keeping close to me tonight; I think he’s afraid the Suit will
return to stir up trouble.  I don’t think there’s any way he could get past the
bouncers.  On my list of worries right now, he’s not even in the top ten.

At the far corner of the bar, nearest to Emmy, I spot two girls I went to
high school with.  Sometimes it’s nice to run into an old classmate, and
sometimes it’s not.  These two, Samantha and Kayla, never gave me the time of
day in high school.  I was never thin enough, pretty enough, or arrogant enough
to measure up to their standard.  But that’s okay as far as I’m concerned; they
were never smart enough or kind enough to measure up to mine.

Samantha dated the most popular boy all throughout high school, the
captain of the soccer team, Scott Castle.  Scott liked to party and would cheat
on Samantha whenever the opportunity arose ... and it arose a lot.  Kayla never
had any trouble dating, either.  She always had a boyfriend and each one was
more attractive and popular than the next. 

Now here they are, twenty feet away from me, and once again, they don’t
even acknowledge my existence.  I can tell from this distance that they have
changed, though.  Both have big, fake boobs and spray tans that look a little
too orange for my taste.

I notice Emmy talking with them and nodding a lot.  Emmy points over to where
I’m standing and both girls stare down the bar in my direction.  They start
waving and make a beeline straight for me.  Great.

“Oh my God, it’s so good to see you!” Kayla squeals. 

“Jette, you look amazing!” Samantha shrieks.  “How have you been?  We
haven’t seen you since graduation.”

This fake friendship crap is exactly what I hated about high school.

“Hi, Kayla.  Hi, Samantha.  How’s Scott?  Did you two get married yet?” 
I doubt they have, or these two wouldn’t be here alone at the bar without their
men.

“Oh, no.  We broke up right after graduation.  I’m surprised you didn’t
hear.  He hooked up with some skank so I had to kick him to the curb.”  It’s
just like them to think the entire world would follow their sad, pathetic life,
play by play, like we have nothing better to talk about than their personal drama.

“Sorry, I’ve been living in Denver.  Word doesn’t travel that far.”  I
try to be polite, but it’s hard.  Even after all these years, they still have
an air of entitlement that makes me ill.

“Well, we’ve been hearing a lot about you lately.  Word has it that
you’re dating Evan McGuire,” Samantha says with a tone of condescension. 

Kayla adds, “Yeah, we saw pictures of you two together.  No one was more
shocked than we were, that’s for sure.”

Does she even listen to the words that come out of her mouth? 
Unbelievable.  I’m bombarded with a series of questions about our relationship,
rapid fire, one after another.

“How did you meet?”

“Is it serious?”

“Are you going to see him again?”

“Do you think he’ll be here tonight?”

“Can you introduce us?”

The last one is enough for me.  I can’t hold back anymore.  “Why do you
want to know?  Where is this conversation going, Kayla?  Are you going to ask
for his phone number next?”

“Oh, come on, Jette, don’t be like that.  You never could take a joke.  I
see some things never change,” Kayla pronounces.

“Come on, Samantha.  Let’s go have some fun.”  The two of them storm
off.  I have no words to describe how badly they still get under my skin.

I look around the bar and get busy filling drink orders.  Emmy and Marcus
are huddled at the end of the bar, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Emmy is
selling him on Auggie’s theory about Derek even though I begged her not to.  I
cannot hear what they are saying, but Marcus looks pissed.  He tosses his head
back and bangs his fist on the bar.  Either he’s upset with Derek or he’s angry
with Emmy.  I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.

It’s time for me to take a short break.  “Emmy, Marcus, cover for me. 
I’m taking a break.  Be back in ten,” I tell them.  I really don’t want to deal
with their drama right now, too.

I head back to the staff room and shut the door.  The room is empty and I
have a few minutes to relax and clear my head.  I turn on the television
sitting on top of the vending machine, and flip through the channels.  I stop
when I see a picture of Evan and turn up the volume.

Breaking News:  Evan McGuire was seen leaving the Manhattan loft of his
former flame, Averee DeVeau, earlier today.  In an exclusive interview with
Averee, she confirms rumors that the on-again, off-again relationship between
her and the football hunk are, indeed, heating back up again.