Torched (13 page)

“I know, but you’re not supposed to get by alone, okay? Tara, this is killing me, not being able to see you. We’re supposed to be best friends. And I love you,” he pleaded.

“I love you too, Kevin. Look, I’ll call you back, okay?”

“Tara, wait. Don’t hang up. We need to talk.”

“I have to go.”

“Look, I’m coming—” he started, but she ended the call.

“I hope I didn’t cause any trouble between you and your boyfriend,” Reggie said as she walked him to the door.

“No. It’ll be fine,” she answered. She didn’t want to have such an important conversation with Reggie in the room. “Thanks again for your help with the furnace.”

“No problem. Like I said...you have my number, call me if you need anything.”

“I will. Good night.”

He waved as he pulled his coat tighter around him and hurried to his car with the toolbox. It had gotten colder already.

I’ll call Kevin tomorrow. I’m not ready to tell him how I feel.
She headed back to the living room to relax. Things would look brighter in the morning.

W
ithout warning, while Tara was reading a book beside the fireplace, all the lights went out.
This can’t be happening tonight.
She walked to the kitchen with the lighter she had used to start the fire. She was positive she had seen some candles in one of the drawers. In the dark room, only pale moonlight flowed in through the window. Going by touch, she searched each drawer and found two small tea lights among some knickknacks. She lit them both, leaving one in the kitchen. The other, she took with her upstairs so she could change into her pajamas and find some warm blankets. It was going to be a cold night, but at least she had the fireplace.

On her way back down to the living room, she left the second tea light in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, and settled in on the sofa closest to the fireplace. Her thoughts drifted to Kevin. She wondered what he was doing right now, and if his family was okay. More than anything, she hoped he was not too upset with her for shutting him out. She had fought so hard to ignore his calls, and now that she had heard his voice, all she wanted was to be with him. A text would be an easier way to connect.
God, I wish things could be different.

She took her phone from the end table, and began to reply to his last message, when she heard a loud scraping sound outside. It was almost like claws on metal. She paused, listening to it again. Her heart pounded hard in her chest. It was not the living room window, so she walked into the hallway and took the tea light with her to check the front door. The sound grew louder. This time it was like chains crashing against glass. She hesitated, listening again before she peered out the front window.

Her heart caught in her throat. A white van was parked on her street. The windows were tinted, so she couldn’t see inside. She backed away from the window, her heart rapidly palpitating.

“Jake?” she whispered, continuing to think about the van.

They said he was in a black sedan. Or was it a green Volkswagen
? Knowing how resourceful he had been thus far, she went back to the door to make sure it was locked and the deadbolt was secure. When she was satisfied it was, she continued looking for where the sound was coming from. She stopped when she reached a window where the branch was scratching against the pane. She sighed.

“That’s it,” she mumbled. “I’m being paranoid. And now I’m even talking to myself.”

She put the tea light back on the hallway counter and returned to the sofa to resume her text to Kevin.

“Who are you phoning?” Tara nearly leapt out of her own skin at the sound of Jake’s voice coming from the corner of the dimly lit room.

“Jake! What are you doing here? How did you get in?” she shouted, jumping out of her seat with her phone in hand.

“That’s not the way to greet the man you said you loved on Halloween,” he chastised her. “How about ‘hello honey’?”

“Jake, you need to leave right now,” Tara demanded, stepping back to put some distance between them. “The police are looking for you and Kevin will be here any minute.”

“Ahh, I don’t think so, Tara,” he answered. “Kevin’s at home, just like he’s been at home these past few days, instead of with you.”

“How would you possibly know that, Jake?” she asked, and then remembered. “Wait, have you
still
been following me?”

“Kevin’s never been the right man for you, Tara. I’ve only been watching over you to make sure you’re okay.” He moved toward her as she continued to back up. “That’s what a good boyfriend does for his woman, isn’t it?”

Terror ripped through her mind and body as she evaluated her options to get away from Jake. He had killed so many people, there was no way to know if there was any reasoning with him anymore.
Fight or run?
She was not dressed for going outside, but running would have to do. She had to take her chances. As she looked at him, his eyes bore no resemblance to the person she knew as Kevin’s dear brother. All she could see was some delusional stranger with the capacity to end her life there and then.

“You’re not my boyfriend, Jake,” she shouted, continuing to back into the hallway so she could improve her chances of getting out the front door. “Now, I’m going to ask you one last time. Please, just leave now. You’re scaring me.”

“Oh, I’m leaving all right,” he agreed. “But you’re coming with me this time. I’ve waited long enough for you, Tara. Now it’s
our
time.”

“Just leave me alone, Jake!” she screamed.

In her panic, she tripped on the carpet and lost her footing.

“Let me help you, Tara” he said, rushing to her side and raising her off the ground with care. “Come on, don’t be afraid of me, honey.” 

Tara stood and clawed desperately at his arm as she tried to pull away, but it was too late. A white cloth pressed over her mouth and nose, and as much as she tried to fight, there was no resisting the sick feeling in her stomach and the dizziness that overcame her, before everything faded into blackness.

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