Killing Roses

7__Late night visit

10:20 pm

The kid was asleep. Valerie had been shocked to peak around his bedroom door to find that instead of the comfy bed available in that room, Michael had chosen to curl up on the hard floor. She’d looked at him in surprise wondering why on earth he’d do that before she left and closed his door firmly.

Now she sat in her own room, patting face spray into her cheeks as she thought of him. Detective Parker. Valerie nearly ground her teeth. Why the hell was he stuck in her mind? Yeah, he was attractive, could make angels swoon with his eyes and so on, but hadn’t she seen that plenty times before?

To be honest, no, she hadn’t, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that he had practically growled at her in the diner earlier managing to put the fear of heaven into her. The look in his eyes had been terrifying, like the look you’d see the eyes of a werewolf the minute you pissed it off.

After rubbing on lip balm, she pulled off her short bathrobe, tied her hair up and climbed into bed.

In the dark, her eyes remained wide and her fingers clutched the covers. She’d made sure to lock the door. She’d put the alarm on. Her phone was right next to her. Ignoring her shivering insides, she scoffed.

“Killer, my butt. Let him kiss a—” Valerie jumped, startled when her phone began to ring out of nowhere. “Shit.” Okay, she was a little scared.

Breathless and with a pounding heart, she reached for it. Her heart did a suspicious twist in her chest the moment she saw who was calling. 

Roman Parker. Again.

“Hello?” she greeted.

 “You home?” His voice was heavy and dark in a way that made Valerie squeeze her thighs together. Why did he have to call at this time of the night when she was all alone in the dark and could let fantasies run away with her?

“Why?” she asked, her rebellious spirit overtaking her fantasies. “So you can preach doom and gloom again?”

He was silent for a moment and she held her breath, waiting. She wagered he was gathering patience for her snarkiness. He'd need plenty. Finally, he spoke.

“Miss Quinn. You need to answer my question when I ask it. Understand?”

Valerie nearly gasped, stunned at her body’s reaction to his dangerous words. She blinked. “Mm-hm.”

“Use your words.”

She bit her lip, trying to breathe in without sounding like she was panting. “Yes.”

“Good. Now. Are you home? You’re keeping safe?”

“Yes, I am. Geez.” She rolled her eyes with no annoyance whatsoever. It had been a while since someone gave enough f***s to ask her that.

His voice softened. “I need to inform you that there’s an unmarked police car that’ll be patrolling your area. Every third of an hour, cops will drive past your place. So you can sleep easy. Okay?"

Val hugged herself. So much could happen in the space of twenty minutes. She nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see her. “Yeah, I got it.”

Curious, she got out of bed and headed to the window, looking down at the street. In the dark, her eye caught a black van parked by pavement. Looking closely, she noticed how the driver leaned over the driving wheel and tilted his head back. Sort of glancing up at her through the windshield.

 “That must be them. That car wasn’t there when I got home.”

“Describe it for me.”

She nodded. “Uh... it’s a black minivan, tinted windows, it has—”

“That’s not the cop.”

Valerie frowned and looked back out the window. “What?”

“That’s not the police car.”

“But... I can sort of see the driver. I… I think he’s looking up at me...”

“Get away.”

“Roman—”

“Get away from the window! Close your curtains and stay inside! Make sure every door is locked. I’m on my way.”

Valerie stared down at the car with wide eyes. “What? Wait. It might just be a…”

Her words trailed off and Valerie felt her skin go cold as she stared.

“Miss Quinn? Miss Quinn! Valerie, you there?!”

Her fingers tightened on the phone. “He… he’s waving at me.”

The dark, gloved hand moved slowly back and forth in an unmistakable wave.

“Get away from the window, goddammit!”

Roman’s voice startled her and Valerie rushed back, bumping roughly into her bed. The phone went tumbling out of her hand.

“Oww.” She sunk onto the carpeted floor and rubbed her throbbing leg. Holding an arm around it, she stared up at the closed curtains. “It’s okay,” she whispered to herself. “It’s fine. I’m inside… I’m safe.”

Crawling around her bed, she grabbed her robe and pulled it on. There was a killer outside her apartment. He was sitting in a car and waving at her. Valerie tried to breathe steadily as she processed her situation.

“Who the hell is he?!” she whispered to herself as her trembling fingers struggled to tie the belt. “What the hell does he want?”

The sounds of police sirens in the distance reached her ears just as she made her way out of her room.

Her slippers made slapping noises against the stairs as she hurried downstairs to check that the doors were locked.

“It’s fine,” she whispered. “I’m safe.”

When she ensured that she was locked in, she dashed into the kitchen and grabbed the sharpest knife she had on the rack.

When she turned around, Valerie screamed. 

Michael jumped back, letting out a scream of his own.

“Oh, it’s you!” Valerie panted. “Oh, my God, I totally forgot.”

She’d forgotten he was in her apartment! If that crazy man managed to get in, Val wouldn’t be the only person he would hurt. She curled an arm around Michael’s and dragged him towards the living area. She was not going to let that deranged sonofabitch hurt this kid.

“What’s going on?” Michael asked, looking down at her with worried grey eyes. Valerie had given him an extra-large jersey and some sweatpants to wear. They easily fitted his slim frame. It was okay because they were men’s clothes. Which she had bought. For herself. No judgment, please.

She patted his arm with the hand holding a knife and he cringed.

“It’s okay, kid, don’t be scared.” Valerie was hardly breathing properly so he stared at her.

“Why are you holding a knife?”

She lowered him onto a sofa, but he shot right back up as the sirens got louder. “What’s going on, Miss Valerie?”

Val gulped and looked up into his anxious eyes. “There’s someone outside my apartment. He’s trying to hurt me,” she slowly explained.

Michael only frowned in confusion. “What? Why? Is that why you called the police?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Well, I didn’t call them, but they're on their way anyway, but that’s not the point, it’s…” Val groaned and clutched her hair. “Never mind. We’re gonna stay here and wait for the cops to come.”

Michael nodded. Valerie was clutching the knife tightly when his hand landed gently on her shoulder and he pushed her onto the sofa. “You should sit, Miss Valerie. You look like you’re about to pass the f**k out.”

She sunk onto the sofa, but couldn’t stop her anxiety. Her knee bounced up and down as she bit the inside of her cheek.

Michael went over to the windows and, pressed up against the wall, inched the curtain away.

“Cops are here…” he murmured. “Plenty cop cars...”

Val hurried off the sofa and came to get a peek through the curtain. Her gaze swept the street. The black unmarked van was gone.

“He’s gone…” she whispered.

“The dude who had it in for you?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

Michael hesitated, but she felt his need to ask so she looked at him. “Uhm…” he started. “Who is he? Is he like an ex? Or… your step-dad or something? You in some kind of money trouble maybe?”

She stared up at him blankly, but saw by the anxiety swirling in his eyes, that he was dead serious.

She slowly shook her head. “No… no, Michael. I don’t have a step-dad and my mom would murder my dad before he thought of scaring me like this… and my ex is in Austria.” Val looked back at the street, alight with blue and red lights. “I don’t know who that man is.”

Just then her eyes caught sight of Detective Parker’s SUV parked on the street. A split second after she noticed it, they heard the buzzer.

Valerie quickly turned to the door, but Michael held her back with a hand on her arm. “Hey, how do you know it’s not the crazy dude?”

She stared at him before glancing back in the direction of the door. “It’s… it’s okay, we have cameras at our front doors. So we can see who is buzzing.”

They walked over to the small rectangle screen by the phone and Valerie let out a huge sigh when she saw the Detective peering into the camera.

Val had to stop herself from running to the front door. Roman entered with the force of a rainstorm. His presence was both terrifying and calming at the same time.

“Detective…”

She stopped speaking when he came right into her space and cupped her face, his touch calming and exciting Valerie at the same time. He said nothing for a moment, his grey eyes swept up and down her body and Valerie got the feeling that he was stopping himself from titling her over to fully check that she was okay.

“You’re alright? You okay, Miss Quinn?”

Valerie nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.”

“s**t. You’re trembling.”

She shook her head. “I’m… I’m okay. Thanks for coming, Roman.”

She saw him swallow heavily. His shoulders seemed to lower as the tension eased out of them. He pulled his hands away and stepped back, putting a hand on the weapon at his side. “I had to.” He glanced out the open door. “It’s my job.”

She scarcely hid the scowl. Couldn’t she innocently express her gratitude? Valerie was about to tell him that, yes, she knew it was his bloody job when a movement inside the house made them both look.

Michael stood there, looking like a Men’s Winter Collection model. The jumper hung down past his hips and he rubbed the side of his jaw in what Valerie had noticed to be a habit. His eyes were studying the Detective with unhidden interest.

Slowly, he pointed a dainty finger at Roman and glanced at Valerie. “Your cop boyfriend?”