Page 18 of A Taste Of Darkness

I guess I was safe at home all along, but something told me it was better if I wasn’t all by myself ever since the robbery. Was it a robbery when they didn’t even take anything in the end? Well, except for my money.

All week long, black-dressed men kept showing up at the boutique. None of them ever talked to me, let alone bought anything. They looked around for a hot second, then left again. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but with every day, more of them showed up at different times.

Two on Monday. Four on Tuesday. Six on Wednesday. Eight on Thursday. I expected ten to come in today, but by midday, I’d counted fifteen.

Fifteen black-dressed men who all looked the same while looking completely different.

They had the same black bomber jacket. Wore the same brand of shoes. Each of them had their hair neatly gelled back. Dark eyes. Dark hair.

I wished it was just one guy stopping by a million times a day, but the face always changed.

On Wednesday, I realized they were watching me.

Yesterday, one made eye contact with me, but he didn’t say a word.

I was just about to put Soup back into her wheelchair after her four-hour nap when I heard the door to my boutique open.

I looked up, ready to greet a customer, but my smile vanished when I saw five guys in all black enter my boutique instead. Once again, none of them looked at me.

One at a time, I could handle. Five of them at once, I could not.

The last time five guys entered my boutique at once, I had a gun aimed at my head.

For a moment, I considered just running out before they could do unimaginable things to me, but what if they chased me down the street? What if they followed me, captured me, and pulled me into some alley?

My safest option was to get to that stupid button that I was ready to press a million times in the last five days and pretend I didn’t care about the men’s presence.

I rushed to put Soup into her wheelchair, then carefully picked her up and walked to the other side of my boutique to get behind the counter. If I ever deserved an award, it was for this very performance—pretending that I wasn’t freaking out.

While I so desperately wanted to send another quick look toward each of the guys, I figured ignoring them altogether was better. Without a second doubt, I pressed that red button under my counter. Over and over and over again.

Even if those guys turned out to be harmless, or just wanted to scare me without harming me in any other way, I didn’t think Kai would’ve ended up being mad at me for wanting to be on the safe side.

Click.

Click.

“Ma’am?”

I flinched, eyes snapped up to meet the dark eyes of one of the five men.

“Yes?” I forced a smile onto my face. At least I hoped it was a smile.

“Do you sell shoes?” he asked, a heavy accent showing through his words.

Was this some kind of code for something? If so, I didn’t understand.

“Shoes?” I repeated back to him. He nodded. “No, I’m sorry.” I clicked the button again. Again. And again.

Tears were on the verge of filling my eyes, but with whatever force inside of me, I managed not to let them show.

The other four guys now looked at me, but they kept their distance.

Cli—

The door to my boutique ripped open, and immediately I heard guns cock. “Get the fuck down or I will shoot!”

I recognized the voice, but it wasn’t Kai’s. Without checking who just entered, I simply dropped my body down to the floor. A sob broke free, suddenly being overwhelmed with emotions—the same ones I’d tried to forget.

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