Page 82 of The Breakdown

“Oh.” She stood. “I’ll be back in a few.”

“Alright. Go, if you must.”

Vaughn walked out the kitchen door into the cooling evening air. The sky was black with a few clusters of stars, the city lights too close for an exceptional view. She enjoyed looking skyward nonetheless, and she was doing so when she nearly ran into Natalie.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Natalie said, carrying her laptop. She seemed out of breath. She, too, was in her pajamas, hers a matching set of dark green satin pants and a button up shirt. Vaughn wondered if the color set off her eyes in the light.

“You didn’t,” Vaughn said. “What’s up?”

“A lot. I’m a little panicked.” She glanced around, as if to check her surroundings. “I got an email. It’s—strange and I’m not sure if it’s authentic.”

“Okay,” Vaughn said, drawing out the word.

Natalie opened her laptop like she was going to show Vaughn, but seemed to change her mind. She closed it and breathed deep. “It says it’s from a detective. A Detective Marks. It says they’ve been looking for me for some time and that they’ve noticed my recent posts to my blogs.”

“You’ve been working?”

“I have to. I need the money.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve worked something out.”

“Like what? You’re already helping me out by letting me stay here.”

“I don’t know. I could’ve paid you for managing the website and posting the job listings. Or for doing the chores. Something. We could’ve worked something out.”

“Well, I didn’t want to put you out, Vaughn.” She shook her head. “Anyway, this detective, he seems to have found me. Or at least seen that I’ve been posting. But I’m not sure it’s really a detective. I mean, what if it’s Allen or one of his cronies?”

“You didn’t respond, did you?”

“No.”

“Don’t. Not until we check this out somehow.”

“I’ve already done a search for Detective Marks. He’s a real person, a real detective. And the email address looks authentic, but I’m afraid. Even it it’s really the police, I don’t know if I should respond. Then someone will know where I am.”

Vaughn’s mind raced, searching for a solution. “Tomorrow, I’ll take you into town, to an Internet cafe. You can log on there and send an email. Tell him you’re fine but you don’t wish to disclose your location.”

“Think he’ll buy it?”

“I don’t see why not. It’s the truth.”

Natalie seemed to think it over. “I don’t know, maybe I should just remain silent.”

“If you do that, they may keep looking for you to confirm it’s you and that you’re okay.”

Natalie sighed. “Shit. I’m so scared, Vaughn.”

“I know. But I think this can be a good thing. Maybe you could open up a dialogue with this detective about Allen and your fears.”

“Not you, too. June keeps telling me I should talk to the police.”

“It’s not a bad idea.”

“If you knew Allen, you’d understand why I don’t want to take that risk.”

“But, Natalie, you’re safe here. No one—”

A sharp cone of headlights shone on them as a vehicle pulled in from the drive.

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