Page 81 of Johnathan

Abby smiled as she walked away from the booth. Her chest was warm, whether it was from the alcohol or a great timewith friends, she couldn’t really say. Although, she was leaning towards it just being the time spent with the girls.

Quickly finishing up in the stall, Abby walked to the sink. She was so excited to tell John how well the night had gone.

She grabbed a few paper towels, drying her hands as she studied her reflection in the mirror. It hit her all at once that she hadn’t even thought of her scar being visible. Not once had anyone’s eyes drifted to it, or lingered more than was comfortable. No one came up to her and asked questions about it. No one confronted her.

Flashing red lights and a blaring alarm jolted her from her thoughts. What the hell? Looking for the source, Abby quickly spotted the automatic fire alarm in the far corner of the bathroom. Shit! There must be a fire somewhere in the restaurant.

Abby turned to make her way to the exit, but stopped as the door flew open. A figure, dressed completely in black, stood in front of her. Every fiber of her being wanted to scream as the person turned and locked the door, but she couldn’t get her body to cooperate. Shit, she really needed to train some more with John because her fight or flight response was literal garbage.

“P-Please…I have to go. There’s a fire…” Abby stumbled over her words as she backed up against the wall. Whoever this person was, they weren’t going to be deterred from what they wanted to do. Silently, the person stalked towards her. Abby’s eyes darted to the toilet stalls. If she could make it inside there, she might be safe from whoever the hell this was.

Her legs were carrying her towards the middle of the room at the same time as the other person, and just as Abby’s fingers grabbed the metal frame of the stall, she felt a hand slip into her hair. Before she could fight it, her head was yanked backwards, causing her to fall to the floor. She smacked her head off the tile,darkness creeping into the edges of her vision as the sick, deep laughter of her attacker filled the space.

Abby curled in on herself as she watched the bathroom door open and shut, her attacker now freed from the room. She tried to sit up, but the throbbing in her head had her eyes flooding with tears as the room spun. Shit.

Resigned to laying on her back until she could get her equilibrium righted, Abby closed her eyes. The alarm blasted for what felt like a few more minutes, before silence filled the space. The aching in her head dulled and she forced her eyes open. She needed to make a plan to get herself out of there.

She’d have to try crawling. Before she could roll onto her stomach, she picked up the sound of yelling voices. Oh, God. Was someone actually going to find her?

“HELP!” she cried out, her voice weak from the pain coursing through her head. “HELP! I’M STUCK IN HERE!”

The door to the restroom finally flew open and her whole body filled with relief.

“Shit! Abby!” Jackson’s voice called out to her as she closed her eyes. “You’re hurt. What the hell happened?”

His hands wrapped around her arms as she tried to sit up.

“I heard the fire alarm going off and tried to leave…”

“Did you slip?”

“Something like that.”

“Okay, well, there’s an ambulance outside. Are you okay to walk or should I call for them to come in here?”

“I can walk. I think. I’m stubborn enough to try, at least.”

That got a small laugh from John’s brother as he stood, holding his hand out to her.

“How did you know I was in here?”

“The girls are all outside, freaking out. Grace nearly bowled my entire team over trying to tell me they couldn’t find you as soon as we got here.”

“She’s the best.”

“I won’t argue with you about that.”

“The fire?” Abby glanced at the door, afraid to hear that they’d need to walk through an inferno to get outside.

“False alarm. It’s a bit of a mess out there from all the patrons trying to leave quickly, so just hold onto me, okay?”

Twenty-Four

Lark Lake was one of John’s favorite places in Clarence County. The town bordered the west boundary of the county, and was the furthest post to drive to from the Sheriff’s Department, but it was his preferred patrol when he wasn’t assigned to Bell Ridge.

He’d stopped in early to the sandwich shop in town and gotten his dinner figured out. All that was left before digging in was to find a good place to park to finish up a report from an earlier call and take his mind off of trying to call Abby.

Girls’ night.He knew she was excited for it, but his face still felt warm as he thought about her spilling the details on everything that happened up at the cabin. He wasn’t dumb. He knew the girls… alright, Emma, would press Abby to talk about their time together. What he wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall.

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