Page 69 of Falling Too Late

“H. . .he found me.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Kevin.”??

The figure walking on the sidewalk came back to me. The whole world tilted, and rage blurred my vision. He found her.

Even after all these years. After getting her out of the apartments, moving eight miles away from where it all happened, he found her. I had hoped the fire would have killed him, but it didn’t. I had known it didn’t kill him, but I thought that maybe the damage to his body would have been bad enough he wouldn’t be able to go out and do much, but he did. He had.??

I failed her.

I didn’t have long.??

I moved away from her, picking up the phone. “Where are you?”??

“Just pulled outside. What’s going on? What’s with the shouting?”?

I hung up the phone and look back to Wren. “I’ll be back.”?

“Alex, no! Don’t leave me!” Her voice broke, and the thought of her being raped by him, screaming with no one to hear—without me to be there for her—only ripped me apart.??

“Jon just got here.” I moved to her closet and pulled a large hoodie down, quickly, and as gently as possible dressed her in it. She whimpered and cried in pain with every movement she made. With each sound, the anger intensified. “I have to go. I don’t have much time.” I grazed her bloodied swollen cheek with the back of my hand.

“Alex, no, I need you to stay.” Her voice was hoarse and my eyes dropped to her neck. A red ring circled it. Her fists balled into my shirt as she tried to keepme to her.

“Did he. . .did he choke you?” The tips of my fingers grazed the welts, and she hissed in pain.

“Alex, please just stay.” She stood on shaky legs and wrapped her arms around me. My resolve was breaking. The need to find him was overwhelming. Once I killed him, I could tend to Wren, but only after he was dead.

“Never again.” I shook my head, doing everything I could to keep my voice level. I wasn’t going to be the one to scare her. Gently, I unwound her arms from me, but she got up and followed me.

Jon was just walking into the house as we got downstairs. Wren was still on my heels. I turned and wrapped an arm around her, passing her to Jon. He took her, confused.

“Don’t let her follow me.”

“Alex! Please!” She was trying to pull herself away from Jon.

“Don’t let her follow me! You keep her safe!” ?

“Alex, what is going on?” His hand lashed out and grabbed my arm. I jerked away from him.?

“Just fucking stay here! And make sure she’s okay.” I sprinted out of the house and headed in the direction I saw him going. Looking up and down each street as I passed. I jumped fences and sprinted through people’s yards. Dogs barked, people yelled, but I didn’t stop. I had to find him. My lungs burned and I could taste the blood from the exertion.

I ended up in a business district. It was a strip mall with all glass fronts, and half of them had paper or dark tint in the windows, still closed. Still, I pulled on the door of each one I walked past, just in case.

I combed through the streets, finding the bare lots that the homeless have set up camp in. I asked around. They either didn’t know who I’m talking about or weren’t in the right state of mind to answer me. Kevin had to have lived close by. It wasn’t a situation where he just happened to see her.

I was not in the right state of mind to be looking for him. I didn’t have my cell phone on me, so I couldn’t call Jon and checkin on Wren. With my hands in my pocket, I gripped the cool metal in my pocket.

I would find him.

The morning came and went. By late afternoon, my patience was wearing thin.

I couldn’t go back to the house. I couldn’t face her again unless I could tell her that he was dead.

I walked into my sixth bar. But I wasn’t going to be here long.

That's when I saw him. He was sitting up at the bar with a beer in hand and a shit-eating grin on his face, talking to someone else. I took a step forward, but a hand was on my shoulder before I could move.

“Hey,” a voice sounded. I turned, about ready to rip the guy's arm off. “I don’t know what’s going on, but if you’re here to cause trouble, then just leave.” He pulled his hand off my shoulder and I glimpsed something.

A black band around his wrist.

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