Page 10 of Against the Clock

I hadn’t been able to shake the feeling, which had led to sleepless nights and dark circles under my eyes that didn’t hide well even with the heavier makeup I had worn this morning.The meeting was supposed to start in fifteen minutes, so I shoved the rest of my protein bar into my mouth and grabbed a notepad and pen from my desk.

The conference room was already half full, so I took a seat toward the back and pulled my phone out to find a text message from my mom.

The corners of my lips turned up into a smile as I looked at the picture of Rosie and my mom at her house, sitting on the couch in front of the window.The blinds were open, allowing the sunlight to flow in.

“Good afternoon,” my boss said as he entered the room and took his place at the head of the table.I was about to put my phone away so I could concentrate, but suddenly I saw something in the picture that sent a chill through my body.

My fingers trembled as they pinched then zoomed in on the photo.Across the street was a black van with dark windows and a person sitting in the driver’s seat.

Six

Roman

11 Days Ago

Iwas thankful thatit was slow at work because with Trevor being out of the office and Jackson calling in sick, it left me running around trying to be in multiple places at once.The gym wasn’t usually busy on Mondays, which allowed me to work on some of the admin stuff from the front desk.I had a few clients on the schedule, but I had been working with them for so long that they didn’t really need a personal trainer anymore.I knew that they would get started with what we had been working on and wait for me to come guide them through the rest.

By the end of the day, I was wiped and ready to crash out.I stopped by the market store on the corner, grabbed a few things for dinner, and headed home.It was just me, and even though I liked to eat healthy, it didn’t mean that I was great at keeping groceries in the house.I made note to do some shopping this weekend and stock up so I didn’t have to see the barely legal teenage girl in the lowcut shirt and googly eyes that always seemed to be working when I went to the market.

I climbed the three flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator and walked down the hallway to my apartment before stopping short.Standing outside my door were Quinn and Rosie, huddled together as if she was trying to shield her from something.Panic started to rise as I quickened my pace.Something had to be wrong for Quinn to just show up at my apartment.

“Quinn?”I asked stupidly, but I still couldn’t believe she was there.

She spun around and looked at me, a protective hand reaching behind her to keep Rosie in place.

“What’s going on?Is everything okay?”

“Do you think we could go inside and talk?”she asked nervously.

I nodded and unlocked the door, holding it open for them to enter before I pushed it closed and slid the locks into place.I set the paper bag down on the kitchen counter and put my hands on my hips, unsure of what to do.

“Is it okay if I turn the TV on for her?”

Rosie stood in front of Quinn with Quinn’s hands wrapped protectively over her shoulders.Her brows were raised while she waited for me to answer her question.

“Of course.”I shook my head to clear some of the fog while I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels until I found something that seemed appropriate for Rosie to watch.

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