Page 52 of Koa's Little Girl
She needed to get out of here now.Think, Giana!
CHAPTER 17
As her mind boggled at the thought he was tracking her, she knew better than to focus on that now. Pulling her bravado together, she told him, “I don’t know what your game is here, but this isn’t productive.” Giana pulled out her phone to call for help. To distract him from her real intent, she added, “Let’s plan a meeting for tomorrow during your shift. Put eight a.m. on your calendar.”
“Put your phone away, Giana.”
Ignoring his order, she held her phone up to unlock it with facial recognition. He grabbed the phone from her hand and slammed it to the pavement. “You never have understood your place, Captain.” His voice had a snide, evil tone that added to the fear building inside her.
Stiffening her spine, she wouldn’t allow him to see her fright. “Tom, we’re going to move this conversation to the firehouse. Talking here isn’t working.”
“It’s working fine for me. I think it’s time you realized how little control you have. The days of you expecting everyone to jump when you order it are over. You know that three-fourths of the guys under your captaincy hope you’ll get trapped under a burning beam in each fire.”
Her stomach lurched at the hatred that coated every word and gesture Tom made. Controlling her expression was difficult; she did not want him to think he had scared her.
“Enough, Tom. Go get in your car and go home.” Out of the corner of her eye, she calculated whether she could jump into her truck and slam the door before he got to her. There was no way. She’d have to think of something else.
Tom stepped forward, forcing her to step back until her back met the car in the next parking spot. Giana bumped it hard with her hip, hoping to set off an alarm. It simply rocked slightly.
He reached for her shoulder. Giana jerked away. She couldn’t let him touch her.
“Stupid bitch. What makes you too good for me?”
“First off, I don’t call anyone a stupid bitch. Second, I don’t force myself on anyone. Good people don’t do that.”
Her head whipped back to avoid the open-handed slap he aimed at her. The pads of his fingers slammed into her cheek. Stinging pain lanced through her. Adrenaline flooded her body. Whatever he had planned, she would fight him every inch of the way.
A horn blared near the tailgate of her truck, startling them both. Taking advantage of Tom’s distraction, Giana kicked him as hard as she could in the crotch. Tom shouted in pain and dropped to the ground, clutching himself as Giana ran away.
“I’m going to kill you, bitch,” he shouted, lurching toward her.
“Hey! Get in!” a woman called from a silver sedan a few feet away. She leaned across her front seat to push the passenger car door open for Giana.
Giana didn’t hesitate. She threw herself into the bucket seat and slammed the door closed. As she searched desperately for the lock button on the unfamiliar car, she ordered, “Drive!”
The woman hit the gas, lurching them both against the seat backs. Giana twisted to look through the back window and saw Tom staggering to his car. He would be after them in a few seconds. A warning tone resounded inside the car, making her jump. Completely stressed, Giana struggled to process what threatened her now.
“Buckle your seatbelt,” the woman ordered. “I’ll head to the police station, but it’s about ten minutes away. He’ll catch us before then.”
“Can I use your phone? I’ll call 911.” Giana struggled to secure the seatbelt as she continued to watch for Tom.
“I don’t have one.”
“He smashed mine. Head for the military base. It’s closer. Crap! I see the front of his car.” Giana struggled to hold it together.
“Give me directions,” the driver demanded.
“Turn right at the next stop sign. It’s about two miles down this road. Thank you for stopping.”
“That wasn’t going to end well.”
“Yeah. You’re the lady from my apartment building.”
“I didn’t think you’d ever seen me,” the woman said, glancing sideways at Giana. “I saw those muscular guys moving you out. Military, huh?”
“My boyfriend’s team. I’m Giana, by the way.”
“Brooklyn. He’s gaining on us.”
