Page 33 of Sweet Dreams
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The next day,Detective Ramirez called my cell mid-morning to let me know, because of my positive ID from our attack the other night at the restaurant, they'd gotten a warrant to enter Rylan's apartment in Westminster, a few miles from HB. He was headed there now and would let me know if they foundhim.
I filled Jaz in on everything that was happening. She promised to keep an eye out and to make sure I didn't leave the shop unattended. She suggested I even go home, but I knew that wouldn't be a good option for me. I needed to have something to focuson.
Besides, Mitch and Susan came in a little later to try out my hot chocolate. I introduced Mitch to Jaz, we chatted for a bit, then I made them personalized hot chocolates based on their dessert preferences. I knew I had 'em when they both closed their eyes for a second after taking the first sip. Mitch had a big grin on his face when he set his cup down and declared it 'the best damn hot chocolate' he'd everhad.
"I've got a big meeting in about two weeks. Can we set up a hot chocolate station with maybe two or three varieties for them to choose from?" Mitch askedme.
"I can do better than that. I'll bring over one of my employees with me to man the station and create the hot chocolate from scratch right there. That way your people can order whatever flavor they want and they get to see the process of making it," I answered, beaming at the chance to introduce my chocolate to a whole new geographicalarea.
"Done! I'll have my assistant send you the details and we can discuss how much you'll charge," Mitch said before finishing his cup. Susan was still sipping hers and watching the long line of people at thecounter.
"I don't know, Esa. You might need some more help at the counter. Is it this busy all the time?" Susan asked me, a worried frown marring her attractivefeatures.
"Pretty much, yeah. I've been working non-stop, not only at the counter, but also the business aspect of it all. I think you may be right; it's time to hire more help," I answered with anod.
The Whittingtons left soon after with the promise to be back next week some time for more hot chocolate. I got busy helping Jaz, and the day sped by. Jaz left at four o’clock when my evening employee showed up. In our shop bathroom, I changed my work clothes out for workout clothes. I was planning to head over to Strike Ready to train with Bailey and Brinley. My Lululemon capri pants, topped with a Reebok sports bra and racerback tank from Target felt super comfortable and I liked knowing I represented all economic levels of athleisure wear. HB may be getting higher end with their shops and housing prices, but I didn't want to go full-on Newport snobby either. Girl had to represent old-school HBtoo.
Fashion choices made, I called Detective Ramirez from my tiny office in the back before I left the shop. My call went straight to voicemail. I would have thought he'd have called me by now with an update on the search warrant. I was anxious to know if Rylan had been arrested yet. My safety, and that of those I cared about, depended on that info. We were so close to this whole stalker thing being over with and I was feelingimpatient.
Bailey busted open the door to my office and snapped, "Let's go kick some ass,woman!"
My escort had arrived. I jumped up, grabbed my bag, and linked arms with her. We exited the store after saying goodbye to my employee, and we headed down to the parking garage via the escalator. We were walking down a row of cars on the first underground floor of the dim garage when the shit hit thefan.
Everything began to move in slow motion like a cartoon gone wrong. A man jumped out from behind a van, grabbed me around my waist, and dragged me away from Bailey and back against his body. Bailey screamed, and I was completely frozen, eyes wide with terror. His free arm went around my neck and I felt something sharp jabbing me at the side of my neck. "Back away now or I swear I'll hurt her," I heard him say to Bailey. His voice was familiar, and it was definitely Rylan. I remembered his voice clearly and just hearing it made my whole body start toshake.
Bailey's face was a mask of fear. She had her hands out, palms up to show him she wasn't doing anything. She didn't move back like he asked, but she didn't move forwardeither.
Our movements may have been in slow motion, but my thoughts were on hyper speed. I was breathing heavy, and I was starting to get pissed, the anger matching my fear. I wouldn't let him hurt me again. I had vowed in college to be done with him and how he made me feel. And here he was trying to mess with my life yet again. Unacceptable! So, I had to stop him, plain and simple. I had to stop him before he tried to take me anywhere, I knew that much from what Brinley had taught me. And it was up to me, only me. Time for me to do what I'd been practicing: take care ofmyself.
With that thought, I sprang into action like my life depended on it, which I believed it totally did. I lifted my foot and stomped it as hard as I could onto his. At the same time, I used my trapped arm to strike backward in the region of his groin. My free hand came up and grabbed the hand at my neck. The foot stomp and the body jab startled him but I'm sure it didn't do much. But my other hand was able to get ahold of one of his fingers that held what felt like a knife. So, I bent that fucker back with everything Ihad.
Rylan yelled and let me go around the waist. I pivoted out of the way so I was facing him, still trying to keep his finger bent back. That's when Bailey jumped into the fray to help. She kicked him right in the groin and then kneed him in the face when his knees buckled. The hand holding the knife released, and it clattered to theground.
I was just about to start kicking him as he lay on the ground when I felt arms pull me back. I struggled to pull free and got in one wild swing when I heard, "Esa, it's me," spoken right in my ear. I looked down at the arm around my waist and saw it wasfamiliar.
Ivan.
I immediately quit struggling, relief zinging through my system. Ivan whipped me around behind him, putting himself between Rylan and I. I looked around him to see that John, my private detective, had moved Bailey out of the way also and Detective Ramirez was forcing Rylan flat on the ground, yanking one arm behind his back. Bailey came over and grabbed me in a bear hug, both of us wide-eyed andshaky.
Rylan was hauled to his feet, his hands cuffed behind his back. He looked right at me the whole time Detective Ramirez was walking him to his squad car parked halfway down the parking garage. He had grown older, disproportionally to the years it had been since I'd last seen him. His silent face showed a bizarre mixture of love and hate, twisting his features into something ugly. A look I'll probably neverforget.
Ivan then joined the group hug, blocking Rylan from my site, doing more to calm me than all the hot chocolates in theworld.
More cops joined us in the garage and we all gave our statements yet again. I was feeling like a pro at answering questions for cops and telling my side of the story. People were milling around, obviously wondering what the hell had happened. I felt super conspicuous and wondered, not for the first time, how I'd gotten into this predicament. You don't ask for a stalker, you don't do anything to make someone obsessed, but somehow you can still get drawn into this mess and you have to see it through. Hopefully this was my one life lesson on that and I'd never have to experience thisagain.
When they were all done, and they had the garage camera video tapes to back our story, we all decided to go home. The adrenaline had clearly left my body, leaving me with only exhaustion. I'd been here before all too recently and I knew I needed to get home. Ivan piled Bailey and I in his truck and he took us to my place, calling in a Domino's pizza order on the way. Brinley had texted us multiple times, wondering where we were, so I texted her back and let her know we were okay but wouldn't be showing up for our classtime.
My hands were still shaking, so I clasped them together and tucked them under my legs. I stared out the window as my hometown zoomed by, the sun about to set on one crazy-assday.
"You know what they say about yoga pants, right?" I asked my truck-mates out of the blue. Ivan and Bailey looked at me like I was whacko, which was a fair assessment at that point. "They say you can kick ass in them because you have full range of motion. I think we proved that theory correct, honey," I finished, looking at Bailey. She and Ivan chuckled, dubbing my Lulu's my new "kick asspants".
“Well, I am a personal shopper, you know. I like to think I keep myself and my bestie decked out in fashion appropriate gear at all times. We have a special 'kick your stalker's ass' line. It's disturbingly popular," Bailey added to my crazy talk. She and I laughed again, and I wondered if this would even be funny the next day, but right now, the level of tired I was, it was freaking hilarious. It was either laugh or cry and I cried last night. I wasn'tdue.
"You killed two balls with one kick, Bailey." I was full out laughing now, Bailey right there with me like bestiesdo.
"And that's not even one of your jacked-up phrases!" she managed to get out. Tears were starting to leak out of our eyes we were laughing so hard. We kept swiping our eyes, our faces turning red. "Wait, wait. Get this. He brought the wrong utensil. He really 'forked' up!" Our laughter was almost silent now, with the occasional high pitchedsqueak.
