Page 48 of I Want You
“I had breakfast at Downtown Diner with Claire, Maeve, and Veda,” she said, bringing my focus back to her.
“What time did you leave the house?” I asked.
“9:20 a.m. We were meeting at 9:30 a.m. I was the first to arrive, but Claire and Maeve got there just a few minutes later. We ate and chatted. Sheila was there. Like I said, Maeve had Veda, so we only had so long before she was going to need to feed her.”
“Where did you sit?”
“At one of the booths by the window. I was facing the door.”
“Good.” I nodded. I liked that Scarlett knew enough to position herself to the best vantage point. “Did you see anything suspicious while you were there? Anyone suspicious?”
“No. It was pretty slow inside. No one was looking at us odd or made me feel uncomfortable.”
“I forgot to ask, but where did you park?”
“On the side of the building. It was closest to the entryway, but I couldn’t see my car from where I sat.”
“Okay. So, you have breakfast with the ladies, nothing specific of note happens, then what do you do?”
“When I left the diner…”
“What time was that?”
“Maybe 10:30 a.m.”
I nodded at her to continue.
“That’s when I found the note on my car, but I didn’t open it at that time. I, um, got distracted, and I put it down withoutlooking at it.”
“You’ve had the note since breakfast?” I asked on a growl. My vision darkened as blood pumped through my veins. My head hurt instantly just thinking about all the ways today could have ended up so differently. “What happened to distract you? A noise? Movement?”
Scarlett’s gaze drifted from mine, not looking me in the eye.
“A text. Your text,” she said. Her eyes bounced back to me, but all that blood that was just pumping through my body seemed to drain from me, leaving me feeling hollow and empty. “I chatted with you for a few minutes and had put the paper down in my car. I didn’t even think of it again.”
“Scarlett. I’m so sorry.”
“Luke, don’t do that. You have nothing to be sorry about. You texted me in the middle of the day like normal. It was just serendipitous timing that I was literally reaching for the note at the same time.”
I did though. What if someone had been watching her? Waiting for her? They could have followed her. Waited for an opportunity where she was more secluded, distracted. If they didn’t before, they could know where she lives.
She was distracted because of me. I didn’t know what I would do if something happened to her.
I swallowed hard, trying to control my racing heart at the thought of her in danger. “Okay, let’s keep going. So, you get in your car with the note unread. What do you do next?”
“Oh no! My flowers,” Scarlett said. She went to get up like she thought she was going somewhere.
“There is absolutely no fucking chance I’m letting you out of this apartment on your own. Sit.”
Her defeated face only lasted for a second before she nodded.
“Fine. But it’s a really pretty bouquet.”
“Did you make it yourself?” I asked.
She liked to spend time at the local flower shop with Daisy. I hoped that when she stopped by today, she took the time to do something she enjoyed. At least it would be one bright spot in her day.
“Yeah. Daisy let me in the back room to go through her whole stock of supplies. We had a great time together. I was there for maybe an hour.”
