Page 79 of We Can Do
Holding hands, we walk down the stairs. “Let’s go through the kitchen door,” Noah says steering me toward the alley.
We round the corner just in time to see a shadowy figure crouching over a patch of dry grass near the back door of the bakery. I see the spark of a lighter shine in the dark.
“Hey!” Noah yells. “What are you doing?”
The person startles, dropping the lighter harmlessly, but instead of running like I expected them to, they stand and start walking toward us slowly.
Noah pushes me behind him. “Stop right there!” He shouts.
The person stops. “So, you caught me.” A cocky male voice says. “I guess it’s better this way. Now you can see the face of the person you destroyed, Alexis.”
I squint, recognizing him as the man I ran into when I cracked my phone on the first day I came to Rye Again. “Who are you? What do you mean?”
“I’m Anthony Lowery and your negative review is the reason my restaurant closed. Does Lowery’s Seafood ring any bells? I not only lost my restaurant and my livelihood, but since I didn’t have any way to make money I lost my house too, and my girlfriend left me.”
After he shares his name, recognition dawns. I do remember him, and the review I wrote. There was an issue with some equipment, and several customers ended up with food poisoning, including me. I also remember him being very hostile back then with customers and the media covering the incident, threatening revenge. I need to try to calm him down or he could escalate.
I step up to Noah’s side so I can see the man more clearly. “Mr. Lowery. Anthony, I’m sorry your restaurant closed but it wasn’t just me. A lot of people had been saying that they were getting sick after eating there. I came to try it out with the hope of writing a positive review that would help you get customers back but the oysters gave me food poisoning. I threw up for the next 48 hours.”
“That was just a fluke,” Anthony says, his voice raising an octave.
Noah reaches out and grabs my hand, muscles tense. “Anthony, I understand the frustration. I have a very similar story.”
Anthony looks at Noah with betrayal in his eyes. “I know. That’s why I’ve been coming after you too. We could have worked together to bring Alexis down. She needs to know that she can’t just go around ruing people’s lives.”
While Noah goes back and forth with Anthony trying to reason with him, I discreetly pull my phone out of my back pocket and hold it down by my side. I glance down long enough to click on my text thread with Devin, I look back up to not draw his attention and type out what I hope is close to:SOS call police to Rye Again ASAP.
Praying that Devin understands and calls 911, I engage back into the conversation with Anthony just as he’s listing the reasons that Noah is better off without me.
Noah squeezes my hand reassuringly. “No, Anthony I’m not better off without her. My restaurant closing wasn’t Alexis’s fault. She wrote an honest review and she was right. Of course I was upset, but I realize now that it was meant to be. Alexis is the best thing has that ever happened to me.”
Despite the situation, I smile up at Noah with tears in my eyes. “You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me too,” I whisper back.
“No. Enough!” Anthony yells, walking toward us faster now. “Alexis, you don’t deserve happiness after how many lives you’ve ruined, and Noah, you’re an idiot for being with her.”
Just when he gets uncomfortably close and Noah is tugging me toward the opening of the alley, two police cars pull up and the officers jump out. I sigh with relief. Devin understood my message.
Anthony stops suddenly and turns to flee in the opposite direction as two of the officers move in our direction. Seeing the other side of the alley is a dead end, he stops again and turns back toward us with a look of hatred burning in his eyes. His shoulders sag in acceptance that he can’t get away.
“What’s going on here?” One of the officers asks. “We got a call to this location.”
“This man has been sending threatening messages and vandalizing my bakery,” Noah answers. “We just caught him back here with a lighter.”
The officers look at Anthony. “Is this true, sir?”
“Yes,” he starts. “But she ruined my life! It’s her fault my restaurant closed, and I lost my house, and my girlfriend left me, and…”
He continues as the police escort him to one of the cars to take him to the station. He likely won’t serve any jail time, but at least he’s been caught and we won’t have to worry about him anymore.
“You two all right?” Another officer asks.
“Yes, sir. We’re fine. Thanks for coming.” Noah replies. “I already have a file open from the other incidents.”
“That’s fine. You’ll both need to come to the station to give statements for this incident, then we’ll pull up the others and combine them. You can do that tomorrow.”
“Thank you, officer.” I chime in. “We’ll be there.”
Noah pulls me in for a tight hug as the police cars disappear.
