Page 58 of Keeping Her Under
Shit!
It’s not loading.
The police must’ve –
“Hello? Summer? It’s Alina, your landlord!”
My pulse skitters to a calm. The app chugs on, and there’s my princess fast asleep.
Exhaling slowly, I slip my phone into my pocket. I grab the box of books and go to answer the door.
“Sorry,” I say as I open it to a white, middle-aged woman with spiky purple hair. “I’m in the middle of packing up.” I lift the box higher in my hands, then place it on the floor between us, blocking her entry. Holding out a hand, I say, “Hi. I’m Dr. Rath Slader, Summer’s boyfriend.”
Her initial look of surprise sharpens into that of a momma bear.
I smile harder. Perhaps it wasn’t just the house’s location that protected her here.
“I didn’t know she had a boyfriend.” Alina looks down at the box, no doubt checking to see what I’m stealing. I left the lid open for that very reason.
“We were being quiet about it. She was worried about her ex.” The landlady’s gaze snaps up to mine. “He started texting her again,” I say darkly.
“That piece of shit,” she growls, thunder in her bright, blue eyes. “If he comes near here, you call me.”
“I was planning on calling the police.”
Her lips tighten. “They don’t come out here all that much, but I know people who’ll care.”
“You run a network for battered women?”
“Something like that.”
I glance over her head at the motorcycle beside my car. It’s a pink Indian Scout, with a Devil’s Halo sticker stretched proudly across its tank.
It’s a club, not a gang, otherwise the Blood Fangs would’ve run them out, but I get what she’s saying. Not that it matters. Lance will never trouble us again.
Still, for appearances sake, I pull out my phone. Being careful not to show her my screen, I close the teddy cam app, then open up my contact’s list. “What’s your number?”
After I type it in, I thank her for coming to check on Summer. She asks how she is, and I realize she hasn’t heard. So I tell her how Lance ran her off the road, and how hard it was for me to see her being wheeled into the hospital.
“I couldn’t tell anyone that we were together, or they’d take me off the operating team,” I say, my voice tight. “My colleagues are good, but I needed to be the one in there, you know?”
“Fuck, I’m so sorry.”
“And afterwards, the entire time she was in a coma… I couldn’t see her.”
“Shit.”
By the time I finish, Alina’s wrapped around my finger, and her hatred for Lance has grown. She’s not said out loud that she wants to kill him, but it’s screaming in her eyes. Now, if anyone does find his body (the dogs couldn’t eat him all), they’ll blame it on the Devil’s Halo. But with no evidence linking them to his murder, they’ll walk, so no harm done.
“That rotten piece of shit,” Alina seethes.
“He would’ve found her a lot sooner if it wasn’t for you,” I say. “Thank you for looking out for her. She needed this place.” I pull out my wallet. “How much is it to cancel her rental contract?”
She waves me off. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I want to,” I insist. “I have more than enough to still take care of her, and I greatly appreciate your kindness to her. The rest of the world failed her, but you didn’t.”
Her eyes soften.
