Page 10 of Crazy for You (Loco, Texas 1)

Finn laughed as he climbed into his car, but as soon as he started it, his smile faded.

He envied Chad Gunn, a man he barely knew, and all because he was lonely. His parents were gone, his sister lived in Florida and they talked, but she was busy with her kids and her husband.

He wanted someone to come home to. A smiling face at the end of the day. A warm, womanly body fresh from a bubble bath and a pair of arms to wrap around him; that was what he’d been dreaming about. What he’d thought he had found with Claira.

Claira hadn’t been interested in being a wife and mother, though. She wanted to be able to travel and explore the world, and Finn had wanted to set down roots, preferably somewhere with a low crime rate.

They’d been together since sophomore year of college, and somewhere along the line, they had drifted apart. They’d had a clean break, not a lot of drama, and when he’d taken the job in Loco, she’d been happy for him.

Only now that he’d moved back, and although he had a couple of old friends he was reconnecting with, he’d spent most of the last month plopped in front of the television with a microwave dinner. He’d gone to the Watering Hole a few times for drinks, but he wasn’t much for crowds.

No, what he wanted was a woman. Someone with a sweet smile, a take-no-crap attitude, and who wanted the whole enchilada: till death, two-point-five kids, and a dog.

Too bad the woman who flashed through his brain thought he was a world-class asshole and wanted nothing to do with him.

“Yo, Meyers, you gonna follow me, or are you too busy daydreaming?”

Gunn’s voice broke into his musings, and Finn hit the button on his radio. “Suck it, Gunn.”

Gunn’s laughter met his ears, and Finn smiled. At least his partner had made him feel right at home.

* * *

“Thanks, Red. See ya.” Deana slammed the truck door and limped away in her spiky heels. She ignored the shocked stares and whispers around her as she hobbled as fast as she could down the middle of the booths set up with games, vendors, and even the bounce house at the end shaped like a giant haunted house. The planning committee had decided to hold the Haunt Fest at the high school, setting up the booths in the quad and the actual haunted house in the school gym. When they’d asked the faculty to volunteer, she’d jumped at the chance to be a part of it. Everyone had been leery at first, but all she had to do was scream when the people entered her section. How could she mess that up?

It was insulting for them to treat her as if she couldn’t handle anything more than the scary woman with the slit throat.

She rounded the corner of the gym, slowing down to a walk as the back entrance came into sight. She pulled up short when she noticed a strange man wearing a hood over the upper part of his face. He leaned against the opposite wall, his face shrouded by darkness, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

“I like your dress.” His voice was raspy and rough, as if he’d smoked a pack a day for twenty years.

“Thank you,” she said, avoiding glancing his way. Something about the man made her skin crawl as if a thousand centipedes were marching over it. She was suddenly very uncomfortable with her too-tight costume and pulled her red cape closed over her breasts. As she came up alongside him, her mind kept rolling back to her self-defense instructor in college.

“Some men will come at you directly. A blitz attack. Always watch and be aware of your surroundings.”

The man moved like a great, dark monster in the blackness of the alley, and she was suddenly slammed back against the wall of the gym. Dazed for a minute, she saw the flash of silver.

He has a knife.

“Hello, Little Red. You sure are a pretty thing.” His breath blew hot and rank against her face, and she fought back the urge to gag. “Don’t make a sound. I’ve waited a long time for you.”

When she saw his large wet tongue snake out to run across his thin lips, a rush of bile filled her throat and bubbled up into her mouth.

Move! Fight! You know what to do!

Deana shook herself out of her daze, and her fight reaction kicked in. While his mouth moved toward hers, she brought her knee up into his crotch. When he doubled over in pain, she grabbed his hair and used it as leverage to slam her knee into his face before pushing him over and running back toward the festival, kicking off her high heels as she ran, pushing past the pain in her ankle. A string of vile curses erupted behind her, and she pushed harder. She was almost out into the activity of the festival…just a few more feet.

The rush of relief was short-lived as she ran into a hard chest.

Screaming, she started kicking and punching as rough hands tried to restrain her. Finally, a familiar deep voice snapped, “Fuck, De, it’s me! It’s Finn.”

It took a second or two for his words to penetrate her panic, and then her whole body sagged into his. She took large gulps of air, trying to keep the hysterical sobs from escaping. “I…I…thought…”

“What happened? Deana! Talk to me!” Finn’s large fingers gripped her shoulders.

“There was a man…behind the gym. He had a…a…knife,” she stammered.

He grabbed the radio on his shoulder. “Gunn, we have an armed assailant behind the gym who just attacked Deana Sawyer. I’ll meet you back there.”

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