With Crayons and Love (Romantic Suspense) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 26 - Twisted

"Drive anywhere. Just drive," I ordered. The cab driver started down the street.

I was aware that I had to look back and watch him if I was to know if he decided to follow us. And so I turned my head, only to see that he remained standing in the same spot with his black suit and belt, his hands kept in his pockets and his eyes fixed on our moving cab.

I settled into the seat and clasped my hands over my lap, willing myself to exhale.

"Who was that?" she asked quietly, sitting beside me with her eyes hooded.

"No one special," I answered, giving her a reassuring smile. "Just a man I used to know a long time ago."

"I don't like him."

"Sweetheart, neither do I." I scoffed, taking her hand into mine to kiss.

"He, um, he looks like a movie star. But his eyes are creepy."

"Yes. You're absolutely right, Stell," I agreed, grateful for the conversation she was giving me. It allowed my mind to ease while still keeping me sane; keeping me from sliding into myself and into obsession where I would be unable to think of anything but the danger. And the panic gradually lodging itself into my throat.

"Tessa?"

"Yeah, honey?" I looked down at her too quickly, afraid that she was troubled. But her eyes were wonderfully calm and her lips were relaxed, with nothing but her furrowed brows to give away that she was thinking.

"Why did you say my name was Brenda?"

I let out a sigh and shifted in my seat to face her. She was five. A little girl much too intelligent and perceptive for her age, and I needed fiercely to protect her. There was no better way to protect her than by keeping her aware. But fear itself, I wouldn't give to her. Not while I could.

"I said that to him because I don't want him to know you. He's not a good man, and although I know that nothing will happen to you, or to me, I don't want him to bother us anymore."

"Miss, how about now?" the driver asked. I looked outside the windows.

I gave him the address to our apartment, having seen for myself that Dominic hadn't moved a finger to follow us. If he still had an interest in me, which in my mind I would be unable to comprehend, then he had too much pride to hunt me down like an abrasive animal.

No, he wouldn't do that in public. That side of himself he only showed behind closed doors.

If he wanted to hunt me down, he would wait until he was alone to call a specialized and private investigator.

A finger, he wouldn't have to lift.

***

When we arrived at the apartment I made certain the door was closed and rummaged through the depths of my closet for the old home phone I had never connected. Then I called my service provider and had it connected under my aunt's name, just as the papers for my apartment had been signed under.

I stood by the entrance door and looked around the apartment. If I placed the phone over the kitchen counter, Stella would be unable to reach it comfortably. Inside any of the bedrooms and I ran the risk of one of us being unable to reach it in time. The phone couldn't be placed out in the open, because if it was visible then it could be easily unplugged, or thrown and destroyed.

I had to hide it.

"Stell!" I called out. I heard her feet coming toward me down the hall.

"Yes?" she spun around.