Until I Find You Again // Book One

Chapter 9

I was an idiot.

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Lucy's hand was held firmly in mine as we exited the mall. It was time to get home and start some dinner. I could almost guarantee that neither Niall or Harry would be coming over tonight. I was actually ok with that. It would give me and Lucy some much needed bonding time. I felt like I hadn't just sat down and had a night alone with her in awhile.

I looked down,

"What do you want for dinner, Baby?"

She looked up at me, her green eyes squinting in the sun,

"Can I have soup?"

I rolled my eyes. Of course she would choose something Harry had gotten for her. I watched as she reached her hand up and waved at someone. I looked up, unable to see anyone who she might have known. I looked back down at her,

"Baby, who are you waving at?"

"The man." She said without hesitating. I looked around again. Nameless faces passed by us but no one was even slightly recognizable to me. I knelt down in front of her,

"What man, Sweetie?"

She pointed in front of her,

"That man." I turned to look in the direction she was pointing.

He was standing at least 100 feet away from us. I had no idea how she'd even seen him to begin with. He was dressed in jeans and a ratty t-shirt. He looked to be about 40 years old, maybe a bit older. With a 5 o'clock shadow on his face. When he smiled as my eyes met his, every alarm in my head went off.

I turned and grabbed Lucy, pulling her into my arms and walking as fast as I possibly could to the car. I put her into her seat and buckled her in before getting in the driver's side. I immediately locked the doors.

I twisted in the front seat as I backed up, looking at her as she softly hummed with the music. I pulled out into the traffic lane in front of the mall. He was standing at the edge of the sidewalk now, a camera very prominently held in his hand.

The most awful feeling came over me. I looked at Lucy through the rearview mirror,

"Baby, the man you waved at, you've seen him before?"

She nodded,

"Uh huh. Lotsa times."

I shuddered, slowing to a stop at the red light that would let us out of the mall parking lot. I turned to look at her,

"Where?" I asked softly.

"The food store, studio, Uncle Niall's, sometimes cross the street....."

My eyes widened,

"From the house?"

She nodded,

"He takes pictures. He asks me to smile."

Panic set in. I was shaking so violently I wasn't sure I could drive. I tried to swallow but my mouth was so dry I couldn't,

"You've talked to him?"

She nodded,

"Lotsa times."

I turned back towards the front of the truck and hit the gas. I looked over at my phone, sitting in my purse on the passenger's seat. I picked it up and calmly tapped Harry's number,

"Hello?" He answered on the last possible ring before it would've gone to voicemail. I didn't blame him. I took a deep breath in an effort to control the shaking,