Page 18 of The Stolen Dagger

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

KATHERINE

“ I s there something you want to tell me?” Leah asked knowingly from the passenger seat of my car.

After Drew gave me a mind-numbing orgasm two nights ago, I embarrassingly fell asleep on him.

When I awoke the next morning with my head on his chest and cradled in his arms, the embarrassment was long gone. It was a nice way to wake up. Especially when he placed a quick kiss on my forehead before getting ready for work.

While I was happy, I was also confused.

What did it mean for us? Were we a couple? Or was it just a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing?

I thought of his words the other night.

I don’t think I can go back to how it was before . I’m not letting you push me away again.

I knew there was no going back after our kiss. Everything between us felt different now—evolved. He knew my darkest secret, and he was still here, determined to help me. That meant something. So I told myself there was no need to overthink what we did.

That night was amazing.

It felt right.

I couldn’t deny that.

Before he went to work that morning, I convinced him to take me to my apartment so I could get my car. I didn’t like the thought of it just sitting there or that I had to depend on Drew for a ride. Plus, I needed it for work.

The past few days were spent studying in Drew’s apartment while he was at work, but today Leah called, needing a ride to school.

I had sent a quick text to Drew earlier to let him know what was going on and made my way to Leah’s house.

Now, it was almost an hour later, and Leah and I were on our way to campus, but I still hadn’t gotten a response back from Drew.

Maybe he’s busy.

“Something you’ve been keeping from me?” Leah added when I didn’t answer her initial question.

My mind immediately went to Adrian and the stalker.

Does she know about him? How did she find out?

Lying to her about my past was eating me up inside. In the few short months I’d been here, she’d become the closest friend I’d never had. She’d said on more than one occasion we were like sisters, yet she didn’t even know my real name.

What kind of friend was I lying to her?

I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted to spill my guts to her and hope she’d understand. But it was safer that she didn’t know. That still didn’t help the feeling of guilt that swelled inside me.

“Um, no,” I replied warily. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Drew,” Leah said, like it was obvious .

My shoulders slumped in relief, and I sighed. Of course she was talking about Drew.

Wait. Why is she talking about Drew?

“You left the bar together the other night,” Leah continued, “then he drove you to school the next day like you stayed the night with him, and then I heard you were together on campus looking really close. I mean, I had to hear that from that bitch, Rachel. She even said Drew had his arm around you.”

I shifted in my seat and tightened my grip on the steering wheel.

I guessed it was good Rachel hadn’t also witnessed the man who attacked me in the library. How would I explain that to Leah? But I guessed this thing with Drew was the perfect distraction from the real secret I was keeping from her.

Besides, what was the harm of confirming her suspicions about my relationship with Drew? She’d been pushing for us for weeks, and I already knew she’d approve.

Was it so bad that I confirmed our relationship, if I could call it that, to her without talking to Drew first?

“Okay.” I glanced at her, then back at the road. “We are together but?—”

“I knew it!” Leah laughed, fist-bumping the air. “I told Tyler there was something going on with you two at the bar. He didn’t think so, but I so knew it!”

I chuckled at her excitement. “Yeah, well, we still have some things to work out, but I care for Drew a lot, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. But to be fair, there wasn’t much to tell.”

“Are you kidding?” she asked excitedly. “I’m just glad two of my favorite people in the entire world are finally together, and from what I’ve seen from you both, you obviously make each other happy. ”

That warm feeling spread in my chest at her words. She had been a supporter of Drew and me ever since we met, but her approval was everything I needed to hear.

It gave a renewed sense of self and comfort that my feelings for Drew were a good thing. Her blessing was something I knew I didn’t need but wanted all the same.

My shoulders slumped, and I let out a breath as a small amount of the pressure in my chest released at her knowing just some part of the truth.

“So, give me all the details,” Leah squealed, but then went quiet.

“Wait. No. He’s my brother. I don’t want to know all the details, but tell me all the highlights since, you know, it is thanks to me he came to the bar with us in the first place.

Oh, I’m so mentioning that in your wedding speech.

Everyone needs to know I’m the one who brought you two together. ”

I laughed at her rambling and went to tell her all she wanted to know, but the loud rumbling of a diesel engine interrupted us.

A black pickup truck with dark tinted windows reflected in the rearview mirror. It sped up behind us, coming way too close for comfort.

“What is it?” Leah asked and twisted in her seat. “Is something wrong?”

I squinted at the rearview mirror, trying to make out the driver, but couldn’t see anything behind the tinted windshield. It had to be a coincidence.

“No,” I said, pressing down a little more on the gas pedal. “It’s just some asshole in a big truck.”

Yeah. I was just paranoid. It’s just a truck, not someone trying to run us off the road or something.

My phone chimed with an incoming text.

“Is that your phone?” Leah asked.

“Yeah, I’ll just check it really quick.” It might be Drew .

I pulled up my phone, but Leah snatched it out of my hand. “No way, missy. You just focus on driving and getting away from that prick behind us.”

I sped up a little more, putting some distance between us and the menacing black truck. But when I glanced in the rearview mirror, the black truck sped up, too. He was even closer than before, like he was about to hit us.

“What the hell?” Leah held up my phone in her hand. “Why do you have these creepy texts from an unknown number?”

My back stiffened against the seat. My knuckles whitened as I tightened my grip around the steering wheel.

Not again. Not now.

“W—what?”

“This unknown number just sent you multiple pictures of us in the car when you picked me up with a text that says, ‘Did you think this was over, little bird? I’m just getting started.’”

My heart rate increased. It pounded against my rib cage as a pit formed in my stomach.

Shit. Do I tell her the truth?

No. I didn’t want her to know about any of this. I glanced at the phone in her hand and then to the black truck advancing behind us.

She waved the phone at me. “Kat, what the hell is this? What’s going on?”

Suddenly, the black truck rammed into my bumper. The sound of metal crunching metal screeched as Leah screamed. The impact lurched my body forward, jarring my shoulder as the seatbelt dug into my collarbone. A sharp pain stabbed through my shoulder.

Trying to keep control of the car, I quickly slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. The black truck flew ahead of us as we came to an abrupt stop .

My breath came out in deep pants, and I looked over to check on Leah. She was breathing heavily, and her bright eyes were wide and misty as she clutched the “oh shit” bar above the passenger door.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I think so,” Leah’s voice trembled, and a lone tear fell down her cheek. “What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know. I’m so sorry. The guy just hit us, and I didn’t know what to do. I?—”

“That’s not what I meant, Kat.”

Before I could come up with another lie, tires squealed on the road ahead. The same black truck that just hit us sped back in our direction.

Frozen in my seat, my heart pounded in my ears. I could only watch as the truck stopped across the two-lane sideroad, and someone opened and jumped out of the driver’s side door.

The man was dressed head to toe in black and wore a hood covering the top half of his face.

My breath caught in my throat on a gasp.

It was the man from the library. He looked even bigger in broad daylight. He was built like a tank, with wide shoulders and muscular arms that hung a few inches out from his torso. Compared to his truck, he had to be over six and a half feet as he marched toward us.

“You won’t get away this time, little bird!” the man yelled, anger clear in his tone.

Chills raced down my spine at his voice. I froze.

“Oh, my God,” Leah screeched. “What is he doing? Why did he come back?”

Her voice broke me out of whatever fear-induced trance I’d been in. “I don’t know, but I’m not staying to find out.”

I frantically shifted the car into drive and slammed my foot down on the gas pedal. The man ran the last few steps toward us and slammed his fist onto the roof of the car, but I was already back on the road, driving away from him.

He didn’t follow.

Leah and I hadn’t said a word to each other since the man in the black truck, the same man who stalked and attacked me in the library, ran us off the road.

I didn’t know what to say to her. Did I play stupid and pretend that I didn’t know a thing, or did I tell her the truth and put her in even more danger than she was already in just by being my friend?

Drew wouldn’t want his sister involved, but I knew Leah. She wouldn’t stop until she got the truth out of me. And when she knew the truth, she’d hate me for it.

I parked beside the curb on the east end of campus, thinking of what to say to Leah before she got out of the car to meet Tyler.

“Look, I’m sorry,” I started and turned in my seat. “I don’t know what?—”

“What’s going on, Kat?” Leah asked, tucking her golden hair behind her ear. “Are you in some kind of trouble? Is that why you’ve been with Drew?”

“No, I mean, it’s nothing. It’s just … complicated.”

I cringed at that word, but it was complicated. I couldn’t bring Leah into this mess. So, maybe it would be easier if she hated me instead.

“What about Drew? Does he know you have a stalker? Is that why you’ve been together so much, or are you just using him because he’s a cop?”

“Of course not!” I yelled. “I care for Drew.” More than I should.

I paused at that thought because it was true, and I knew I had to do the same thing to her that I’d done to Drew before. I just hoped she would understand when all of this was over.

“Like I said,” I continued, “it’s complicated, but frankly, it’s none of your business.”

A look of hurt flashed across her face. “I’m your best friend. We’re supposed to be there for each other. I mean, I tell you everything, and I know you haven’t been very open about your past, but I thought you would be eventually.”

I sighed, knowing what I had to do, but it didn’t make it any easier. “Just because you’re my “friend” who overshares to the point of it being annoying doesn’t mean you have the right to know everything about my life.”

Tears filled her eyes, and her bottom lip trembled slightly. She tried to hide the movement with a snarl, but I saw it, and it broke me inside.

“Well, I’m sorry my friendship has annoyed you, but if you wanted to push away the one person who cares, then congrats because we’re over.” Leah scrambled out of the car and leaned down. “And stay away from my brother! He doesn’t need to be pulled down into your drama either.”

She slammed the door shut and stomped off across campus, taking our crumbled-to-pieces friendship with her.