Page 31 of Wasted

She stopped herself from swiveling her head to look. Wouldn’t that only make her appear afraid? Or perhaps it would be a good thing to show she wasn’t an unsuspecting victim. Yes, that sounded correct.

She kept walking but turned her head to look over her shoulder.

Something dark moved.

Chapter

Eleven

The blur of movement happened so quickly, Victoria wasn’t positive she actually saw it.

She stopped and peered into the shadows near the entrance to the building that held condominiums.

Was that the outline of…a person? Tucked in the corner by the doorway?

She didn’t breathe. She couldn’t be sure it was a person. It was so dark there.

But fear spiked through her.

Lord, please keep me safe. If there is real danger, if there’s someone there, please protect me. I know You can do all things in Your power.

The prayer filtered courage through her, combating some of the fear and clearing her mind.

Should she stay facing the person, if there was one there?

Or should she make a break for her car? It was close now.

A noise broke the silence. The door started to open from the inside.

The shadow moved, darted out from behind the door as it fully opened. A person—a man, it looked like—dressed all in black, seemed to slither along the wall and quickly disappeared into another dark crevice.

Laughter yanked her attention to two well-dressed men in their twenties who emerged from the building, evidently unaware they’d spooked a lurker.

If a lurker was all he was.

Victoria tried to breathe as she hurried toward her car.

The two young men followed behind her at a normal distance, talking and laughing, like an added assurance from the Lord that she was safe now. He had answered her prayer and protected her.

Thank you, Lord.

But despite her gratitude and silent prayer, she felt as if she didn’t breathe again until she’d driven away, leaving that section of the city and the dark phantom far behind.

By the time she drove into the gated community she’d grown up in and pulled up to her childhood home, blood was circulating through her normally, and her pulse had calmed to a healthy range. The car heater blasted physical comfort while her prayers of thanks in her conversation with God all the way there had strengthened her inwardly.

She couldn’t be more grateful for His protection and presence with her this evening. She had called Treese to warn her about the phantom man in case he was still lurking in the area when she left her studio. But Treese had said she wasn’t going to be leaving alone anyway, so she was fine.

Victoria indulged in an exasperated sigh at no one as she reached for her purse on the passenger seat. Fine being a relative term, considering Treese was apparently going to have another fling with a man she’d only just met.

But Victoria wasn’t at her father’s to discuss Treese. Hank was no doubt the person on the topic list in Dad’s mind, and Victoria should be gearing up to address that situation and maintain peace between the two.

She checked the clock in the dash. Two minutes. Cutting it much too close.

She leaned over to look in the rearview mirror and smoothed some flyaway hairs and a loose strand that had escaped her bun. Dad would wonder about her if she appeared a mess.

She hurried to the front entrance and reached to insert her key in the lock, but the large door swung open.

Hank’s tentative smile greeted her. “Hey.” He opened the door the rest of the way and stepped aside to let her in.