Running From Fate (39 page)

She
quickened her pace and told herself that she was just being paranoid.
The closer that she got to her car, the calmer she became but then t
he echo of footsteps sounded behind her.
She tried to tell herself that it was just her imagination, but it didn’t work.
Breaking into a sprint, she dashed toward her car, already pushing the unlock button on her keychain, and threw herself inside.
Once she was safely behind the wheel with the doors locked she looked out th
e windshield.
The lot was empty, but she
could still dimly hear the echo of heels on blacktop and see a faint
shadow disappearing into the tree line.

She
was still
a little
jumpy when she
walked up to her door and
it didn’t help matters when she
almost tripped over the small, cardboard box
sitting
on her front stoop.
She couldn’t hold in the slightly squeaky, hi-pitched squeal and she was just glad that none of her neighbors had been out
side
to hear her.  With her heart still hammering, she bent down and gingerly picked it up. 

Turning it over she noticed that it held no return address, just l
ike the letter sh
e had previously received, which
meant it was
likely
from Kim.
She should probabl
y just toss it in the trash can and forget about it, but she carried it into the house instead.  S
he could do with a little levity
today
and Kim’s threats were always amusing.

Sitting the b
ox and her purse on the counter
she
went to get a knife.
She was right, she thought as she stared down into the box
a few minutes later
and tried to hold onto the contents of her stomach
, there was a
threatening
letter.
Unfortunately, it was
lying
on top of what looked to be a dead mouse.
  The animal’s head was missing.  She shoved the lid back on, dropped it on a table, and ran for the bathroom.

“
Eww
!
” Amy s
quealed
as they stood in a corner of the break room.
“That is so disgusting.
Rodents are gross enough, b
ut to find one without its head.
”
S
he paused and
finished off her vendor-sized bag of Doritos
before throwing it in the trash
.
“How do you know it was Kim?
” she asked, pulling out some sanitizer and squirting a liberal amount on her hands.
“
Touching a dead animal
really
doesn’t seem like
her thing
.”

“I
agree with you
,
” Mira said, “but
if she really wanted to
I’m sure she’
d
have
no trouble getting
some
muscle-bound idiot to do it for
her.
”

“
For only meeting the women a few times you seem to know a lot about her?” 
Amy
leered comically.  “What are you doing?  Stalking her or something?”

“Not exactly.”  Mira cross
ed her ankles and leaned against the wall.  She hadn’t really intended to tell anyone
about the
blond
woman’s silly threats
, but things were
starting to get
a little creepy.  She still didn’t intend to go to the police, but it would be nice to at least get someone else’s opinion.  She
leaned in and
lowered her voice. 
“
I think it’s more like the other way around. 
I don’t think
she’s actively following me
, but I’ve
seen her
driving arou
nd near my street a few times
.  That
bright red
car of hers is hard to mistake.”

“Definitely weird stuff, but that doesn’t actually sound like stalking.  I mean she could have a friend in your neighborhood.”

Considering how snooty Kim was that didn’t seem likely, but she let it go. 
“
There are also the threats
,” she reminded Amy.  “
I’v
e received two of them so far.  I have to tell you though that I
don’t understand it
.  The
woman is
not exactly ugly and I’m sure there are plenty of
idiot men desperate to have
her.  Why would losing James upset her so much?”

“I believe
I can shed some light on th
at if you’d care to take a seat.
” 
Amy
picked up her soda and headed for a faded denim sofa that had just been vacated.
Mira grabbed her coffee and followed.

When they were both seated
Amy propped her feet on the
slightly scarred, wooden coffee table and
leaned back
.
“Fro
m what I’ve been able to gather
the problems started a while ago.
You see, poor Kimberly
Roberts
has no real talent an
d, it seems, no aspirations, but
she’s
been
able to live
quite comfortably off
dear daddy’s
money.
Now,” she paused.
“A few weeks before she started dating our gorgeous boss her father decided that she either had to make some type of contribution to the business or he was going to cut her off.”

“Wait a second,” Mira cut in. 
“How do you know all this?”

“The great and powerful Amy sees all,” she said in a deep, mysterious voice.

Mira glared at her.

“All right,”
Amy
continued in a
more
normal tone.
“I have a cousin who works a
s a DJ and an occasional
bartender at one of her favorite clubs.
He said
the
screeching that ensued
when her father blocked her credit cards could be heard as far away as Canada.”

“How does any of this have to do with James or why she might be harassing me?”

“I’m getting to that.”
She picked up her soda and took a long swig before tossing the now empty can in a nearby recycling bin.
“E
veryone around here knows that Mr. Roberts would love to
form
some kind of partnership
between
EcoSpace
and his own company
.
He’s been trying to talk James into it for a while.
Now
this is just my theory, but I think that Mr. Roberts saw Kim as a possible way to get a foot in the door.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust your opinions,” Mira said.
She finished her own drink and sat the empty
Styrofoam
cup on the table.
“But why do you think that?”

“Well, after the two of them started dating, Kim’s credit cards were active again and, my cousin says, she went back to spending a lot of money on drinking and partying.
I can guarantee that her daddy was not happy wh
en things broke off with James.
That, my friend gives her a motive.”

“That explains a lot
, but
I don’t think that I have anything to worry about.
I can’t see Kim having either the brains or the guts to cause a real problem.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”
Amy crossed her feet and looked at Mira.
“So,” she said with an irreverent smirk.
“Are you going to tell James that his ex-girlfriend is threatening you?”

“Why didn’t you tell me someone was threatening you?”

M
ira jumped in surprise
and
banged her knees on the coffee table
.
“Damn it,” she muttered, as she turned her head to watch James walk into the room.  “You shouldn’t sneak up on people,” she told him, “and it’s not polite to listen to other people conversations.”

“Hello boss
,
” Amy said cheerfully.

“Amy.
”
James nodded at her and came to a halt next to Mira
, matching her glare with one of his own
.
“Tell me
what’s going on,” he demanded.  The thought that someone might actually be trying to hurt her scared the hell out of him. 

She crossed her arms and didn’t answer.

He leaned forward a little, trying to intimidate her.

“It’s not your problem
.”
Mira
shifted uncomfortably and
tried to get up, but he held her in place with a hand on her shoulder.
“I think you should let me go,” she said.
“If you haven’t noticed
the morning break is over and i
t’s time I got back to the work you pay me for.”

James
ignored her
protest
.
“
How can you say
it’s not my problem?”
h
e
growled.
“We’re a …
”

“W
e
’
re a what?” Mira asked sweetly.
“As you made very clear yesterday, there’s nothing between us anymore.”
 
Amy fidgeted
next to her and threw her an apologetic look
before
jumping
up and
heading
for the door.
“I’ll
see you back at work,” she
called
.
  The door shut behind her, leaving the
break room empty except
the two of them
.