Staying Alive by Debra Webb

Author:Debra Webb [Webb, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2007-12-22T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

“Claire?”

Darlene.

The sense of relief at hearing her friend’s voice proved so acute that Claire pressed her hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut to hold in the overwhelming emotion.

Struggling to regain some semblance of composure, she scrubbed the dampness from her cheeks and managed a shaky, “Hey.”

“Where are you? Are you okay? My God…the news…the whole thing at the mall was on the news! I’ve just come from the Dentons’. I can’t believe this happened to Joey. His father is such a nice man. It’s just awful. What kind of animal would do this?” When she paused and Claire remained silent, Darlene asked, “Claire, what’s going on?”

Claire looked to Krueger. He’d heard Darlene’s end of the conversation the same as she had. She wasn’t sure what she could tell her friend.

“Tell her,” Krueger murmured, “that you’re safe and you’ll contact her as soon as the threat has passed.”

If the threat passed.

The unexpected understanding in his eyes gave her the strength she needed.

She mentally buttressed herself for telling her friend something other than the whole truth. “I’m okay.” She allowed her gaze to rest on Krueger. Mentally held on to him for support. “I’m in a safe place. Don’t worry, I’ll call you as soon as this is…over.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

Darlene wasn’t ready to give up. She must have heard the uncertainty in Claire’s voice. They knew each other far too well.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Just take care of our kids.”

“Please be careful, Claire.”

“I will.”

It took every smidgeon of strength Claire possessed to hold back the emotions pounding inside her as she said goodbye to her friend…knowing it might be the last time. She closed the phone. Holman was there instantly, taking it from her hand. Keeping it charged and handy was essential since that was the only connection to Nusair. Claire felt numb…something she seemed to be experiencing a lot lately.

“You should eat,” Krueger encouraged. “Before the pizza gets too cold.”

She shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

Claire left the kitchen, hurried up the stairs and closed herself up in her assigned room. She didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. She just needed to be alone. And, oddly, for the first time in her life, she had no appetite whatsoever. If she weren’t on the verge of tears she might actually laugh.

More than anything right now she needed to feel free of today’s events. She needed to escape somehow. But she couldn’t. There was no place to go that Nusair wouldn’t find her. She had promised to try and help trap him, but how were they ever going to accomplish that when all they could do was react?

No more thinking.

She went into the bathroom, undressed and huddled in the shower until the water ran cold, then she went through the blow-drying and straightening routine with her hair. At this point she didn’t actually care how her hair looked, but the familiarity of the chore was somehow comforting.

Once she’d pulled on her nightshirt, she opened

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