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FORTUNATELY, THE REST of the day was uneventful at the shop and there were no more calls from that freak, Breaker. Trevor didn’t call me back, either. Nor did he show up at the store, which was kind of a relief. My mom would have flipped her lid.
When six o’clock rolled around, we locked the doors and began doing inventory. Jim stuck around, which I was grateful for, since being alone at a jewelry store at night was disconcerting. After we checked off each piece of jewelry, Jim carefully placed them into the large walk-in safe, where they’d stay until morning. By the time nine o’clock rolled around, we’d finished with all one-hundred-and ninety-two pieces, and I couldn’t wait to leave. Reading all the item numbers on the tiny tags was exhausting.
“There has got to be an easier way of doing inventory,” I told her.
“There is, but I like doing it this way.”
“But they have these scanners you can use, now, Mom. You’d keep much better track of each piece.”
“It’s far too expensive to set that up,” she said and then smiled. “Our way is already paid for.”
She was so frugal and old fashioned at times it was aggravating. “Fine. If you like doing things the hard way.”
“It’s easy with your help. Now, let’s go to Sicily’s,” my mother said, as we were locking up the shop. “My treat for making you do things the hard way. You too, Jim.”
“Sure, if you insist,” said Jim, his eyes twinkling. “I love Italian food.”
“Mom, I’m sorry, I just can’t,” I replied, grabbing the car keys out of my purse. “I’m meeting up with Krystal.”
She stopped in her tracks. “Again? I thought you celebrated her birthday last night,” she replied, frowning.
“I know. This is just us, though. Last night was crazy and we didn’t get much of a chance to talk.”
“Didn’t you have enough time to talk when you spent the night at her house?”
“No. We crashed pretty quickly,” I lied.
“I’ll meet you at the restaurant,” said Jim, heading toward his car. I could tell he didn’t want any part of the conversation.
“Goodbye,” I called.
Jim turned around and waved as he reached his Toyota. “Have a good night, Adriana,” he replied and then looked at Mom. “I’ll see you soon?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling. “Very soon.”
He smiled back and got into his car.
She turned back to me. “You’re not going to meet that man on the motorcycle afterward, are you?”
“Mom, would you just give it up,” I said, frustrated. “I know what I’m doing.”
“No, Adriana, I don’t think you do. You’re only twenty-one and I’m sure bad boys like that seem sexy, but –”
“Bad boys? Mom, please,” I interrupted as I began walking to my car, which was parked next to hers. “It’s not like that.”
“It sure looked like that way to me earlier,” she said, coming up behind me. “The way you two were attacking each other in the driveway.”
“It was just a couple of kisses,” I said, getting into the car. “Really, you don’t need to worry about me.”
Her eyes softened. “I can’t help it. You’re my daughter.”
“Your grown daughter,” I reminded her. “Look, take Jim out to dinner and enjoy yourself.” I lowered my voice. “It’s obvious the man is crazy about you.”
She looked shocked. “What? No. No, he isn’t.”
I glanced back over at Jim, who was sitting in his car, waiting for her. “Oh yes, he is. You just don’t see it. Quit worrying about me and think about yourself for a change. Go on a date, have some fun.”
She looked over her shoulder at him and then sighed. “A date?”
“Yes. Pretend it’s a date.”
“I can’t do that to your father’s memory. I still love him and it wouldn’t be right.”
“Mom, you don’t have to stop loving Dad,” I said softly. “But don’t deny yourself companionship with someone who adores you. Someone like Jim, who’s nice and is always there for you.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “You really think he adores me?”
“I guess you haven’t noticed the way he looks at you. He definitely has a crush.”
“A crush?” Her cheeks flushed. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Aren’t you attracted to him?”
“I guess... I haven’t thought about it. I mean, he’s nice looking.”
“Mom, seriously, you’re too young to become an old spinster.”
She laughed. “An old spinster?”
I smiled. “That’s right. If you look up the word in the dictionary, you might find your picture there soon, if you don’t do something.”
Mom smirked. “You think I don’t know what you’re doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“Changing the subject.”
“What I’m doing is letting you know that you can’t control who is in my life but you can control who is in yours. Right now there’s a sweet guy who is meeting you at Sicily’s. He likes you. A lot. Who knows, maybe you’ll find that you like him, too. And not just as your security guard.”
She looked at Jim’s car again but didn’t say anything.
My cell phone went off.
“It’s Krystal. I’ve gotta go,” I said, looking down at it.
“Just be careful,” Vanda replied, crossing her arms under her chest.
“I will, and have fun,” I said, winking at her before slamming the door shut.
She turned and walked over to her car.
“Hi, Krystal,” I said, answering the phone.
“Hey, guess what?” she said. There were voices in the background and I could tell she was someplace crowded.
“What?” I asked, starting my engine.
“We found him.”
“Found who? Jason?”
“Hell yes. I’m in the bathroom now. At Club Hideaway. I found out from Gary that he was heading here tonight. Tank and Raptor are keeping an eye on Jason. I think they’re going to confront the prick outside, since the place is crawling with bouncers.”
My heart began to race. “Oh, my God, I’m on my way.”
“Okay. I’ll let you know if we leave or if something happens.”
“I’m twenty minutes away. I’ll get there as quickly as possible.”
We hung up and I pulled out of the parking lot, wondering what they planned on doing to Jason once they had him alone. Would they just kick his ass or threaten him with a weapon?
This is crazy, I thought. I should have just called the police. Someone is going to get hurt.
I turned a corner; a few seconds later I noticed the person behind me had their high-beams on. Then I realized that it was a truck. Breaker’s.
“Oh, my God,” I gasped, moving quickly into the right lane. I watched in horror as he followed me. I tried zigzagging around other cars, desperate to put some distance behind us, but Breaker kept up. Frightened, I hopped onto the freeway and raced toward the club, not knowing what else to do. If anything, I could lead him to Trevor. Soon, I was going eighty miles an hour in the passing lane, thankful that it wasn’t rush hour.
“Where the fuck are the cops when you need them?” I said out loud, wishing that I’d catch one of their radars. But, for some crazy reason, even though it was a Saturday night, and I was driving like a bat out of hell, they weren’t around. Frustrated, I looked into the mirror and noticed that Breaker was still hot on my tail. “Dammit, you are such a freak!”
His laughter from earlier echoed in my head. I was pretty sure he was having a blast, scaring the hell out of me. I just couldn’t understand why he was so obsessed with someone he’d just met.
Because he’s fucking insane.
We drove like this, with me driving like a maniac and him following suit, until I noticed we were finally approaching downtown Iowa City. I put my blinker on and was about to enter the right lane to get off at the next exit, when he quickly moved into it, blocking me.
“Dammit,” I yelled, slowing down.
He also slowed down and then sped up as I tried to maneuver my way into the lane. Of course, I missed the exit.
“Fuck you, asshole,” I mumbled, thinking that at least he’d gotten off, and was no longer following me. But, when I looked back into the rearview mirror, I found that I was wrong. He’d obviously jumped off of the exit at the last minute, and was tailing me again.
Furious, I pressed my foot firmly on the gas and flew down the freeway, determined to stay ahead of him so I could get off on the next exit. This time it worked, and I was able to take the next ramp, with him one car behind. As I turned and then headed toward Main Street, I recalled where the local cop shop was and decided to lead him there instead of going to the club.
“You want to follow me, asshole. Go right ahead,” I said, staring at him in the rearview mirror.
Just as I predicted, he continued to follow me, but then, as I reached the police station, he turned off, waving at me through his open window.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You fucking coward,” I mumbled, going the opposite direction.