Something rattled in the front room. Valerie was on her feet at once. Her heart wouldn’t be able to take much more. She looked around for any kind of weapon barely able to breath. The only thing even close to resembling a weapon was a plunger and she grabbed it. The front door opened and she braced herself, plunger in the air, ready to swing.
“Valerie are you here?” She never thought she’d be so happy to hear Romero’s voice.
She dropped the plunger and hurried into the front room. He gaped at her. “What happened to you?”
Valerie knew she looked a mess. The dry heaves had made the tears come in mass. “I came by to pick something up and Bruce,” she stopped, suddenly overwhelmed with the need to cry. “The guy that’s been stalking me tried to force himself in.”
Romero walked over to comfort her, hugging her softly. “It’s okay.” He pulled away. “Are you hurt? Did he touch you?”
Valerie shook her head. There was a knock at the open front door. They both turned to see two uniformed officers. “Someone called about an attempted forced entry?”
Apparently, one of the neighbors had heard the commotion and called the cops. By the time Valerie finished answering all their questions she had about eight missed calls from Alex.
Romero stayed there the whole time, then went outside when they were done interviewing Valerie. He stood outside chatting with them.
She called Luke first to ask if he could call to cancel her appointments for her. There was no way she’d make them the way she was feeling. This incident had thrown a wrench in her entire day’s plans. Not only that, she knew she’d be on the phone with Alex for a while. He’d want to know every last detail.
She dialed Alex, sat on the sofa, and held her breath.
***
The morning had started out well, enough. Busy as usual, up to his eyeballs getting things ready for wedding, he’d hardly had time to worry about Valerie. Now he stood out back in the alley behind the restaurant, struggling to remain as calm as he could. It was a relatively cool day for summer, but Alex was burning up. He gripped the phone as he listened to Valerie. He’d spoken to her for nearly an hour. Not once had she mentioned Luke at her apartment.
When Hank, the guy watching Valerie, called to inform him that he’d just chased a man who tried to force his way into Valerie’s apartment, Alex dropped everything. He was already in his truck when Romero called to tell him. Romero had just pulled into the parking lot of her apartment. Alex was halfway there before Romero could convince him it was best he didn’t blow Hank’s cover just yet. Bruce was still loose, after all. Valerie needed someone watching her more than ever now. Reluctantly, Alex had to agree it was better if he didn’t tell her yet. Not before making Romero promise he’d call the cops and have a report taken.
Romero promised, then told him about Luke. Like Alex, Romero thought there had to be some kind of reasonable explanation. It couldn’t be what it looked like. Besides, Hank said Luke was there less than five minutes. What bothered him most was that Valerie didn’t mention it. Even if she wasn’t doing anything wrong, that still broke some kind of relationship rule in his book.
The worst thing about the entire situation was that because Valerie had actually opened the door, they couldn’t go after him for attempted forced entry. It was bullshit. Even though he was still on probation, assuming they ever tracked him down, he probably wouldn’t get more than a slap on the hand.
Thoughts of Bruce and Luke slammed back and forth in Alex’s head. He dropped the phone in his apron pocket and pulled out his wallet. Leaning his shoulder against the wall, he pulled out the note Valerie had left him that morning. There was no way Valerie could be doing anything. He felt it in his heart. The note went back in to its safe place. There was just no way. He knew this.
So, why was he still pacing outside trying to calm himself before going back in the restaurant? With his nerves stretched raw, the adrenaline still hammered through him. It hadn’t stopped since the moment he’d seen Hank’s number on his caller ID. He’d grabbed his keys before he’d even answered.
Hank was an expensive commodity, but worth every penny. Alex didn’t even want to think how grave the circumstances might be right now if Hank hadn’t been there.
He’d almost gone nuts not being able to get a hold of Valerie. When he finally heard her voice, even with the questions he had regarding Luke, he was still extremely relieved.
Finally feeling calm enough to walk through the restaurant without biting anyone’s head off, Alex stepped in the back door. Sergio, one of the busboys, appeared concerned as he passed him. “Everything okay, Chief?”
They’d all seen how he ripped through the restaurant to get out of there. And he’d been in and out taking phone call after phone call ever since. He demanded Romero call and update with every little bit of info he gathered.
Alex clapped Sergio on the shoulder. “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks.”
To his surprise, Sal sat at the computer in the back room. “What are you doing here?”
Sal spun his chair around. “Dad didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“I talked to him this weekend. He said you guys were going to be real busy all week. I’m done for the summer, so I told him I’d help out. I’ll be here the whole week. I just gotta go back for one test on Friday, then I’m here until I start up again in the fall.”
“Well, that’s a relief. Where were you this morning when we were swamped?” Alex pushed the door to the office closed.