The noises in the background changed rapidly. He must be on the move toward an exit, or some place a little more quiet.
“Say it again,” he said.
“J-Jeremy cal ed.” She wiped at an annoying tear with the back of her hand. What did tears get you? Nothing. They sure didn’t make a drunk stop accusing you of being a filthy whore.
“Your ex-husband? I thought you had no contact with him. Why did he cal you?”
“He wanted to know where I’ve been for the last three weeks,” she whispered. She couldn’t seem to talk any louder. As if Jeremy might overhear her.
“He’s stalking you again,” Brian said with a certainty. “Do you have someone who can stay with you until I get there?”
“No, I didn’t cal you to get you to come here. He said he was going to kil you.”
“He said that? How does he even know about me?”
“Don’t come here.”
“Then you come here. Immediately.”
There was a thump in the apartment next door and Myrna jumped.
It was bad enough that she had to live in fear, but she refused to put Brian at risk. If she went to him, or he came to her, she knew Jeremy would hurt him. She swal owed and took a deep breath, hoping she sounded confident when she said, “Don’t be ridiculous. I have a ton of work to do. He’s just being a jerk. I’l be fine. I know he won’t bother me again. I reminded him that I have a restraining order. If he comes near me, al I have to do is cal the police and they’l arrest him.”
“Yeah, okay. I’l just sit around here for a week and hope your psychotic stalker of an ex-husband leaves you alone.”
“Brian—”
“I’l be there as soon as I can. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?”
“That’s not real y necessar… For a little while.”
“Tel me about your day,” he said. She could hear the bar noises in the background again. “Hey, Phil,” he cal ed to someone, “cal me a cab, wil you?”
“You’re leaving already, Brian?” some annoyed-sounding woman said. “We just got this party started.”
“You’re not tel ing me about your day,” Brian said to Myrna.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything. Start from the moment you opened your eyes.”
“Shouldn’t I start from the moment I rol ed over in bed and tried to find you, but you weren’t there?”
“Yeah, start with that.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
She told him al about her day. Every moment, including what Jeremy had said to her on the phone. Brian kept her talking on his cab ride to the airport, while he booked a flight at the ticket counter, and the entire time he waited for his flight. She felt safer just having him on the other end of the line. She eventual y let herself out of the bathroom and crawled into bed with her phone. She left al the lights in the apartment on, however. She didn’t think she could handle darkness.
“My battery is going dead,” he said. “I’l keep talking as long as I can. My plane is boarding soon.”
“I’m sorry to be a pest, Brian.”
“You’re not a pest.”
She didn’t realize she was on the verge of tears until they started to fal . “I shouldn’t have cal ed you. And I shouldn’t let you come here,” she whispered, and sniffed her nose. “Jeremy might hurt you.”
“I can take care of that stupid prick. Don’t worry about me. Keep yourself safe until I get there. You know, if you go to sleep now, I’l be there when you wake up.”
She nodded as if he could see her. She was exhausted. Mental y drained. “Thank you for being there for me.”
“Think nothing of it. You know I lo—”
The phone disconnected. His battery must’ve died. Not wanting Jeremy to have the opportunity to cal her again, she shut off her phone. Tomorrow she’d get the number changed.
But how? How had Jeremy found her? She’d been so careful.
Chapter 34
The sound of the door buzzer pul ed Myrna from a listless sleep. It took her a moment to remember she was home, not on the tour bus.
The buzzer sounded again. A few stray rays of sunshine filtered around the edges of her bedroom curtains. Morning already?
Myrna stumbled from bed, stil in the clothes she’d worn the day before.
The buzzer sounded again. Several times in a row. Loud knocking fol owed.
Brian! He’d made it.
“I’m coming,” she cal ed as she hurried toward the door.
She unlocked it and pul ed it open, a bright smile on her face. It faded instantly.
“Good morning, darling,” Jeremy greeted. His bright blue eyes raked over her body from head to toe. “Did you sleep in your clothes last night, sweetheart? You’re a mess.”
He wasn’t. Deeply tanned, blond, tal , athletic, and handsome, he looked like a walking advertisement for a country club. Her mouth worked at producing words but nothing came out. Her entire body had gone numb. She couldn’t move.
“Here, I brought you flowers. I know how you like the frivolous things.” He shoved a huge bouquet of mixed flowers into her chest. She caught them automatical y. He edged his tal , lithe body into her apartment and closed the door. “I told you I’d see you soon. Why do you look so stunned?”
“Leave!” she managed to bel ow.
“You’re not happy to see me?”
“Of course I’m not happy to see you. Get out of my apartment!”
He lifted his hand to touch her check and she whimpered in fear.
He dropped his hand, his blond brows drawn together with concern. “I’m not going to hurt you, darling. I don’t drink anymore. See?
Smel my breath.”
The minty scent of his mouthwash bathed her face. She flinched. She couldn’t help it. She was terrified of him. “That’s not the point, Jeremy. You aren’t supposed to come within three hundred yards of me. If you don’t leave by the count of three, I’m cal ing the cops.”
“Myrna, just hear me out.”
“One.”
“I realize what a jerk I was and I’ve come to ask for your forgiveness.”
“Two.”
“I’ve been through treatment, Myrna. The thought that we can be together again is al the reason I need to stay sober for the rest of my life.”
“Three.” Myrna tossed the flowers on the floor and turned to search for her phone. She remembered that she’d fal en asleep with it against her chest the night before. She hurried toward her bedroom to retrieve it.