Behind her back, she heard the scrape of a boot against stone. Night birds took flight. When she whipped around, she saw a dark figure, dodging among the headstones and moving in her direction. For a moment, she lost sight of him in the shadows.
Why, why, why was he coming after her? Anger melted her fear and stirred her blood. Scrambling to her feet, she yelled, “Leave me alone.”
“Vanessa.” The breeze carried her name. “Vanessa, I won’t hurt you.”
“Don’t come any closer.” How dumb did he think she was? “Stay back.”
He showed himself. Only thirty feet away from her, he was dressed in dark colors and wore a black ski mask. With long strides, he approached. “Vanessa, Vanessa.”
“No,” she yelled at him. “Get back.”
She cocked her arm and threw the Mason jar at him. The glass jar thumped against his chest. A lucky shot! He stumbled, then regained his balance. “You little bitch!”
With her pepper spray in her hand, she charged at him and aimed at his mask and his eyes. Screaming in pain, he sank to the ground.
She took off running. Her feet barely touched the grass as she darted through the graves to the break in the border hedge. Looking over her shoulder, she didn’t see him coming after her but didn’t slow her pace until she reached her car and jumped inside.
She slammed the car into gear and peeled away from the curb. At the corner, she turned left. After six more blocks, her little sedan merged into traffic. Was she safe? Would she ever be safe again?
In the distance, the mountains created solid ramparts against the night sky. Like a fortress, that rugged terrain would protect her. The implacable Rocky Mountains were where the story of the Whitman family began. Dad had wanted a portion of his ashes to be scattered amid those majestic peaks where he grew up.
She reached over and patted the urn that held the rest of his ashes. Riding in the passenger seat, it was held in place by the seat belt.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’m taking you home.”
Copyright © 2021 by Kay Bergstrom
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ISBN-13: 9781488072611
A Loaded Question
Copyright © 2021 by Danica Winters
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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