Strange Neighbors (3 page)

   Strolling away from her car with competing thoughts swirling through her brain, she fumbled in the dark for her back-door key. Suddenly, her feet went out from under her and she found herself hurled to the ground and pinned by some foul-smelling brute. A moment later she realized she had hit hard pavement with her head.

   Unable to find her voice right away, or even process what had happened, she lay there, dumbstruck. The moon reflected a glint of metal nearing her face.

   "Shhh… Don't scream and I won't hurt you—much." Maniacal laughter followed. A hand fumbled with the buttons on her coat.

   Oh my God. What is it they tell you to do in case of rape? Oh, yeah, scream!

   Merry inhaled deeply and let out a blood curdling scream. She didn't even recognize the voice as hers. Suddenly her throat tightened and she recognized another threat—her asthma.

   She remembered being told to fight but not struggle. They liked it when a woman struggled. Gouge out his eyes! Punch his nose up into his brains. Fight like your life depends on it.

   As she tried and failed to get near the bastard's face, her assailant grabbed her wrists in one hand and pressed the sharp knife to her neck with the other.

He hissed, "Shut up! I told you to shut up!"

   She pushed his arm away from her and freed one hand. Grabbing anything else she could get a hold of, she tried to yank him off of her.

   His jeans must have hung low on his hips, because she grabbed onto the waistband of his underwear. Riiiiiip.

   The perp yelped. His eyes flashed in horror and she realized she had just given him a world-class wedgie.

   Dear God, I'm going to die. I'm going to be raped and killed in a back alley on my first night as an independent adult. I'm never going to fall in love, get married, hug my children, or live in a McMansion.

   The knife pressed into her flesh, and the warm trickle down her neck meant he had pierced the skin. Should she scream again? Would he just kill her and leave her rather than rape her? Or would he, ewww, kill her first, then rape her? Oh, my freakin' God!

   As she contemplated what would be the lesser of all possible evils, the man flew off of her and landed a few feet away. At first, she didn't see anyone else.

   When she blinked, two shadowy figures stood over the gasping pervert. One of them clamped his boot on the would-be rapist's neck and pointed a gun at his face. The other one hurried over to Merry and helped her up.

   "Thank you. Both of you. You saved my life!" The man holding her elbow seemed preoccupied with her neck. Awareness rolled over her. She recognized the dark-haired man who had been leaning against the wrought iron fence, watching her move in. Again, he wore all black, but the concern on his face completely changed his ominous air. His dark chocolate eyes were warm and almond shaped, much like her own.

"He missed your carotid artery. You'll be okay."

   Merry touched her neck. Thankfully, his diagnosis seemed true. Blood simply trickled from the wound, it didn't gush.

   "I saw you yesterday," she said. "Do you live in this building?"

   "Nearby," he said, then he turned his attention to the other man, a tall blond with broad shoulders—also dressed in black. "Konrad, here, is one of your neighbors. Hey," he called to the tall blond with the massive shoulders, "leave him to me and take her inside."

   "Good idea, Sly," the striking Viking said. His white teeth glistened as a grin spread across his face. His canines seemed larger and more pronounced than in most men. Light facial hair and a short goatee softened his jawline. He had heavy brows of the same color. His ears were slightly pointed and poked though his almost waist-length hair.

   The dark-haired man called Sly moved with lightning speed, holding down the assailant.

   The guy protested vehemently. "No, please! I'll do anything you ask. Just let me go."

   The blond Konrad changed places with Sly and escorted Merry to the back door. She glided along beside him, numb, as if in a dream.

   As soon as she had ascended the concrete steps, before she stepped through the door that Konrad held open for her, she turned and caught only a glimpse of the scene she had left behind. Sly knelt beside the stranger and leaned over by his head. Konrad placed his hand on her lower back and hurried her in, closing the door on a male scream that emanated from the dark alley.

Merry left Konrad sitting at her kitchen table and strolled to the bathroom, saying, "The hydrogen peroxide is going to sting like crazy, but I know the importance of preventing infection."

   She dug through the box marked Linen closet until she found some bandaging supplies. As she swabbed the area, she gritted her teeth and hissed, inhaling a long breath until the worst of the sting abated. A thin bandage did its job staunching the blood.

   When she returned, she offered Konrad something to drink.

   "No, thanks. I'm fine, but let me get you something while you sit and relax."

   Yeah, right. She sat shivering, her arms wrapped around herself while Konrad put the teakettle on and found a mug. Soon he handed her chamomile tea with a spoonful of honey, and she warmed her hands on the steaming mug.

   "This is the same comfort drink my mother used to give me when I was hurt or upset as a child. How did you know?" And the same thing I made for my father when my mother was senselessly murdered during a robbery.

   "Well, you had tea bags and honey in your cupboard."

   "Oh yeah." Her thoughts returned to the incident. "Th-that man…" she began. "I…"

   "It's been handled by now. He didn't get your clothes off, so I'd guess your virtue is intact. Right?"

   She nodded.

   A knock at the door of the apartment startled her and she jumped.

"I'll get it," he said.

   "Thanks." Normally she'd let her guest sit and answer her own door, but at the moment she liked the idea of someone else facing the unknown behind it.

   Her kitchen kitty-cornered off the living and dining area, out of view of the front door, but she heard both male and female voices.

   Jason led the pack and soon her tiny kitchen had filled up with several people she'd never met, all of whom seemed concerned for her safety. Konrad filled them in on what had happened.

   "Some creep accosted her in the alley. She's okay though," he added hurriedly.

   Jason shook his head, wearing a grave expression. "I'll install motion sensors and spotlights back there tomorrow. I'm sorry I didn't think to do it before."

   "Oh, Jason," an older woman with short, curly, dyedbrown hair in desperate need of a root touch-up said. "It's not your fault. How could you know anyone would be foolish enough to hang around in the alley at night."

   Everyone, including Merry, gaped at her. Did she really blame her? She spoke as if instead of merely coming home from work and parking her car right next to her apartment building, she had lollygagged in the alley, waiting for trouble!

   "Aunt Dottie, don't be insensitive. It's not her fault."

   Thank you, Mr. Hottie. I don't care if she's your aunt or not, that was freakin' rude.

   "Damn right," said Konrad. He shot a pointed look at Dottie. "She was minding her own business—something everyone ought to do."

   Merry fidgeted. "I had just come home from work and somewhere between my car and the back door, this pervert jumped me." She nodded to Konrad. "Thank goodness you guys got to me as quickly as you did. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there."

   "Died, probably," said Nathan, her rail-thin neighbor from across the hall.

   One of the attractive women who shared an apartment on the third floor threw her hands in the air. She had been introduced as Morgaine. She looked nice enough, although her black-lined eyes, black lipstick, and black nail polish made her seem a bit gothic. Jet black hair and a black dress completed the image. "Well, Nathan, it looks like Dottie's not the only insensitive person in the room! Anyone else want to take potshots at the poor girl who was just attacked?"

   "I wasn't being insensitive," Dottie blustered. "I just meant it wasn't Jason's fault in case anyone decides to file a lawsuit." Her eyes narrowed on Merry.

   "I wouldn't sue him, Mrs. Falco. I'm not like that."

   Dottie crossed her arms over her small chest and continued to cast a suspicious look her way. "Well, I noticed that one of the friends you listed as a reference is a lawyer."

   "So? She's a defense attorney."

   "So? She's still a lawyer."

   Jason put his arm around his aunt and steered her out of the kitchen. "Leave the poor girl alone, Aunt Dottie. She's just been through a horrible experience."

   "Fine. I will," Dottie said, in a miffed tone. Merry blew out a breath of relief when Jason returned without her.

   "I apologize for my aunt, Merry. She isn't usually like that."

   "Only when she's breathing," Konrad mumbled.

   Apparently the others overheard him and chuckled softly.

   Jason heaved a sigh. "She's just looking out for my best interests since we're family." He focused his gaze on Merry and a deep look of concern crossed his face. "Are you really all right, Merry? Do you want me to call anyone? Your father maybe?"

   "God, no!" I'd better squash that line of thinking immediately or I'll be hauled back to Rhode Island kicking and screaming. "Look." She squared her shoulders. "No one has to tiptoe around me. I'm not a fragile little girl. I'm tougher than I look. I understand that these things happen and assigning blame isn't especially constructive. I happened to step out of my car at the wrong time. I think I've calmed down enough to call the police and report the incident."

   "No!" Konrad jumped right out of his chair and stood between her and the wall phone.

   He reacted in such a commanding way that Merry wondered what could possibly threaten a big guy like him. Did he need to avoid the police for his own reasons?

   "I—I won't bring you into it if you don't want me to, but I should at least tell them what happened."

   "And how are you going to do that without bringing me and Sly into it?"

   Jason scratched his head. "Who's Sly?"

   Merry explained, "There was another man who intervened. Sly's the one who held the attacker down while Konrad took me inside."

   "Ohhh…" The group of long-term residents groaned together.

   What was that about?

   Then Morgaine said, "Yeah, you don't want to do that… call the police, I mean."

   Merry looked from one person to the next and the only one who seemed confused was she. "But why?"

   "What good would it do?" Konrad rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, you're all right. You said so yourself. It's not like the cops are going to find him. It's way too late now."

   Jason shrugged. "You can do what you want, Merry, but to be honest, I'm not crazy about drawing attention to the building. A police car parked out front will do that. If for some reason they want to speak to me, it'll wind up in the news and I really want to keep a low profile."

   Konrad interjected, "He's a celebrity. The last thing he needs is bad press."

   Gwyneth, the pretty redhead from 3B drawled, "Sugar, we've all been asked to send any problems to the super, Ralph. He's Dottie's husband. If he or Jason can handle the matter, they will."

   "Oh. Okay, I understand. I won't call them, then."

   Seconds later, blue lights flickered intermittently through her window.

   Gwyneth slapped a hand over her chest. "I do declare!"

   "Damn," Konrad groaned. "Dottie must have called them."

   "We should have known that would happen," Nathan said. "Well, I'm out of here."

The following day, Merry, more shaken up than she had let on, switched shifts with another nurse so she didn't have to work. Sleep had come hard and left her jaw sore from fitfully grinding her teeth.

   She puttered around her apartment, unpacked boxes, and put her special things where she could see and enjoy them. Her new gold silk curtains were now proudly hung at the bay windows. They were a splurge she couldn't stop herself from buying as she excitedly shopped for her first place. She didn't want to cover her hardwood floors as much as accent them, so she bought a five-by-seven faux oriental area rug to group her furniture around.

   Other than those two things, everything else had been hers or extra things her family didn't need. Like a second set of dishes and stainless flatware. At one point, her mother decided she wanted new patterns and, thankfully, she hadn't thrown out the old ones.

   Merry lined the pass-through from the kitchen to the dining area with plants. Her father had insisted he'd only kill them if she left them behind.

   Her Mickey Mouse clock hung on the far wall of the kitchen over the table for two, adding some whimsy to the windowless galley.

   The excitement she should have felt while decorating her very first apartment eluded her.

   "How dare some perv deprive me of this long-awaited thrill. This was supposed to be my time."

   She had planned to rebel. To make up for the years she'd had to put up with being sheltered. Not only that, but she took care of others when she should have been out all night, kicking up her heels and raising hell.

   A knock sounded on her front door.

   When she opened it, Jason stood there looking yummier than ever.