Chapter 8
Kathleen
The adrenaline is just now settling down and reality is starting to sink in.
I was almost kidnapped, and God knows what would have happened to me. Then I was taken from the kidnapper by another guy I only know of.
Levi James.
That in itself shocks me even more and on a totally different level. Where did he come from? What is he going to do with me?
I know what I would like for him to do with me.
I quickly shake those thoughts from my mind. That will never happen. He doesn’t date girls like me. As a matter of fact, I’ve never heard of him dating anyone. Ever. Period.
But then he gets that text. What is all that about? How does he connect to my kidnap attempt? He asked me to tell him everything, but I know nothing. He should be the one explaining things.
“I’m not the only one threatened in that text. You have some explaining to do also.”
He slowly blows out a breath and turns toward me. “The man that text me bet against me on a race yesterday. He lost. I won his money. He isn’t happy about it. I don’t know how he is connected to you, so again, explain.”
I believe him. I don’t know why or how, but I know I can trust him. I saw the race; I know who he’s talking about.
“My dad set me up on a date. I was in the restaurant with him, he was a jerk, so I left. I called my dad to send someone to pick me up. I saw Wilson come outside, and he was on the phone with someone. He told them to find me and sounded angry. When he walked off towards his car, I got up to go inside. That’s when the guy grabbed me.”
We both sit there in silence for a few minutes. I’m looking at my hands in my lap, then I slowly look up to make eye contact with him.
“Thank you for being there. I can’t stop thinking about what could have happened, and what would have happened if you weren’t.”
“To be honest, I didn’t think. I just knew something was wrong and I went into action.”
“So, what now? It looks like we are both in trouble with the same person and I don’t even know why.”
“I don’t know. Let’s get you to your house. We will decide what to do then.”
Levi pulls away from the curb again and we ride in silence all the way to my house. My mind is gone into overdrive, but I can’t think straight about any one particular thing. How did my day go from not really wanting to do something to almost getting taken?
On top of that, I knew Wilson gave me the creeps, but I think he initiated this whole thing. What did I ever do to him? Why would he want me taken? What would he get out of it?
Too many questions and not enough answers.
Levi pulls into my driveway and kills his car. By the way, this car… It’s everything. Complete black interior with orange lights on everything. It feels like a racers car. It looks like a superhero vehicle. I wonder how fast it will go? Now is not the time to talk about it with him, though.
I get out and before I know it, Levi is pushing me back into the car. I am too shocked to move as he runs around to the other side and gets back in.
“What’s going on?”
I look at him and back towards my house. That’s when I see it. A person in all black, coming around the corner of my house. Levi quickly puts it in reverse and backs out into the street. He puts it in drive and all I can hear are the tires squealing and the engine roaring.
Looks like I’m about to see what this Demon can do.
“Where are we going?” I yell over the roar of the motor.
“Let me get farther away and we will talk,” he says as he keeps his eyes on the road. We fly out of my neighborhood and towards the interstate. Once we reach the exit for the interstate, Levi flies onto it, heading north.
After about a mile, he finally slows down. We ride in silence for a while. I have no idea where he is taking me, but I need to ask. I also need to call my dad to tell him what’s going on. He is going to flip out. I usually don’t do too well in silence. I’m a talker. I’m a listener. The silence is about to kill me.
“Can you tell me where we are going?”
“I’m going to take the next exit, and we will talk when we get there.”
I watch the darkness outside my window. The next exit is two miles ahead, so we stay silent until then. Levi takes the exit and pulls into a gas station on the right. After he puts it in park and kills the engine, I wait.
At this moment, there could be a million things going through his mind. Like why did he intervene and save me? Or like what he is going to do with me? Or maybe why he doesn’t put me out right here and go on his merry way? Any of those things would be appropriate. He doesn’t owe me anything. I just hope he doesn’t do the last thing. I have no idea how I’ll get home. I’ll have to wait forever for Dad’s driver to come for me.
“So, Katie. Tell me who you are.” I whip my head toward him. He hasn’t spoken until now.
The timbre of his voice is sexy, but there is an undertone of sarcasm to this statement.
“I’m going to assume your sarcasm is part of your personality and go with it.”
“Assume away.” He doesn’t look at me. I roll my eyes and lean my head back against the seat. Here goes nothing.
“My name is Kathleen Roberts. I work for my dad part time at his management firm in downtown Martinsville. That’s all I can tell you, because that is all there is to know about me.”
“Is your dad Danny Roberts?”
“The one and the same.”
“Did you know he sponsors me?”
“Yes.”
“Is this a ploy of some sort to get close to me?”
I jump up and glare at him. “No!” I calm down a little because he still isn’t looking at me.
“Look. I know who you are. In all honesty, I am a fan. A huge fan. Have you ever seen me before?”
“I can’t say that I have, no. You do look familiar, but I don’t know from where.”
“That’s right. I’ve never came up to you. I’ve been to several of your races and I’ve never approached you. I never…”
He is looking at me now. My tongue is tied. I was going to say that I never had any interest in doing so, but that would be a lie.
“You never what?”
“Never mind. I have no ulterior motive towards you. I have no part in what happened earlier. I was minding my own business. How we got here, you and me, is complete coincidence. I think.” I give him a look. He could be the one with an ulterior motive. I really don’t believe he is, but he accused me, so…
He chuckles. “I have no idea how we got here. I was driving on the wrong side of town. I was in the wrong place at the right time.”
We sit there looking at each other for several minutes. His eyes are starting to draw me in. His beard looks soft, and I ball my hands up in fist to keep from reaching for it and running my fingers through it.
“Why did you tell me your name was Katie?”
“What?” I’m confused for a second. “Oh. My name is Kathleen. Everyone calls me Katie.”
“I’m not. Your name is Kathleen. It fits you better.”
“Oooookay.”