(Noah)

I didn’t like myself for knowing where Emily lived. She never left my mind even if she left my heart. Something about her just stuck with me. Maybe I always believed that if I got rich enough I could swing back into her life and save her again.

As I sat outside the two story colonial house with a red door and a white picket fence, I knew there was no chance of ever going back into Emily’s life. There was a two car garage, one door open with a car inside. A basketball hoop was attached to the top of the garage.

I sighed, realizing she had gotten everything she ever wanted in life.

When I rang the doorbell and Emily opened the door, her pretty blue eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. Slowly, she covered her mouth, blinked fast, and she started to shake.

She was the same Emily just in nicer clothes. She was always short, naturally beautiful and skinny. Time aged her a little, but in a graceful way. She looked mature. Her eyes had experience pouring from them. Not to mention the giant diamond on her left hand, resting comfortably against a wedding band.

“Hey,” I said.

“Noah…”

“This is going to sound crazy,” I said. “But I needed to check on you. Something’s wrong. Very wrong, Em. We need to talk.”

“I’m…” She shut her eyes and opened them again. “Are you really here?”

“I’m really here.”

“Are you sure I didn’t fall down the steps and hit my head? That I’m passed out on the floor having this dream?”

I reached out and touched her shoulder. “I’m here. We really need to talk. Privately. Is your… husband… home?”

“No. He’s at work.”

“Kids?”

Emily grinned. “Are you trying to figure out who I am?”

“No, Em. Seth is dead. And Aiden’s brother is after me. He’s attacking and killing everyone I know.”

Just like that, Emily’s face dropped. All the fear from years ago rushed back. All the beauty and look of today reversed back in time. She was the scared young woman desperate for me and Seth to hurt Aiden for what he had done.

Staring at Emily… I’d do it all over again for her.

“Come in,” she said. “I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

“Neither can I,” I said.

* * *

Emily sat at the kitchen table with a coffee mug. It had pictures on it of her husband and kids. There was Happy Mother’s Day written on it with some of the writing chipped away. The entire house looked like it came from a catalogue.

“I can’t believe this,” she whispered.

“I’m really sorry,” I said. “I just needed to know you were okay. Erik killed someone who had notes about us. I don’t know why the guy had notes about us. The second I saw your name I needed to make sure you were okay. I hate to do this, but you really should consider going somewhere.”

“With you?” Emily asked.

“No, Em. With your family. Take a vacation or something. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you again.”

Emily let out a breath and shook her head. “It’s…” She lowered her head and started to sob.

“Hey. You’re going to be okay. I don’t think Erik would come here though. He wants me.”

“He killed Seth?” Emily asked.

“No. That’s a whole other story.” I pulled out a chair and sat down. “Seth isn’t who I thought he was. I’m still trying to process it myself.”

Emily wrapped her hands around the coffee mug. “Noah, I have to tell you something. But you can’t kill me.”

“Why would I kill you?”

“I grew up like you did. You’re carrying a gun in your back pocket. That’s why you’re half sitting in the chair. You asked if my family is home. They’re not. Mark is at work. Mikey is at school. He’ll be home soon. My oldest, Lizzie, goes from school to field hockey practice. She gets home around five, in time for dinner. Mikey is the first to get home. He doesn’t need to find me…”

I put a hand to Emily’s wrist. “I swear to you, I’m not here to kill you. I’m trying to help you. Now what do you have to tell me?”

Emily wouldn’t look at me.

And as though I had one more sliver of heart to be cut by her, she said, “Aiden never… he never forced himself on me. Me and Seth set it up.”

* * *

I stood up and walked away from the table.

The kitchen was dead silent except for the ticking of a clock hanging above the kitchen sink. I looked out the window to the backyard. There was a big wooden swing set in need of a little TLC. A hockey net was in the corner of the yard. The white picket fence ran the length of the yard with a small flower garden along the back.

“Seth was paid to kill Aiden,” Emily said. “He offered to give me some money if I helped him. It was crazy and dangerous. I was stupid, Noah.”

“So what did you do?”

“I flirted with Aiden. I kind of sucked him in.”

“Christ.”

“Yeah. He got touchy-feely with me and it freaked me out. I thought I was going to have to sleep with him or something. When I panicked, he did too. I didn’t realize who his brother was or would become. I didn’t know what to say to you. I thought if I said I was touched or whatever you’d back away from me. You wanted me so bad, Noah. Part of me always wanted you, but I didn’t want your life. The fighting. All the worry. So in my mind, I thought you’d back off. Seth would kill Aiden and get his money. Then I could just slip away. I never loved Seth.”

“Good to know,” I said. I turned and looked at Emily. She was crying. “Erik wants revenge. I’m trying to find a way to stop him.”

“I never asked for any of it,” Emily said. “I was just trying to survive. You and me… Noah…” She stood up and wiped her eyes. “If I let myself fall for you it would have been bad.”

“I’m not here to pretend what could have been.”

Emily nodded. “Seth told me he’d give me money and I’d be able to leave. He knew what I wanted. We pretended to be together.”

“The night I caught you in the back of the car?”

Emily swallowed hard. “We were drunk. It was one time.”

“Then it was all bullshit?”

“Yes.”

“But you got away anyway.”

“After the murder, yeah. Seth gave me some money. I got a bus ticket and left. I went up to Oregon. Tried to settle but couldn’t. So I came back down this way and thought about getting in touch with you. Then I met Mark. The rest is history.”

“History,” I said. “Right. Well, you need to protect yourself and your family or else all of this will be history. Erik is out of his fucking mind.”

“And nobody cares? Nobody is stopping him?”

“He’s using his power and badge, Em.” I looked around again. I had seen and heard enough. “I have to go. You’re safe. I gave you a warning. There’s nothing else here.”

I started to walk and she grabbed my arm. She pulled at me, digging her nails into my arm. I turned around, regretting it as she got way too close to me. She was still as beautiful as I remembered her. Those old feelings were still hot embers. But I’d never let them breathe to life again.

“I’m sorry, Noah. For everything. I wanted to love you. But I have this life now.”

“Are you happy?”

“Sometimes.”

“Okay. I’m giving you warning about Erik. You need to be careful. There’s only so much I could do.”

“What do you do, Noah? For a living?”

“Look at my face, Em. What do you think I do? I fight. It’s the only thing I’ve ever known.”

She nodded. “Mark owns a security company. He can get any information about anyone. I tried a few times to look you up without him knowing. But I don’t understand the software. He doesn’t know much about my past, but I’m going to call him about Erik. Find out everything I can. Okay? I’ll do that for you. I’ll try to make it up to you.”

“Don’t put yourself in danger, Em.”

“I’m in danger already. Can I have your number to call you?”

“Sure.”

I gave Emily my cell number and then had to get out of there.

As I walked down the steps from the long front porch, a young kid walked to the gate and opened it. He looked at me and I knew it was Emily’s son. His eyes were the same as his mother’s. He was skinny, with a t-shirt that was too damn long. He also had a nice shiner on his left eye. The neck of his t-shirt was stretched out.

“What the hell happened to you, kid?” I asked.

“Who are you?”

“Cable guy.”

He looked afraid. “Nothing happened.”

“Looks like someone knocked you on your ass. Someone bothering you?”

“I have to go.”

He moved by me.

“Hey,” I said. “Protect your face, kid. Fists up. Don’t be afraid of anything in life. Especially a bully. They’re the ones who are afraid. Got it?”

“Yeah, whatever,” he said. He then pointed to roof and said, “We have satellite, by the way.”

I smiled. “That’s why I didn’t make the sale.”

I hurried to my car and drove away.

In my mind all I could see was Emily dead. And that kid, Mikey, on the kitchen floor with a bullet hole in his head, still wearing the same stretched out t-shirt.

“Fucking bullies,” I whispered.

That’s what Erik was. A bully.

And I was going to kill him.