Page 2 of Cyber
I shook my head, my lank hair whipping against my cheeks. “No.” Outside was just another thing that terrified me. Being out there alone, anything could happen. Someone could grab me. Not that being there gave me any more protection. If The Family did in fact come for me, then we didn’t stand a chance. Me and a woman in her seventies against armed mob guys? They would cut us down before we even got off Maggie's overly comfortable sofa.
“You don't have to be so worried, Iris.” Maggie had been beyond patient with me, but it was beginning to wane. I couldn't blame her for that either. “I can come with you if you like?” Tenderly, she reached over to place her age spotted hand over mine. Her skin was papery thin but warm, and I smiled at her. “Maybe...”
The comforting, grandmotherly smile she usually gave me slipped. A frown deepened the lines on her face. “Not maybe, Iris. I don't think I have seen you leave the house since Darcie and Havoc left last week. Being cooped up isn't healthy. You need the sun on your face to put some colour in your cheeks. So, we are going for a walk. Just a short one,” she added as I sucked in a breath. “Me and you.” Her warm fingers curled around my hand, tugging it slightly towards her. “Iris, you have every right to feel afraid. But you are protected here. I promise you. Now up you get. No one is going to hurt you again. It's time to start living your life.”
I opened my mouth to tell her again that I was trying but shut it with a snap when she glared at me. Maggie was always kind to me, but I had heard her rip her grandson a new one on many occasions since he had rescued me. And he was a big, bad biker. Maggie was kick ass and didn’t take any shit.
“Ok.” Heaving myself up from the sofa, I reached down to help her to her feet, not that she needed it. “A little walk sounds good, actually.”
“Good girl.” Her old face creased. “We don't have to go far.”
I followed her, my hand still firmly in hers, like I was a child and she was my responsible adult. Which was exactly what we were right then.
That old biker woman was my security blanket. And God I needed her. More than she could ever realise. But I knew I had to start helping myself as well
What was the saying? Fake it until you make it?
It was time for me to start faking it.
Maybe then people would stop talking around me in hushed whispers.
Stepping out onto the porch, I paused just long enough to raise my face to the sun. Maggie was right, it felt good on my skin. Invigorating.
“Told you.” Maggie paused and the smile on her face slipped as her head swivelled towards the dirt road. The throaty roar of an engine was approaching fast.
“Are you expecting someone?”
Mutely, she stood there, not answering me.
Her grandson had been sending people to check on us every day. They tried to be casual about it, but it was clear that having a steady influx of leather vest-wearing men traipsing through her kitchen wasn't normal for Maggie.
“Get in the house, Iris.” Maggie drew herself up to her full height, which wasn't very much at all, but there was a steely kind of determination on her lined face. “And get my gun.”
I balked at her words. Her gun? Surely she couldn’t be serious? “Maggie, it’s probably…”
She cut me off, her lips a hard, thin line. Her eyes never left the road at the end of her lawn. The sound was louder, approaching fast.
“That’s a car coming, not a bike.”
My eyes followed hers, and I took an involuntary step backwards as I glimpsed a black truck speeding towards us, partially hidden by the high trees. She was right, it wasn't a bike. It was a car.
My heart slammed into my chest, making it almost impossible to breathe. “Maybe someone took a wrong turn.” I was trying to talk myself into not panicking. And I was failing. Maggie had no other neighbours that used that road. She was totally isolated.
“My gun, now, Iris.” The command in her tone couldn’t be ignored, and I moved without thinking. Stepping back into the cool confines of her house, I turned on my heel and rushed towards the kitchen where I had seen her stash a weapon.
I had got maybe three feet when a shot rang out, impossibly loud in the serene quiet that usually surrounded Maggie’s home. Instinctively, I hit the floor with my hands over my head, and I tried not to make a sound.
Not that it would have made any difference. They had come for me. Just like I knew they would. For all her bravado and promises, Maggie was wrong. We hadn’t been safe.
Ten seconds went by, although it felt like an eternity. Ten seconds of absolute silence. Even the birds had shut up. There was no second pop of a gun.
Lifting my head, I started combat crawling along the hardwood floor. Everything inside me wanted to call out to Maggie and make sure she was ok. She had been out there alone and unarmed when the shot had been fired. But I knew I had to be quiet. If they were still out there, then shouting out would alert them that someone was in the house.
Reaching the threshold, I lifted my head a little higher.
My eyes went first to the black SUV that was idling down the drive. They were still there. Waiting for what? Me to show myself? But if that was the case, they could have grabbed me without much fight. Why were they still waiting?
“Iris, get in the house.” Maggie started coughing and my eyes widened when they landed on her. She was sat up against the house, her legs outstretched. Her wrinkled hands clutched at her stomach as crimson stained the front of her dress. Thick, red blood seeped through her fingers.
