Page 92 of Finding Carly
It was easy to armchair quarterback what she might do now if Shawn was still alive and tried to snatch her, but she wanted to think she’d be able to get away from him somehow. She never went anywhere without the small bottle of pepper spray in her purse, and she made sure to always wear shorts or pants with pockets so she could carry the pocketknife Jag had given her. She’d learned a lot of ways to use her body—elbows, knees, even her head if necessary—to get someone to let go of her so she could run like hell.
That was one of the things Elizabeth hammered home in every session. The goal was to get away from an attacker. Not stay and beat him up.Get away. Facts showed that once a bad guy got someone in a car, the chances of the victim surviving went down at least fifty percent. Elizabeth also said one of the best weapons a woman, or anyone, had was their voice. People who were up to no good didn’t want any attention brought to what they were doing. So even if an attacker told you not to make a sound, nine times out of ten it was better to scream your head off.
Of course, Elodie had to go and ask what happened if theyweren’tin a public place. She was probably thinking about what had happened to her when her life was threatened in the middle of the ocean, where no one would have heard her if she’d screamed.
Elizabeth’s answer was to tap her temple with her finger. “Then you have to be smarter than your attacker.”
It was a simplistic answer, which Carly didn’t really think would actually help in a life-or-death situation, but she understood Elizabeth’s point. Panicking wouldn’t help. And if there wasn’t anyone around who could help, it would be up to the victim to help themselves.
Shaking her head, not wanting to think about such depressing things, Carly typed out a response to Kenna.
Carly: Thanks. I wouldn’t be doing nearly as well without your help. I admire you a hell of a lot, woman. Even before I really got to know you, I looked up to you. Love you.
Kenna sent back an entire string of emojis in response, and Carly could only laugh. It was such a Kenna thing to do. She was about to put her phone back down so she could go back to daydreaming about Jag when it rang, scaring the shit out of her.
Chuckling at her over-the-top reaction, she answered.
“Hello?”
“Oh, thank God you’re there. This is Alani. I need your help.”
“What’s wrong?” Her boss sounded frazzled, which was very unlike Alani. She was usually unflappable, so something major had to be up for her to be calling so early, and sounding so out of sorts.
“Today’s our inspection from the health department. Usually I’m not concerned. We do everything we’re supposed to and if we’re cited for something, it’s super nit-picky and isn’t a big deal. But the new manager was on yesterday, which you know, since you worked with him. He’s been good for the most part, and he’s great with asshole customers, but today’s delivery of supplies just arrived. Robert placed the order for the first time by himself yesterday. I have no idea what happened, if he got interrupted or was distracted or what, but instead of two cases of lettuce, he orderedtwenty. We’re also overwhelmed with broccoli. There’s no way we can use fifty-five heads!”
“Holy crap, seriously?” Carly asked.
“Yes!” Alani practically yelled. “Normally, I wouldn’t care. I’d probably even laugh it off. But we also got our monthly order for hula pie supplies. There’s no space in the refrigerators for all the extra produce. If the inspectors get here and see that stuff sitting around, not properly stored, we’re gonna get hammered. Even if I explain what happened and told them we aren’t going to serve the stuff that’s not refrigerated to customers, they might not believe me.”
“What can I do to help?” Carly asked. She felt awful for her boss. Alani was an amazing manager and it wouldn’t look good for her if Duke’s got a low score from the health department on her watch. Even if it wasn’t her fault.
“I hate to even ask this, because I know it’s not something you’re going to be comfortable doing, but I tried calling a few others and everybody already has plans.”
“It’s okay, Alani,” Carly assured her.
“I called Food For All, and they said they’d be happy to take the extra lettuce and broccoli. The Barbers Point location is closed today, but they said the downtown building was open and could take the extra food.”
Carly nodded. She remembered Lexie and Ashlyn saying the other day that they’d be closed most of today because they were doing a mobile food drive downtown. The goal was to bring attention to the need for donations and to try to humanize the homeless in the area. Kenna and Elodie were also going to help, as well. Carly had wanted to go, but she knew it would be too much for her. She felt awful about sitting at home while her friends were out doing good deeds in the community, but she vowed to make up for it somehow.
“I’d never normally bother you this early, but the inspector usually shows up around ten,” Alani went on, her voice rising with her anxiety. “If I can get the excess food out of here, I think we’ll be okay, but I can’t leave.”
Carly stood up and headed for the bedroom to change. “I can be there in about half an hour,” she told her.
“I owe yousohard,” Alani said, the relief easy to hear in her tone. “Pull up right outside the hotel, I’ll come out there and meet you so you won’t have to park in the garage. I think I can get the extra stuff into about three boxes. That’ll fit in your car, won’t it?”
“We’ll make it fit,” Carly reassured her.
“Thanks again, Carly, you’re a lifesaver! Seriously.”
“I’ll see you soon,” she said.
“Bye.”
Carly clicked off the phone and grabbed a tank top from the drawer. She stood there for a moment, staring at Jag’s dresser. He’d moved his stuff around and cleared out two drawers for her. It was still a little hard for her to believe things were going as well as they were, but she was deliriously happy and wasn’t about to question it. She put on a bra and pulled a black tank over her head. She decided to wear pants, as the weathermen were predicting rain later that afternoon and there was a pretty good breeze outside right now.
After slipping on the khakis, Carly grabbed a pair of flip-flops and headed for the bathroom. She ran a brush through her hair and tied it back with a scrunchie. She took a moment to stare at herself in the mirror. She barely recognized this woman from the one she’d been a few months ago. Her face had filled out a little from eating regular healthy meals and she no longer had dark circles under her eyes.
She felt like a new person, and she loved who she was right now. She wasn’t going to ever go back to the scared, withdrawn woman she’d become after Shawn’s insane kidnapping plot.
