Page 100 of Lead Me On
“Don’t youeverthreaten me again.”
Flat on the floor, Greg began to curl into a little ball to protect his body, but Jane was done with him. She grabbed her phone, which had finally gone silent, dialed 911 and strolled past Greg without even a twitch of nervousness.
By the time the 911 operator answered, Jane had slammed the door on Greg’s whimpering and was headed downstairs. She filled the police in on what had happened, but her explanation came out in bits and pieces due to the constant beep of the other line.
“I need to answer this other call,” Jane said.
“Ma’am, please stay on the line until the police arrive.”
“But my friend—”
“Ma’am, the intruder is a continued threat. The arriving officers need to—”
“I told you he’s incapacitated.”
“Ma’am—”
The phone beeped again, and Jane hung up on the operator, worried that Chase thought she was being murdered by the serial killer. Before she could click to the other line, the hot squeal of tires on the street outside interrupted. Funny, she hadn’t heard any sirens.
Jane opened the locked front door and was nearly trampled by Chase.
“Jane!” he yelled as his hands latched onto her shoulders. He was wearing gray sweats and nothing else. His hair, which she would’ve thought too short to get mussed, was lying in a funny direction on one side of his head.
“I’m fine.” In fact, she felt fine, despite the throbbing in her right hand.
“What happened?”
“Greg… He broke in.”
“Hewhat?”
“He threatened me earlier today, and I recorded it, and—”
“What?”Panic widened his eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“He said if I didn’t sleep with him, he’d interfere with Jessie’s plea, and spread the word about my past. But I recorded the conversation and told him I was going to get him fired.”
“Oh, Christ,” he muttered.
“So he broke in tonight and tried to make me erase it.”
His gaze rolled toward the open door. “Is he gone?”
“No, he’s upstairs, but—”
He broke for the stairs so quickly that Jane felt the breeze on her pajamas. “I already took care of it,” she called out as she chased after him.
She heard the door slam open before she was halfway there. Greg’s startled yelp of fear mixed with Chase’s low “What the hell?”
“I said I took care of it.” She stopped at Chase’s shoulder, and he looked down at her in complete disbelief.
“You didthat?”
They both turned to look at Greg, who had one hand to his still-bleeding nose and one held out to ward her off. Both eyes were already turning black. “L-Look,” he stammered. “I was just leaving. This doesn’t need to… Oh, God, I think my jaw’s broken.”
Jane shook out her aching hand. “That might explain why my hand hurts so much.”
Greg cringed. “We don’t need to involve—”
