Free Falling (38 page)

As I stumbled out onto the street I bumped straight into
someone who was going into the store, almost knocking us both over. “Hey, slow
down!” he cried angrily. I screamed as his arms closed around me. My panic was
at an all-time high, my pulse drumming in my ears as I thrashed and screamed,
shoving myself away from him. “Whoa, careful! What’s wrong with you, girl?” the
guy snapped, shaking his head at me and glaring as he righted himself. “Aren’t
you even going to apologise for almost knocking me on my ass?”

I was hyperventilating now, my tears made everything blurry
as all I could think about was getting away, running, finding help. My hand was
still clutched my phone so tightly my knuckles were hurting. I whimpered,
shoving my hand in my pocket and looking for my keys as I turned and ran
towards where I’d parked my car about two hundred yards away.

Get in the car. You’ll be fine in the car.
The car,
salvation, was getting closer and closer, my target seemed achievable and just
within reach.
It’s just fifty yards now, Maisie. Just get in the car.
I
chanted the instructions over and over in my head as I yanked my keys out of my
pocket. The car was about twenty steps away now, but my hand was shaking so
badly that the keys slid out of my hand. Where I was running they hit my foot,
skidding into the road and straight under the car parked three cars away from
mine.

“Damn it!” I hissed.

“Maisie?”

The sound of my name being shouted made my muscles tighten
all over my body. My head whipped up, seeing a guy a couple of hundred yards
away. His face was hidden because of the angle of the street lights beating
down on him.

I gasped, immediately ducking between the cars that were
parked along the edge of the street. I dropped to my knees, crawling around to
the other side. I leant down quickly, seeing my keys just behind the tyre at
the back of the car next to the one I was crouched behind. Footsteps sounded,
getting closer. I held my breath, willing my heart to quieten because the sound
of it hammering in my chest was sure to give away my whereabouts.

The footsteps were closer now. My eyes widened as I crawled
quickly to the next car, leaning down and reaching behind the tyre, but I couldn’t
find my keys. My hand slapped at the ground under the car, my fingers finally
grazing the cool metal of a key. “Oh God, come on, please?” I whispered,
fumbling again, touching the tip of the ring with my finger.

The footsteps were the other side of the car now. I looked
down under the car, seeing sneakered feet walk past the other side of the car
to me, heading to the spot a few cars up where I’d darted between them. I knew
I needed to move. The taste of my own blood filled my mouth as I bit the inside
of my cheek, frozen, wondering if I could even move if I tried. Some burst of
energy seemed to come from nowhere as he took another step towards the other
end of the car from where I was.

By sheer luck, my finger caught the loop of my keys and I
shoved myself to my feet. My heart sank as I suddenly realised that I wouldn’t
be able to get to my car now anyway because it was too close to where the guy
was. I swallowed awkwardly where my mouth had gone dry, and decided that my
best chance was to get back to the movie store, lock myself in and demand that
they call the police.

My feet were on the move again as I turned on my heel and
ran as fast as I could towards the store. But because I was shaking so badly I
somehow managed to roll my ankle to the side. I yelped at the pain, stumbled,
and lost my balance. I slammed into the concrete floor, throwing my hands out
to protect my face from hitting the floor. My hands and knees scraped across
the pavement as I fell. My phone skidded along the floor, my purse opened
spilling the contents everywhere, but I didn’t care. I whimpered, getting up on
to all fours, ignoring the burning pain on my hands. My gaze was firmly focused
on the door to the store that was illuminated merely two hundred yards away
from me. I had to make it.

Quick footsteps behind me sounded, and before I even had the
chance to panic and push myself back to my feet again, hands clamped around my
upper arms. My natural reaction was a piercing scream that echoed off of the
cars and walls of the buildings, cutting through the night and making a bird
take flight into a nearby tree.

Chapter 24

“Maisie, Maisie, Jesus, what’s wrong with you? Stop
screaming! What have you hurt? Have you broken something?”

“Get off me!” I screamed, trashing, trying to wriggle out of
the vice like grip that was wrapped around my arms. “Get the heck off me, you
psycho!”

Almost instantly the hands disappeared. “I was only trying
to help you up,” the voice snapped behind me. “Stop shouting and screaming,
people are gonna think I’m hurting you or something. I’ll end up arrested again
if you don’t stop!”

Arrested again? What does that mean?
I blinked a
couple of times, looking over my shoulder, trying to get my emotions under
control. Zach scowled down at me as he took a step back, holding up his hands
innocently. His eyes were concerned as he regarded me worriedly.

I gulped, pushing myself up to sitting, keeping my eyes on
him in case anything happened. Was it just coincidence that those texts were
received saying someone could see me and then Zach was there? I didn’t know the
answer. But just the fact that he was standing there was surely a sign of his
innocence. The police had let him go, which meant they hadn’t found anything in
his house that connected him to the phone calls.

“Are you okay? What were you running like that for? You
looked like you were going to shit a brick,” he muttered, lowering his hands,
moving slowly as if he was trying not to startle me or anything.

“I was frightened. I…” I gulped, my voice barely above a
whisper. “I need to go. There’s someone watching me. I need to get home!” I
awkwardly tried to push myself up but as soon as I got half way an agonising
pain shot through my ankle making me drop down to the floor again and yelp.

My eyes glazed over as I clenched my jaw, trying to think of
anything else. Zach squatted down in front of me, his hands instantly going to
my ankle. “Stay still. Let me see,” he cooed.

“I need to go home,” I croaked, looking longingly at my car
before glancing up and down the street, waiting for some knife wielding maniac
to jump out and hack me to pieces. My whole body was trembling now. Cold seemed
to seep into my very veins, turning my blood into ice. My teeth knocked
together loudly, so I clenched my jaw, trying to keep myself focussed by
watching what Zach was doing.

Zach shook his head, carefully unlacing my sneaker and
easing it off along with my sock. “Let me just take a look and make sure it’s
not broken before we move you,” he instructed. I closed my eyes as he felt and
prodded at my ankle causing more pain to erupt in little bursts. “This isn’t
broken. I think it’s just sprained,” he said finally.

All of a sudden my emotions got the better of me and I burst
into tears, covering my face with scratched hands and pulling my good leg up to
my chest.

“Maisie, shh, it’s alright. Are you okay?” Zach’s voice was
soft as one of his hands stroked the back of my head and the other rubbed on my
shin.

I peeked through my fingers, seeing that he was looking at
me with worried eyes. “I’m okay. It’s just my ankle really,” I croaked.

He groaned, leaning forward and pressing his forehead to my
temple. “Let me see these,” he cooed, taking hold of my wrists and pulling my
hands away from my face. I looked down at my hands too, seeing lots of tiny
scrapes and grazes with blood oozing out in parts. “These don’t look too bad.
We should get the dirt out though.” He pulled the bottom of his sweatshirt up,
wiping my hands gently, brushing off the dirt and little stones that were there
before blotting the blood away. “I suppose you think I’m the one that killed
Sandy too, huh? That’s why you were running from me,” he observed, his voice
sad as he kept his gaze firmly locked on my hands.

I gulped. Did I think it was him? I was just frightened in
the heat of the moment; I didn’t know that the guy who shouted my name was
Zach. Would I have run if I did? I didn’t think so. Now that I knew it was him,
my heart rate had started to slow down, the fear had started to ebb away, and I
was actually incredibly glad that he was here. I wasn’t frightened of him in
the slightest as he crouched there tending to my wounds.

“I didn’t know it was you that shouted me,” I explained. “I
was already frightened and then I saw a shadowy figure in the street shouting
my name, and I freaked out even more.” I hissed through my teeth as he turned
his attention to my knees, rolling up my jeans so he could see the scratches
there too. “And I don’t think you killed Sandy,” I added confidently. I didn’t
know why I was so sure that it wasn’t him, I barely even knew him, but what I
did know about him told me that he wouldn’t knowingly hurt a girl. A guy, yes,
but a girl, no.

His lips parted as he turned his head, his gaze meeting
mine. His eyes shone with gratitude in the darkness as his fingers deftly
worked to roll my jeans up over my sore knees. “Well you and Olivia are the
only ones that seem to believe that,” he muttered somewhat angrily. “Why were
you frightened in the first place?” he asked, frowning.

I gulped. Zach didn’t know much about the harassment that
had been going on. Other than family, I’d only told Charlotte, Beth and Luke.
All Zach knew was that Chester had been poisoned because I told him at school
the other day. “Some things have been going on recently. Someone’s been
harassing me. I’ve been getting threatening letters and phone calls.”

His head snapped up at that. “Seriously? Wait, phone calls?
Is that why the police kept asking me if I had another phone? They think I’m
the one that’s harassing you?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

I shrugged, looking away from him because I actually felt
terrible that he’d been arrested for it. “I guess so. The person broke into my
house and poisoned Chester, which is why they were asking you about
fingerprints in my house and on his collar,” I explained.

He sucked in a deep breath through his teeth, nodding slowly
as if everything was now dropping into place and he understood what was going
on. “That makes sense now. They just kept asking and asking how I explained my
prints being on the collar and in your house. It’s so stupid. Of course I
touched your dog, it was hard not to when he’s jumping around your feet asking
to be petted,” he muttered. “And then they were asking about a phone, where I put
it, where I bought it, that kind of thing, but I didn’t really know what they
were talking about. Now it makes sense.”

I nodded, tentatively touching one of the cuts on my knee
and wincing when it burned. “Apparently the number that keeps calling and messaging
me, called Sandy an hour before she was murdered,” I added, my voice wavering
as the trembling in my body seemed to double.

His eyes widened as his grip on my hands tightened. “The
person who killed Sandy is contacting you too? No freaking wonder why they were
busting my ass in there. They were relentless. Now everything makes sense.” He
stood up, looking up the street. “There’s a café open up there. Let’s get you
off the cold floor and in there in the warm. I’ll get you some ice for that
foot before it swells too badly. I’ll take you home in a little while,” he
suggested, before bending down and picking up my purse for me, collecting all
of the contents and shoving it back inside.

He grabbed my shoe and sock, slipping it under his armpit
before standing up and holding down both hands to me. I smiled gratefully and
placed my hands in his, letting him pull me to my feet, trying not to wince as
the little scratches ached on my hands. “Keep that foot off the floor,” he
instructed, looping my arm over his shoulder and wrapping his other arm around
my waist, taking most of my weight. I nodded in agreement, not planning to put
it on the floor anyway because the ache was already bad enough and I didn’t
want to make it any worse.

He looked down, frowning before reaching down and brushing
his hand over my butt a couple of times, obviously wiping something from there.
I gasped, shocked by his hands on my body. “Shouldn’t you a-ask before you
start f-feeling me up in the middle of the s-street?” I joked weakly, stuttering
as the shivering started to get worse.

His eyes widened and he whipped his hand away quickly, a
subtle blush forming on his cheekbones as he looked away and up the street.
“Sorry. You have mud and dirt all over you, I didn’t mean…” He shook his head,
tightening his jaw.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at how uncomfortable he was. “I
was k-kidding,” I muttered, giggling at his horrified expression. I hadn’t
taken Zach for the innocent type; he was always so cocky and self-assured. Why
was he so embarrassed to have touched my behind? It was obvious that it was an
innocent move.

He sighed deeply. “Maisie, you’re shaking. I’m not sure if
you’re going into shock,” he muttered.

I shook my head at that, tightening my arm around his neck
as I shifted my weight on my good foot. “I-I’m f-fine. Just c-cold,” I
stuttered as another shiver racked my body.

His eyes tightened. “Come on. Let’s get you in there so you
can sit,” he said, nodding at the café again.

Awkwardly, we hobbled and hopped up the street to the café
with Zach taking most of my weight as we went. As he pushed open the door and
helped me inside, the smell of coffee hit me in the face making me moan in
appreciation. The warmth of the place was a little overwhelming on my skin, but
it was like my insides had frozen solid. The place was deserted.

The waiter looked up as we walked in, a startled expression
on his face. “Is she alright?” he asked, coming over to us quickly.