Leticia (18 page)

Just
after speaking
to my last client Nancy knocked on
the door
and came in the room.

“How are you this morning?” She asked
.

“
O
K
actually, just got a lot to sort out and a fair few phone calls to make
.
”

“Insurance and everything?”

“Yeah
.
”

“Well Jackson and Tristan have gone out and I need to
run
to the supermarket, will you be
alright
on your own or do you want to come with me?”

“I’ll be fine
.
I need to get things sorted
.
”

“
O
K
,
” she said a little disheartened
.
“
W
ell help yourself to anything you need
.
”

“Thanks Nancy
.
”

I walked downstairs with her and saw her out
, then decided to make
myself a cup of tea and some toast before
starting
the calls.

I was on the phone for hours, so much so that Nancy had been out and come back, put the shopping away and was now trying to put a new table together in the study. She was cursing like mad
.
Obviously
things weren’t going right for her.

“Why don’t you let the guys do it?” I laughed, entering the room
.

“Because they said I wouldn’t be able to do it and I want to prove them wrong
.
”

“
Let
me help you, I’m pretty good at this sort of thing
.
”

“No because then they have still won
.
”

“Not if we tell them you did it yourself
,
” I winked
.

She smiled and moved aside so I could take a look at it, it was fairly simple really. I showed her what to do and held things in place so she could put the screws in, and in no time at all, the table was stood in the middle of the room looking good.

“You’re a life saver, thank you very much
,
” she smiled
. “It’s not as nice as the one we used to have in here. But Jackson broke it...”

“Why?”

“He came in furious the night you helped Adam. He walked in here swearing his head off, and sadly he killed the table.”

“Oh, erm...”

“You don’t have to say anything, he just lost his temper. Anyway, enough about Jackson, he has his table back now. Thanks again.”

“Anytime, but remember you built this
all by yourself
.
”

“Great. So what do you want to do now?”

“I need a new car and some clothes
.”

“
Let’s
go out then
.
There’s
car sales places on the way to Huddersfield, we could go and see if they have anything that takes your fancy. Then we could go shopping for clothes and get some lunch
while
we
’
re out
,
”
she suggested.

“I don’t know I
…
”

“Oh please, I haven’t done anything like that for ages
.
”

“
Go on then
.
”

We had a look at two car sales
center
s and I finally decided on
one
, a three year old Range Rover. It wasn’t as nice as the last one I had, but I liked it, it was in good condition and by god could it move. I decided to pick it up after we’d been shopping for clothes, after all, what was the point in using both cars and paying
for the gas?
We spent ages going in and out of different shops and I ended up spending a small fortune
.
Nancy didn't do too bad either, she had a fair few bags of stuff.

We decided to put all the things in the
trunk
of the car and then headed into a nice cafe for lunch. I order a chicken
Caesar
salad,
while
Nancy had tuna with pasta. She was telling me how she wanted to re-decorate the house, and all the things she wanted to buy for it to make it have a more modern feel. Then, she fell silent
.
Her
eyes seemed fixed on the window behind me.

“Are you
OK
?” I asked a little concerned
.

“
Turn
around
casually;
you’ll see what’s got my attention
.
”

I did as she said and she was right. There
were
three men staring at the cafe from the other side of the road. All of them looked as dirty and malnourished as the men who had previously attacked us.

“
Oh
wonderful, I can’t go anywhere now
,
” I muttered
.
“
Bastards.
”

“Maybe we should wait for a while, maybe they’ll leave
.
”

“Do you honestly believe that?”

“
Well
maybe
we
should call Jackson and Tristan
.
”

“Nancy, we don’t always need guys here you know
.
”

“Yeah I know
,
” she said rather defensively
.
“I just meant for back-up
.
”

“There’s a
shape shifter
and a werewolf here, I’m pretty sure we could handle three human beings. Let’s just finish our coffee and walk out of here with our heads held high
.
”

“Yeah you’re right
.
Your
attitude has changed though
.
”

“That’s because I’ve been pushed
too
far and your words keep going round and round in my head. Why the hell should I move again?
Be
forced away?
Why
don’t I stand and fight?”

“I’m glad to hear you
’
r
e
thinking like that
,
” she smiled
.
“I know the others will be too, Jackson especially”

“If you say so
.
”

“He likes you,
that’s
his problem, but it’s getting hard for him to keep up the tough exterior
.
He’s
slowly melting and
it’s
about bloody time
.
”

“Whatever you say, now, are you finished?”

“It’s the truth and yes I am, are you ready to go?”

“Yes
.
”

I grabbed my handbag and we made our way outside, I glared at each of the men for a moment before
taking
Nancy
’s arm
and heading towards the
parking lot
. The men followed behind us, but we paid no attention to them, we just simply acted as though they weren’t there. When we reached Nancy’s car they approached us. One stood behind the vehicle
while
another stood directly in front. The tallest one stood by my door. I wound the window down.

“Can
I
help you with something?” I casually asked
.

“Get out of the car
,
” he order
ed
.

“Or you’ll do what exactly?”

He moved his coat slightly to the side to show me he was carrying a gun.

“Oh no
,
” I mocked
.
“
Please
don’t shoot me
.
”

“Are you crazy
?”
he frowned
.

“Go ahead shoot, but I’ll warn you, you better run as fast as your legs can carry
you
because
I promise if I catch you, you will die. Slowly.”

“You seem to forget
Leticia;
I’m the one with the gun
.
”

“And what
you
don’t
realize
is that gun wouldn’t stop me
.
”

H
e didn't know how to respond, he didn't have a clue what I was and I think the fact that I wasn’t afraid of him or his weapon threw him a little.
I looked at Nancy and she started the engine, put it into reverse and started to drive. The man who stood behind us panicked and dived out of the way. We watched them through the mirrors, all of them stood there still as statues just watching us leave.

On the way back to the house we
stopped
off so I could pick up my new car
and
I followed behind Nancy. When we got home Jackson and Tristan were
sitting
in the living room. Jackson looked pissed off beyond belief and to be honest Tristan didn't exactly look happy either.

“What’s wrong with you two?” I asked
entering the
room
.

“Look at this
,
” Tristan said, passing me a brown envelope
.
“
L
ook inside
.
”

When I opened the envelope I found a photograph, this time of Jackson and
me
standing
near
m
y burning house, his arms wrapped around me. I felt every muscle in my body tense.

“Where did you get thi
s?” I seethed.

“It was pushed through the letter box, it was on the floor when we got back
,
” Jackson told me
.

“
Right
, I’m
leaving;
they’ll follow me and leave you alone
.
”

“No!” Jackson almost
shouted
standing and facing me
.
“We’re in this together now, you’re staying here
.
W
e find out who it is that’s
messing
around and we kill them and have done with it
.
”

“This isn’t right
...
”

“Look on the back
,
” Tristan told me
.

I turned
it
over;
on the back was a message
...

What started as
one
freak has now become
four
.

O
h what fun we will have!

I
crumpled
the photograph
up before throwing it
on the floor and stormed out of the house. Poor Nancy didn't have a clue what was going on, just as she was about to walk in, I
pushed right past her. I practically marched into the field next to the house, Jackson had followed me out. I looked around me before I began to shout.

“COME ON THEN, I’M HERE, COME AND HAVE YOUR FUN
!
”

“Leticia
,
” Jackson said as he walked over
.

“SERIOUSLY, COME ON, COWARDS, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
!
”

“Hey
.
”

“SHUT UP!” I shouted at him
.

“No, you shut up
!
Don’t
you see this is what they want
?
They
want to drive you to despair
.
They
want you to give in to them
.
”

“
I
f
it
will
keep you all safe they can have me
.
”

He stood in front of me and cupped my face in his hands. He looked deep into my
eyes;
I started to feel a bit nervous. His face was only a few inches away from mine
and
I could feel his
warm
breath on my cheeks.