Chapter 6 - Shadows on the Pavement
The relief of the protective order lasted less than forty-eight hours.
On Thursday afternoon, I bundled Lily into her heavy red coat and walked down the block from our apartment building to the local library. The winter sun was low and brilliant, glaring off the packed snow on the sidewalks. Lily was happily babbling about the picture books she wanted to borrow, clutching my gloved hand with both of hers.
"Mommy, can we get the one about the bears?" she asked, looking up at me with Ethan’s bright hazel eyes.
"We can get two about the bears," I smiled down at her, trying to push away the residual paranoia that had haunted every breath since Tuesday night.
As we reached the corner of Elm Street, I caught a sudden flash of movement across the street. Parked beside a fire hydrant was a dark slate-gray sedan with heavily tinted windows. The engine was idling, thin wisps of white exhaust curling into the freezing air.
At first, I told myself it was nothing—just an Uber waiting for a passenger. But as we turned the corner toward the library entrance, the car slowly crept forward, matching our pace.
My heart seized. My instinct as a mother kicked into overdrive. I scooped Lily up into my arms, ignoring the sharp protest in my lower back, and quickened my stride toward the heavy brass doors of the public library.
Behind me, the car window rolled down two inches. A long telephoto camera lens poked through the gap, aiming directly at Lily’s face.
"Hey!" I shouted, turning around, adrenaline surging like hot lead through my veins. "Get that camera away from my daughter!"
The lens retracted instantly, the window hummed shut, and the sedan peeled away from the curb, its tires skidding slightly on the slush before accelerating down the avenue. I caught only the first three letters of the license plate: *K-R-T*.
Trembling, I stepped inside the library, the warm air rushing over my chilled face, but my hands couldn't stop shaking. Lily wrapped her small arms around my neck, sensing the terror radiating off my skin.
"Mommy? Are you sad?"
"No, sweetie," I murmured into her soft curls, burying my face in her shoulder as I pulled out my phone with a trembling thumb. "Mommy is just keeping you safe."
I dialed Ethan immediately. He answered on the first ring.
"Claire? Are you okay?"
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"We’re being followed, Ethan," I said, my voice shaking despite my best efforts. "A gray sedan just photographed Lily and me on Elm Street. She’s watching us. Patricia hired someone."
"Get inside the library and stay by the front desk," Ethan said, his voice dropping into that terrifying, dead-calm tone he used whenever our safety was threatened. "Dad and I are three minutes away."
