Chapter Seven

Nora

June 2014

"Nora, I'm totally sorry that today was a bust. I thought you two would do good with an outing. You needed it," Rebecca says. She's been so supportive for the past year, and I couldn't have done it without her.

"I did, but it was more stress than it was worth." My head pounds as I fight back tears. It has been a rough day. John's screams had nearly broken me, but I managed to hold it together long enough to get him out of the mall and into the car without looking like I abducted the child. Goodness, the irony of that wouldn't have been lost on me. Yes, I have the papers saying that he legally belongs to me, but how he'd been placed in my care never felt legal.

"I told you that I would have watched him for you." Rebecca is a saint, but I can't rely on her generosity.

"No, I couldn't let you do that. John isn't good with anyone when I'm not around." Honestly, after what happened at the mall, I knew it was better to have kept him with me. If anyone was looking for him and she had been the one watching him, Rebecca would be the target.

"You won't even believe how much worse it was. I ran into Jeremy while I was there."

"Are you serious?" she gasps. We both know my relationship with Jeremy didn't end on good terms. He tried calling and working things out, but with John, I hadn't even given it a second thought. That ship sailed before I met the adorable little boy.

"Yes. He saw me as I was coming out with John. He walked with me to the car and actually helped with getting John in his seat. It's as if he cared for a brief moment."

"Oh, girl, please don't take that as a sign to let him back into your life. I know it's hard with John now, but you don't need a cheating piece of crap like Jeremy in it."

"Oh, heck, no. I have no interest in letting him in. Seriously, I'd slam the door in his face if he dared to bring any relationship up. He cheated on me, and we're done, so there's nothing left for us. I ended things. It just reminded me that I was alone. How long will that be?"

"Well, if you ever let someone else help with John, you might be able to date," she huffs.

"Fine, girl. Maybe soon." She was right. I needed something, some sort of companionship because I felt like I was losing my mind.

"Good. Because I want you to be happy. You're one of the only friends I got."

"Same here, girlie. I need you too."

"Well, call me anytime." We hang up, and I think about the outing.

I got an extremely uncomfortable feeling today when I took John to the mall. What possessed me to be brave enough to shop in public, I'll never know. It had been dumb. Maybe it was the need for human interaction, or just pure insanity. Whatever it was, I felt someone's eyes on me.

I think I've grown completely paranoid. Julia's fears have seeped into my soul, and now I'm searching for monsters at every entrance. It's not like they'd come looking for John all the way in Philly. It's the reason she brought him here instead of taking him to Chicago where we were from in the first place.

Her godson had lost his parents in New Jersey, and his family wanted the boy dead as well. It was crazy, but she let them believe the boy was already dead, so there was no reason for them to look for him in my neck of the woods. Besides, I haven't heard from Julia since the day she left him with me after registering him with all the paperwork, leaving me as his legal guardian. How the hell she managed to pull that fast one surprised me, but she had secrets I didn't know about. A lot of them.

"Momma," John whines through the baby monitor I have next to my bed. It's cute and draining as I sigh and slide out of bed because it's well past midnight when I hear his cries. As much as I love teaching special needs children, I never expected that I'd suddenly become a full-time mom overnight at twenty-three.

It's harder than anything in the world. No one prepares you for the reality of it. My kiddos at school go home to someone else. Someone with patience, who can share the burden and the joy. I don't have a family or a husband. I no longer have friends or a boyfriend. His cheating ass is long gone and I'm glad for it because he thought I should have given John to the state, but that doesn't mean that I don't ache for someone to help.

"What's up, buddy?" Seeing his face makes me forget that I'm worn out.

He cries, reaching out for me. I hug him and realize that he needs reassurance. It's been ongoing, and I wonder if he's always been like this or if it has to do with Julia and the loss of his parents. I close my eyes and hold him tight. I would take him back to my bed, but I refuse to make it a habit. Routines must be followed. "Time for bed, John. Do you want a story?" I use the sign for a book, and he nods.

After two stories, he falls back to sleep, and I quietly sneak out of his room and onto the sofa where I pass out until there's a loud pounding on my front door. I fell off the sofa and onto the floor.

"Hold on," I say in a shout and then remember that John's in the other room. "Fuck," I hiss, hoping whoever is knocking like they're the police didn't wake him. Shit, I hope Jeremy didn't think yesterday was a way to worm his way back into my life.

"Do you have a problem?" I ask as I whip the door open. My eyes land on a large chest in a suit and as I lift them upward, I'm met with a furious expression of a handsome man, and then he storms into my home. He has his hand on my throat, pushing me into the house. Before I can fight back, I'm pinned to the backside of the sofa with one hand on my throat and the other on the cushion, giving me nowhere to go.

"Where the hell is he?" he snarls. Beautiful, stormy eyes stare dangerously into mine with an intensity that I can't fight.

"Who?" I choke out, gripping his wrist and trying to pull it away, staring into the gorgeous blue eyes of a killer. The dark way he looks at me tells me all I need to know. He doesn't play and he means business, and yet a part of me isn't as scared as I should be until he utters the next syllable.

"John," he grits out, eyes narrowing. My heart sinks. They've caught me, and he's coming to hurt the poor, innocent little boy.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lie, trying to protect him like I promised.

His voice gets deeper, lower. "Don't play dumb with me." I shake my head. "The little boy you had yesterday." Shit, I was being watched.

"I'm a teacher. I had a day trip with a student," I lie again. He releases his grip and then he moves around me, sees the toys on the floor, and looks up at me with a deadly smirk. I dash around the room and block the hallway. My small body isn't going to hold him back for long, but I'll do whatever I have to do to protect John. Why is it so damn important? The kid isn't going to say anything.

"Momma, ma...." John whines from his room, and I know he's on his way.

He roars, "You lying little bitch." He storms toward me until there's no space between us.

"I'm not…"

He grips my shoulders, ready to pull me away, but he doesn't use any force. "If you don't want me to kill you, get the fuck out of the way."

"I won't let you hurt him."

His eyes shift lower. "Hurt him? I'd never fucking hurt him." His pearly white teeth clench together so tightly that I swear they're going to crack. The words he spat back were as if I insulted his character. A man who shoved his way through my door, put his hands on me, and threatened my life—looked at me with disgust because I accused him of wanting to harm a little boy. It would be almost comical if I wasn't terrified that he would.

I sigh as I hear the pitter-patter of John's little feet because John's out of his room and has walked straight into danger.

He drops to his haunches with his face right at my crotch as he stares at John. "John, buddy, do you remember me? It's Jack." There's no anger or violence in his tone like there was for me a moment ago. He sounds so happy.

"Jack," he answers. I hear him say it when we watch television, especially when there's a man in a suit. "Jack, Jack." I see this big brute that just threatened me with deadly bodily harm begin to sob.

"Yes, buddy. It's me. Jack." He opens his arms, but John doesn't go to him. He clings to my leg. The brute stands and looks at me with tears in his eyes. "What the fuck did you do to my brother? Why do you have him?" He fists my hair violently, so hard that I let out a cry, and it causes John to cry.

"You're scaring him," I yell at the big asshole. I don't care how good looking he is with his angular jaw, cleft chin, and the touch of gray at the closely shaved sides of his head. The damage he's doing to John is pissing me off. Whoa, where did that come from? Why is this man turning me on when I should be petrified? He's what I've been hiding from for the past year.