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Adriana

Fortunately, the rest of the day was uneventful
at the shop and there were no more calls from that freak, Breaker. Trevor
didn’t call me back, either. Nor did he show up at the store, which was kind of
a relief. My mom would have flipped her lid.

When six o’clock rolled around, we locked the
doors and began doing inventory. Jim stuck around, which I was grateful for,
since being alone at a jewelry store at night was disconcerting. After we checked
off each piece of jewelry, Jim carefully placed them into the large walk-in
safe, where they’d stay until morning. By the time nine o’clock rolled around,
we’d finished with all one-hundred-and ninety-two pieces, and I couldn’t wait
leave. Reading all of the item numbers, on the tiny tags, was exhausting.

“There has got to be an easier way of doing
inventory,” I told her.

“There is, but I like doing it this way.”

“But they have these scanners that you can use,
now, mom. You’d keep much better track of each piece.”

“It’s far too expensive to set that up,” she
said and then smiled. “Our way is already paid for.”

She was so frugal and old fashioned, at times;
it was aggravating. “Fine. If you like doing things the hard way.”

“It’s easy with your help. Now, let’s go to
Sicily’s,” my mother said, as we were locking up the shop. “My treat for making
you do things the hard way. You too, Jim.”

“Sure, if you insist,” said Jim, his eyes
twinkling. “I love Italian food.”

“Mom, I’m sorry, I just can’t,” I replied,
grabbing the car keys out of my purse. “I’m meeting up with Krystal.”

She stopped in her tracks. “Again? I thought
you celebrated her birthday last night,” she replied, frowning.

“I know. This is just us, though. Last night
was crazy and we didn’t get much of a chance to talk.”

“Didn’t you have enough time to talk when you
spent the night at her house?”

“No. We crashed pretty quickly,” I lied.

“I’ll meet you at the restaurant,” said Jim,
heading toward his car. I could tell he didn’t want any part of the
conversation.

“Goodbye,” I called.

Jim turned around and waved as he reached his
Toyota.  “Have a good night, Adriana,” he replied and then looked at mom. “I’ll
see you soon?”

“Yes,” she said, smiling. “Very soon.”

He smiled back and got into his car.

She turned back to me. “You’re not going to
meet that man on the motorcycle, afterward, are you?”

“Mom, would you just give it up,” I said,
frustrated. “I know what I’m doing.”

“No, Adriana, I don’t think you do. You’re only
twenty-one and I’m sure that bad boys like that seem sexy, but-”

“Bad boys? Mom, please,” I interrupted as I
began walking to my car, which was parked next to hers. “It’s not like that.”

“It sure looked like that way to me, earlier,”
she said, coming up behind me. “The way you two were attacking each other in
the driveway.”

“It was just a couple of kisses,” I said,
getting into the car. “Really, you don’t need to worry about me.”

Her eyes softened. “I can’t help it. You’re my
daughter.”

“Your  
grown
daughter,” I reminded her.
“Look, take Jim out to dinner and enjoy yourself.” I lowered my voice. “It’s
obvious that the man is crazy about you.”

She looked shocked. “What? No. No, he isn’t.”

I glanced back over at Jim, who was sitting in
his car, waiting for her. “Oh yes, he is. You just don’t see it.  Quit worrying
about me and think about yourself, for a change. Go on a date, have some fun.”

She looked over her shoulder at him and then
sighed. “A date?”

“Yes. Pretend it’s a date.”

“I can’t do that to your father’s memory. I
still love him and it wouldn’t be right.”

“Mom, you don’t have to stop loving Dad,” I
said, softly. “But don’t deny yourself companionship with someone who adores
you.  Someone like Jim, who’s nice and is always there for you.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “You really think
he
adores
me?”

“I guess you haven’t noticed the way he looks
at you. He definitely has a crush.”

“A crush?” Her cheeks flushed. “Really?”

“Yes, really. Aren’t you attracted to him?”

“I guess… I haven’t thought about it. I mean,
he’s nice looking.”

“Mom, seriously, you’re too young to become an
old spinster.”

She laughed. “An old spinster?”

I smiled. “That’s right. If you look up the
word in the dictionary, you might find your picture there soon, if you don’t do
something.”

Mom smirked. “You think I don’t know what
you’re doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Changing the subject.”

“What I’m doing is letting you know that you
can’t control who is in my life but you can control who is in yours. Right now
there’s a sweet guy who is meeting you at Sicily’s. He likes you. A lot. Who
knows, maybe you’ll find that you like him, too. And not just as your security
guard.”

She looked at Jim’s car again but didn’t say
anything.

My cell phone went off.

“It’s Krystal. I’ve gotta go,” I said, looking
down at it.

 “Just be careful,” Vanda replied, crossing her
arms under her chest.

“I will and have fun,” I said, winking at her
before slamming the door shut.

She turned and walked over to her car.

“Hi, Krystal,” I said, answering the phone.

“Hey, guess what?” she said. There were voices
in the background and I could tell she was someplace crowded.

“What?” I asked, starting my engine.

“We found him.”

“Found who
? Jason
?”

“Hell yes. I’m in the bathroom now. At Club
Hideaway. I found out from Gary that he was heading here, tonight. Tank and Raptor
are keeping an eye on Jason. I think they’re going to confront the prick
outside, since the place is crawling with bouncers.”

My heart began to race. “Oh my God, I’m on my
way.”

“Okay. I’ll let you know if we leave or if
something happens.”

“I’m twenty minutes away. I’ll get there as quickly
as possible.”

We hung up and I pulled out of the parking lot,
wondering what they planned on doing to Jason once they had him alone.  Would
they just kick his ass or threaten him with a weapon?

This is crazy,
I thought.
I should have just called the police. Someone is going to get hurt.

I turned a corner and a few seconds later, I noticed
that the person behind me had their high-beams on. Then I noticed that it was a
truck. Breaker’s.

“Oh my God,” I gasped, moving quickly into the
right lane. I watched in horror as he followed me. I tried zigzagging around
other cars, desperate to put some distance behind us, but Breaker kept up.
Frightened, I hopped onto the freeway and raced toward the club, not knowing
what else to do. If anything, I could lead him to Trevor. Soon, I was going
eighty miles an hour in the passing lane, thankful that it wasn’t rush hour.

“Where the fuck are the cops when you need
them?” I said out loud, wishing that I’d catch one of their radars. But, for
some crazy reason, even though it was a Saturday night, and I was driving like
a bat out of hell, they weren’t around.  Frustrated, I looked into the mirror
and noticed that Breaker was still hot on my tail. “Dammit, you are such a freak!”

His laughter from earlier, echoed in my head. I
was pretty sure he was having a blast, scaring the hell out of me. I just
couldn’t understand why he was so obsessed with someone he’d just met.

Because he’s fucking insane.

We drove like this, with me driving like a
maniac and him following suit, until I noticed that we were finally approaching
downtown. Iowa City. I put my blinker on and was about to enter the right lane
to get off at the next exit, when he quickly moved into it, blocking me.

“Dammit,” I yelled, slowing down.

He also slowed down and then speeded up as I
tried to maneuver my way into the lane. Of course, I missed the exit.

“Fuck you, Asshole,” I mumbled, thinking that at
least he’d gotten off, and was no longer following me. But, when I looked back
into the rearview mirror, I found that I was wrong. He’d obviously jumped off of
the exit, at the last minute, and was tailing me, again.

Furious, I pressed my foot firmly on the gas
and flew down the freeway, determined to stay ahead of him so that I could get
off on the next exit. This time it worked, and I was able to take the next ramp,
with him one car behind. As I turned and then headed toward Main Street, I
recalled where the local cop shop was and decided to lead him there, instead of
going to the club.

“You want to follow me, asshole. Go right
ahead,” I said, staring at him in the rearview mirror.   

Just as I predicted, he continued to follow me,
but then, as I reached the police station, he turned off, waving at me through
his open window.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You fucking coward,”
I mumbled, going the opposite direction.

***

Breaker

“Where are you at?” barked Mud.

“Just driving around,” he answered, following
the brunette. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on her hot little body as well
as that rock around her neck. The sapphire had to be worth thirty or forty
grand.

“You need to get your ass down to the clubhouse,
brother. Rumor has it that ‘The Judge’ might be looking for your ass.”

His eyes widened. “The Judge? Where’d you hear
that?”

“Misty. She overheard Slammer talking about it
earlier. Called and gave me the heads-up.”

“I’m not afraid of that asshole. I’ll slice his
nuts off, if he tries taking me down. Shove them up his ass.”

“You’d better be. From what I hear, the guy has
never missed a delivery and this time, you’re the one on order. Now, get your
ass back here so that we can figure this shit out.”

Breaker sighed. That foxy little Adriana was just
going to have to wait. “I’ll be there in twenty.”

“Don’t stop off anywhere. We’ll be watching for
you.”

 Click.

Breaker set his phone down and got into the
right lane. As he was about to turn, he rolled his window down and waved at
Adriana. He couldn’t see her face, but something told him that she wasn’t
smiling.  In fact, he was pretty sure he’d scared the hell out of her. The
knowledge made his cock swell.

“Mother fucking Prez,” he mumbled, lighting a
smoke. He loved Mud, and the rest of the crew, but in reality, they really were
a bunch of pussies. Every last one of them. His brothers seemed to shake in
their boots whenever ‘The Judge’ was mentioned. Well, he wasn’t afraid of the
Zorro-wannabe-faggot. The Judge was a joke. He wasn’t even part of any club.
The fact was, he would love to face the asshole and show him who the real judge
was. Maybe stick a gavel up his ass and call it a night.

Laughing to himself, Breaker turned down a
dark, dead-end street and parked his truck in a quiet spot. He couldn’t help it
– he needed to get off. Chasing Adriana had wound him up and now, all he could
think about was fucking the little cunt.  Pushing the ‘Play’ button on his
stereo, he began listening to the CD he’d made. The one where he’d recorded the
last bitch’s screams. Jessica’s. The fact that it was Slammer’s Old Lady’s
daughter made it that much more exhilarating. He’d noticed the girl when he’d
been trailing Slammer, last summer. Saw her leaving his house. From that moment
one, he’d followed the sweet piece of tail everywhere, waiting for the right
opportunity. When he’d noticed her roommate leave with a suitcase, a couple
weeks back, he’d broken in and made himself at home. The rest was history.
Sweet history that he’d recorded for his own sick pleasure. Sure, he knew he
was a little twisted, but it didn’t change the fact that he enjoyed torturing
women. Making them beg for their lives.

Breaker got rid of his cigarette and unzipped his
pants. Imagining himself on top of Adriana, he spit in his hand and began to
jerk off.

“Yeah, baby,” he whispered, moving his hand up
and down as the girl on the CD whimpered, begging him to stop. He closed his
eyes.

“Look at me,” demanded the voice on the CD. His
voice. “You see me?”

 Panting, Breaker remembered the terror in Jessica’s
eyes as he stared into them, and it brought him to the edge. Just as he was
about to blow his load, he felt the cool barrel of a gun against his temple.

Gasping, he opened his eyes and found himself
staring at a man he didn’t recognize.

“You’re one ugly cuss, you know that? I can see
why don’t get many dates,” said the man, turning down the stereo. “Also, I
don’t know if anyone has ever told you, but your taste in music is pretty
fucked up.”

“Who the hell are you?” he said, trying to shove
his dick back into his jeans.

He smirked. “If you have to ask, you’re even
dumber than I thought.”

“Fuck you,” he growled.

“Why don’t you beg? Like the girl on the CD,
you sick fuck…”

“Go to hell.”

“Thanks for the invite, but I’m not ready yet.
Tell everyone that I said ‘hello’.”

Breaker’s face turned white. “Wait a minute.
I’ve got money, too. I’ll pay you double. Whatever they offered, I’ll pay
more.”

“This one isn’t about the money.” He lowered
the gun to Breaker’s limp dick. “It’s about a girl whose life you ruined,” he
said, pulling the trigger.