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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


›[

                Sally MacDonald pulled the ponytail holder from her hair and tried to release some of the tension in her scalp. She was at the library unable to concentrate on any of the study material for her upcoming test. Last night was much more frightening than she wanted to admit. The cop almost caught her. Hurrying to leave, she dropped her bike on the huge rock in the dirt parking lot. Now it was dented and she had to take it to Tricks. Questions would be asked and Tricks would try and take it from her. But she needed it now more than ever. It was easier to maneuver through tight spaces and weave in and out of traffic when necessary. If she took it to another shop, he would hear and all hell would break loose. She was so close and yet so very far. She had to hold out a little bit longer. After that she would deal with the cop permanently.

Sighing she looked up at the guy walking by her table with a dark blue backpack and immediately began thinking about blue eyes. As terrified as she was of the snake, the homeowner’s blue eyes also gave her a fright. A deep clear crystal blue that she felt could see her deepest secret…the ones she was determined to hide at all cost. When he pull her behind him to protect her from the snake, for a moment she felt safe…that was until he looked at her. The fear she felt then was different and far more intense than anything she’d ever felt before. So she fled from both him and the snake. ‘I need a vacation,’ Sally thought and knew the perfect place to go only she couldn’t leave. Final exams were a few weeks away and then getting and completing an internship. ‘Just a little bit longer and then we’re home free.”

›[

Her name was Sally…Sally MacDonald Storm thought silently as he drove home from dinner with Ayasha. Somehow the name didn’t seem like her. He pictured her having a sexy name to go with her exotic features. Rhonda and Sally were best friends. Sally attended the local university studying to become a medical tech scientist. Rhonda was trying to get other work which was why Sally was covering for her. He also found out Kevin had convinced Rhonda that he had given permission to leave his pet boa there while he was working on days he had to take the animal to the vet. Storm had quietly made a mental note to speak with Kevin about it.

Rhonda had profusely apologized and Storm had insisted on meeting Sally formally. Rhonda, grateful that she wasn’t being fired happily agreed. Storm had hired Rhonda directly from the housekeeping agency that she used to work for when they closed. She came by Mondays through Thursdays to change the sheets every two days, make the bed daily, and to pack and unpack the dishwasher.

His phone rang and Storm answered distractedly. “Yes.”

“Hi baby,” said the voice on the other end.

“Audrey,” Storm replied dryly wishing he’d looked at the caller ID.

“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you for the last few days. Did you get any of my messages?”

“What is it?”

“How about a late dinner?”

“I’ve already eaten.”

“But I haven’t.”

“Audrey I’m busy, what do you want?” he asked again annoyed.

“I want to spend time with you. Why didn’t you ask me to dinner? Are you seeing someone else?”

“Audrey, lose my number, now.”

“Storm! Storm...” but there was nothing. He had disconnected the call.

›[

“Shit!” Audrey screamed knowing she had messed up.

She had always been able to manipulate other men into relationships but not Storm. He proved far more elusive. The one time she showed up at his house uninvited, he became angry and only calmed when he verified that it was his mother who gave her his address.  The two times they were together was once at her apartment and the other at a party they both attended separately.

Her one goal was to become Mrs. Storm Monsello. And even though she knew Ayasha hated her that was in no way going to stop her from being mistress of his mansion, and having full access to his bank accounts. To say Storm could keep her a lifestyle she could only dream of was an understatement. Her parent’s wealth paled in comparison to his. Based on her research, he was worth more than five hundred million dollars. She had to have sex with him again, this time without a condom. He would never turn his back on his child or the mother. ‘He would have to marry me then.’ But Storm meticulously wore condoms and always checked for leaks. He even went as far as to flush the used prophylactic down the toilet himself. Regardless, she had to do something.

›[

About a month later

Sally ran up the stairs of the Waves and Stars Open Bar and Grill. She was late for work due to her constant editing of a finished paper that wasn’t due for another two days. Jack, the owner was busy clearing some beer bottles from one of the table.

“I’m sorry Jack. I was editing my paper,” she said grabbing two towels and the bucket of soapy water from behind the bar to begin washing off the tables.

“That’s okay kid. I knew it had something to do with school. How is the studying coming along?”

“Great if I could get some sleep.”

“You won’t do good on your exams if you don’t rest.”

“I will. Go finish your paper work. I’ll be finished out here by the time you’re done.”

“Sure you don’t need the help?”

“No, go.”

“Oh, by the way, someone left their keys. They’re in my office.”  

“Okay but they probably got a ride from someone.”

“Maybe…”

When Jack left, Sally plugged her iPod into the two mini speakers on the bar counter. They were loud enough for her to hear comfortably while working but not to block out the sound of the beach. She danced and sang as she cleaned off the tables. Dumping the dirty bucket of water, she stopped by Hot Mouth, Jack’s slick talking parrot. Hot Mouth was bobbing his head to the music when Sally began speaking to him.

“So Mouth, how do I get this cop to stop stalking me?”

“Behind you! Behind you!” screech the parrot.

Sally looked around quickly and dropped the towel.

“Hi. I left my…you’re the girl who was at my house,” Storm said recognizing Sally immediately.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sally lied before turning and yelling for Jack.

“Yes, you are. You’re name is Sally.” He took a step but stopped when he noticed she quickly moved behind the nearest table.

“Hey there young man, can I help you?” Jack asked.

Storm watched as Sally then moved to the bar. “Yes, I left my keys. It’s a wolf key ring.” While speaking with Jack, Storm kept glancing at Sally from the corner of his eye.

“Yes, I have them. They are in my office. Sally can you get them for me please, they are on the desk.”

Sally closed her eyes and when she opened them it was to see Storm looking at her smiling at Jack’s confirmation of her name.

“I’ll be right back.”

“So how did you enjoy yourself? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

“No, you haven’t and I enjoyed myself. This is a quaint place you’ve got here. Very relaxing,” Storm said looking around as they waited for Sally’s return.   

“Good. How did you hear about us? Maybe I can do some advertising in that area to boost some business.”

“Actually some guys from work were speaking about this place last week so I decided to tag along tonight. Your advertising was free…word of mouth, the best kind.”

Jack laughed, “You’re right about that.”

“Here they are Jack,” Sally said handing him the keys but she stay behind Jack which didn’t go unnoticed by Storm.

“Here they are. Be careful next time young man.”

“Thanks, I will. By the way, my name is Storm,” and he offered Jack his hand.

“Oh yes, Jack, owner,” Jack replied shaking Storm’s hand.

Storm also offered her his hand but she took a step back and said, “Hi,” instead.

“Okay…hi,” Storm reciprocated lowering his hand. “Well I’ll be going now,” he said to Jack, “Good night and thanks again.” He looked directly at Sally before turning and leaving.  

As soon as Storm left, Jack turned to Sally, “Do you know him?”

“Not really. I saw him at a job I was helping Rhonda with a few weeks ago.”

›[

Storm watched as Sally carefully looked up and down the street two to three times before putting on her helmet and getting on her bike. He waited for her to turn down the road before following her. He heard what she said to the parrot. She was been stalked by a cop and his gut instinct told him it was the cop from that night. ‘That’s why she ran the light,’ and now more than ever, he wanted to know how her bike got damaged. He had a feeling it was from her trying to get away that night. He felt anger. He should have gotten the squad number or the very least the officer’s name and badge number. Why did he just dismiss the incident? He knew better.  

This time he was able to fully appreciate her curves which were all in the right places. Small breast, tiny waist, wide hips and long well shaped legs encased in skinny jeans that fit perfectly. Once again her hair was in a bun and he wanted to run his fingers through the mass to feel how soft the stands were. The poor lighting couldn’t hide the flawlessness of her skin or its glowing walnut color. Her lips were full but not too pouty and he wanted to feel for himself if they were as soft as they looked.

Sally pulled into a local fast food restaurant and Storm parked in the darkest area of the parking lot so he could continue watching her. He wrote down her plate number and saw how she looked around often, wary and cautious of her surroundings. After getting her food, he followed her to her apartment. He lingered long enough to notice she didn’t park her bike in the front of the building but in the back. When he felt she was safely inside, he left.

As Storm drove home, he wondered how he could help Sally. Even though there was no confirmation to what she said, his gut instincts told him he had to help. The fear in her eyes was real. The first thing he had to do is gain her trust and he had a feeling it was going to be quiet an undertaking.

 

›[

Almost three weeks later

Mike looked at the criminal report of Rhonda Pitcher, Storm’s daily housekeeper. He met her the day after the boa incident at Storm’s house when she showed up for work. Storm had been angry about her giving someone else access to his house without permission but had let her off the hook because she said Sally was her best friend. Now Mike’s gut instincts told him that housekeeping wasn’t the only work Rhonda was looking for.   

Mike knocked on Storm’s office door. The other lawyer he was working with quickly opened the door and said hello before existing.

“Hey Mike, what’s up?”

“I need you…”

“Detective Griffin!” a young officer called out stopping Mike from entering Storm’s office.

“Yeah…oh hey Charlie. What’s up?” Mike asked keeping the door open.

“You know that bike plate number you asked me to look up?” When Mike acknowledged, Charlie continued, “Well it belongings to a guy named Bobby Chin and he has several other vehicles registered under his name. Here’s the info on him.”

“Thanks Charlie.”

“Anytime Detective Griffin; if you need me to help out, I’m here.”

“Thanks again Charlie,” Mike said before entering Storm’s office and closing the door behind him.

Mike dropped the reports in front of Storm before taking a seat in front of his desk. He could never understand how Storm was able to keeps his office clutter free when most of the other lawyers’ office looked like a war zone.

“What’s going on?” Storm asked looking at the report. “Wait, is this my house keeper?”

“Yes and she is the common factor in the string of breakins’ we’ve been having lately.”

Storm looked up immediately, “What?”

“Yes, also her friend Sally, her bike is registered to someone by the name of Bobby Chin.”

“A husband or boyfriend or even father maybe?

“No but I think I know him.”

“Know him how?”

“I think I may have gone to school with him before my parents moved away. I’ll have to check to see if it’s the same person. Also the address is not valid. The properties around that area were demolished years ago when the state and city were purchasing properties to do road expansion and area rejuvenation projects. If there was a property there, the address was never changed.”

“But why? Why keep an old address that doesn’t exist?”

“Hiding something.”

“Or from someone?”

“You don’t have her phone number?”

“I’m trying to get it.”

“You know…”
“You and I both want to know how the system never caught that the address was no longer valid.” Mike sighed and leaned back into the chair. “I…you said she said the cop was stalking her.”

“Yeah…that’s what she told the parrot. She said it because she was alone…or thought she was.”

“Yeah…there’s more going on here.”

“Yes, I agree. When she went to get food, she was always looking around…wary, tense. I don’t think she was making it up Mike. I think that cop really is stalking her.”

“Storm, I can’t just go on what you heard. He may have noticed this also and is trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“Yeah…there’s that too,” but Storm didn’t believe it. There was something in the way Sally behaved that leading him to believe she was in danger. “Keep me posted.” Mike nodded and got up to leave. “Hey am I firing my house keeper?”

“I want to tell you yes, but I can’t. She hasn’t done anything illegal at your house and we need to keep an eye on her.”

“Am I now a part of the investigation?”

“No, I’ll talk to the captain but Sally is.” 












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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.