WINDOW OF TIME by DJ Erfert Read Free Book Online

it.
    But then again, he knew about being shot on the staircase and on the freeway. How he knew, and what he saw, she had to find out. Lucy wished her head didn’t hurt so badly. The pain hampered her ability to think clearly.
    But she knew enough to get around town. “This isn’t the way back to my hotel.”
    Johnny nodded. “That’s right. I’m taking you to my apartment where I can take care of you.” He let go of her hand. “It’s a lot more comfortable—and closer—than your hotel. I don’t want you to be alone tonight.”
    Leaning her cheek against the headrest, Lucy sighed. “I guess I can’t talk you out of this?”
    “No.”
    “I didn’t think so.”
    “Do you know what day this is?”
    “It’s Christmas.”
    “Answer me!”
    “It’s Thursday,” Lucy sniped. “All right?”
    They’d been driving for less than fifteen minutes before they entered an apartment complex consisting of several rows of duplexes set in between lush green landscaping. The narrow roads threading around the large buildings had head-jarring speed bumps every few car lengths. The first concrete barricade Johnny ran over drove Lucy to sit completely upright.
    “Ow,” Lucy whined. “Go slower.”
    Johnny patted her leg. “I practically crawled over it.” He stopped the truck and asked, “Do you want me to carry you the rest of the way?”
    The light from a streetlamp shone in through the windshield. His crooked grin irritated her. “No!” Lucy stiffened her back. “I’m fine.”
    “Right,” he muttered. “I forgot. You’re always fine.”
    “I didn’t say that.”
    He prodded the truck into a forward motion again. “Then stop lying to me.”
    She slumped against the seat. “I can’t help it.”
    “Is it me? Is it because you don’t trust me?”
    Lucy almost shook her head, but thought better of it. “No, that’s not it.”
    Johnny touched a remote control on his visor. A garage door began to open, and a light automatically came on by the inside door. His pickup barely fit—there were boxes stuffed into the other bay of the double-car garage, the majority of which had writing on them. Lucy could read the date on some of them, and her heart went out to the man helping her. They were dated from eight years ago, from his divorce.
    Johnny killed the engine. “Don’t get out. Wait for me to come around and get you.”
    “What am I? An invalid?” Lucy muttered as he slammed his door. She tossed aside the blanket and opened her door. The ice pack was no longer cold, so she left it. She couldn’t understand why Johnny started running around the front of the truck as she slid off the seat.
    When he reached her, he grabbed her around her waist and clutched her to his body. “I told you to wait for me.”
    His obviously angry tone set Lucy off. Her temper flared. “I’ve been getting along for a very long time without you. I think I can get out of a truck by myself.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted the scornful way she’d said them.
    He let her go and stepped back. “Okay,” Johnny said with a softened voice. Turning, he walked ahead and hit the garage remote on the wall before going through the doorway into the apartment, leaving Lucy to follow.
    What was wrong with her? Lucy’s emotions fluxed into anxiety and peaked into anger so suddenly and without explanation, she had to deliberately employ her seldom-used calming techniques she had learned in her tai chi classes.
    She got to the door and caught it before it closed—and then noticed her strength had somehow stayed inside the pickup. Her knees decided to go on strike, and Lucy had no other choice but to lean against the door jam, sit on the floor, and try to keep the door from banging into her shin.
    “Lucy—” Johnny pushed the door away and stepped over her legs. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone.” He knelt down beside her. “Are you dizzy?”
    “No.”
    “Lucy—”
    “I mean it,” Lucy said as