“Well, I wasn’t planning on hurting him,” she said carefully, trying to figure out his reaction. She wasn’t sure if he was being protective, like it sounded. If so, why would that be?
“I told you to stay away from him,” he said, shoving his face forward again. “If you come back here, I’ll call the cops.”
“Call them now then,” she said. “I’ll even give you the number.” And she recited Mack’s number immediately.
He shook his head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you,” he said. “You’re either a dumbass or just crazy, but, either way, get the hell out of here.” And, with that, he gave her a shove. Immediately Mugs jumped at him and bit him hard in the thigh; then all hell broke loose.
Chapter 17
With Mugs barking and jumping up against the huge man in front of her, and Goliath clawing up his legs, the big man yelped and jumped back. “Call them off, call them off,” he cried out.
She glared at him. “They’re only protecting me.”
He backed up several more steps and forcefully brushed Mugs off to the side.
The dog yelped as he tumbled to the ground, and she immediately stepped forward to rescue Mugs. “Hey, keep your hands off him.”
He glared at her. “You’re nuts, lady.”
“I’ve been called that a time or two.” She pulled Mugs back off the stranger and several feet away, calming him, checking him over.
“Now get this damn cat too,” he said, trying to kick at Goliath.
“If you don’t stop kicking Goliath,” she snarled, “I’ll let Mugs back at you too.”
He stopped and stared. “You’re all nuts.”
“Maybe a little nutty,” she said, “but we’re nice normal people. We don’t threaten others on public property, and we don’t keep little boys hidden like they’re captives.”
At that, he froze and stared at her in astonishment, and then a really ugly look came into his eyes. “You stay away from Isaac,” he said, his voice low. “Or I will find out where you live, and I’ll make sure you never come back here again.” And with that, he took off at a run into the woods.
Shaky, she stopped and stared at him. She knew there would be consequences when Mack found out what she’d done. Not only had she gotten into a confrontation that she was bound and determined to avoid but now she’d riled up somebody, and that threat of his had been real. But she wasn’t so sure if it was a threat against her as much as it was a threat in order to protect little Isaac.
She didn’t know what was going on here, but she was more certain than ever that something was. She was also more than a little shaky as she slowly walked back the way she’d come. She felt gazes all around her, people watching from the bushes and from behind their curtains and doors. But nobody came out and said anything. She didn’t know if that man had been a problem for everybody or if he was their protector. A weird sense of togetherness was here.
It wasn’t a very large residential section, was more like an overrun pocket of several houses together with this pathway along them connecting one cul-de-sac to another. As she finally made it to the more open cul-de-sac, she held out her hand and saw the tremors visibly shaking her arm. Wrapping her arms around her chest, she quickly walked away.
“Come on, Mugs,” she called out. He raced toward her, more than happy with his encounter that had left her shaken, that amazing bravado of hers now gone. She wondered where it came from and didn’t want it to be based on the animals defending her. They shouldn’t be put in the position of having to. They could have been hurt. She didn’t know how she always ended up in these scenarios. She’d just gone for a walk, for crying out loud.
She wondered why the man was so protective of the area. She didn’t know, but it was a question that she felt needed to be answered. As she walked around to the corner of the cul-de-sac, a police car raced in at the corner. She took one look and quickly picked up her pace. She didn’t know who had called the police, but, if any of the neighbors had called because of the confrontation she’d just had, she didn’t want to be the one who had to explain it all. Not if the cops wouldn’t pick up that threatening guy as well.
As it was, she went around the corner, then took another corner on a different block, in order to avoid being out on the main road.
Flustered, she realized she’d gotten herself out of her normal travel routes and didn’t immediately know how to get home, where she wanted to be. She was just a little too far away for comfort, which was another concern.
When she finally worked her way back to familiar territory and got home, she was a little more stressed than she had realized. She headed straight into the kitchen, put on a pot of coffee, and, as soon as it was done, she went out onto the deck and just sat on the steps, leaning against one of the railings. She was hot; she was tired, and she was still shaky on the inside. Her phone had rung a couple times, but she’d ignored it.
Now as she sat here, trying to ease back the stress and to calm down, she realized not answering would potentially cause her more trouble, depending on who it was. She pulled her phone from her pocket, just as it rang again. It was Mack.
“Hey, Mack,” she said, trying to keep her tone jovial.
“Where have you been?” he asked.
“Out walking,” she said. “I told you that I was taking a walk.”
“Where?” he barked.
“Over where Isaac was.”
“Dammit to hell, Doreen,” Mack said. “Were you involved in a confrontation a little while ago?”
She winced as she stared at her little creek that had turned into a rolling river at the end of her property. Of course somebody had tattled. “I don’t know how much of a confrontation it was,” she said cautiously. “How did you hear about it?”
“The cops were called.”
“And why does everything come back to you?” she asked. “It’s not like everybody in the department reports to you.”
“I wish they wouldn’t report at all, but anytime it involves a nosy woman with a whole pile of animals, everybody automatically directs their inquiries to me,” he said in exasperation.
“Ah,” she said, “I guess I’m a little too visible now, huh?”
“You think? You’re just avoiding the question.”
“Okay, yes, it was me,” she admitted.
“So, what happened?”
With a sigh, she quietly told him and said, “When he finally took off and left, I just came home.”
“That is not a threat we’re prepared to ignore.”
“No,” she said softly, knowing that Mack was genuinely worried and upset. “The thing is, I don’t know if he was threatening me as much as he was protecting his people.”
“And that’s quite possible,” he said, his voice hard. “But he shouldn’t be going around ordering people off public property, and he can’t threaten you, not with your animals there.”
“Well, I think he knows that by now,” she said with a laugh, then, out of nowhere, she choked back a sob.
His voice immediately softened. “Are you okay?”