Honored_ An Alpha Mob Romance(7)

Suddenly, Petey started barking and jerked at the leash. I looked back at him, and he was staring across the lawn at a squirrel, barking like crazy.

“Petey, no,” I said firmly.

“Hey,” I heard someone call out, and I looked back over the rail.

The two men were standing directly below, staring up at me. I stared back, shocked at the expressions on their faces. One man was handsome and gruff with a thick beard, and the other was shorter and heavier, and was wearing a black wool cap. Both of them looked shocked but furious, as if I had walked in on them doing something terrible.

And maybe I had.

“Hey, lady,” one called out to me.

Immediately, I pulled back.

“Shh, Petey!” I said, quieting him down. The squirrel was gone, but Petey was still on high alert.

“Stay there, lady,” I heard the voice call out again.

Why would they need to yell up at me? The whole thing was weird and shady, and I didn’t want any part in it. I had been in plenty of fucked up situations in my past, and I had developed a sixth sense for danger. Without a second thought, I began walking fast, heading back toward the museum. Petey could tell that something was wrong by how fast I was moving, and he whined softly, his tail wagging hard. We began to climb back up the steep hill, angling toward the relative safety of the museum and the more crowded sidewalks. I knew my best bet was to reach light and a crowd, assuming that they wouldn’t do anything insane in front of witnesses. I got to the top of the hill when I heard him call out again.

“Stop, lady!” he yelled.

He appeared at the top of the staircase that led down to the ledge on which they had been standing. His face looked enraged as he began to move toward me.

Fear and adrenaline spiked through my chest, and I began to run. Petey kept up beside me, trotting hard as I jogged fast toward the sidewalk. We hit the pavement hard and I kept my pace up, not slowing down to look back. I jogged down another hill, toward Kelly Drive. Cars whizzed past, their headlights making shadows of the trees. I glanced back as I began to cut right, heading back toward my apartment, and saw the man following me, far back but coming fast.

My heart raced, pure fear nailing down to the core of me as I picked up my pace. I had no clue why he would chase me, but obviously they had been doing something illegal that they hadn’t wanted me to see. What was he planning to do if he caught me? I kept running, Petey keeping pace, as we made our way south, running toward my apartment. There were more people out on the sidewalks, and I felt a little bit safer, but not nearly enough to stop running. The fact that the guy would run after me meant he was serious, and crowds probably wouldn’t be enough to deter him. I kept moving, hoping people would mistake me for a jogger, and not sure why I cared what anyone thought.

As I made a left, I glanced back but didn’t see the man behind me anymore. I had crossed over from the relatively open space around the museum back into the crowded city blocks. I couldn’t tell if I had lost him or if I just couldn’t see him through the other pedestrians. I slowed down my pace to an easy jog, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I realized how exhausted I was from my short sprint, my whole body on fire, my leg muscles tight and painful, my chest heaving. Petey kept moving beside me, glancing up at me with confusion.

I made another right, heading back to my block. I weaved my way through the other evening walkers, past closed bodegas and barbershops and beer stores, past local bars and delis and more, and finally crossed onto my block. I climbed the stoop quickly, unlocked the front door, got Petey inside, and slammed it shut behind me.

Breathing deep, terror still pulsing through me, I moved up the stairs, unlocked my apartment door, and went inside. I took off Petey’s leash and slammed my deadbolt shut. I ran to my front window and peeked out: nothing unusual. I watched for what felt like ten minutes, but I didn’t see the man that had been chasing me.

What was in those packages? They were pretty large, and they looked really heavy. They were crudely done, so they must not have been professionally wrapped or something. And they didn’t sink immediately, which I thought was weird. It must have been something bad if that guy was willing to chase me for catching them, though. I was in a relatively secluded spot, and I guessed those guys had dumped whatever into the river before without any issues.

I moved away from the window, my heart rate and breathing coming under control.

“That was crazy, wasn’t it, Petey?” I said to him, and he whined at me. “What’s the matter?”

Then I remembered that I hadn’t fed him yet.

Sighing to myself, I pulled his food out of the cupboard and gave him his nightly scoop. As he devoured it, I put the teakettle on to boil, hoping something warm would calm my nerves.