Under the Viaduct, H. Anderson [top young adult novels .TXT] 📗

so we can have some privacy. Get to know each other.” He winked as he pulled her closer to a narrow space between two buildings.

She dug her feet in and pulled toward the street, yelling, “Let go! Someone help!”

Headlights flooded the road up ahead and Kaylee waved her free arm and continued to fight to loosen the man’s grip. The car stopped alongside them, blue and red lights lighting up on top of it. The man let go and took off, and Kaylee fell into the side of the police car, slamming her shoulder into it.

The officer stepped out on the other side. “You okay, ma’am?”

All the adrenaline that had built up over the last few minutes released all at once and tore out of her in the form of tears. Her throat closed up and all she could do was nod as she pushed off the car to stand up.

“You really shouldn’t be out here alone after dark. Or even when it’s light out. This is a bad neighborhood.” He walked around the front of his car and stood in front of her. “Where are you headed?”

Tears froze to her cheeks as she sniffed. Her voice came out shaky and shrill as she pointed down the street. “The hotel down there. The driver, he dropped me off back there.” She gestured down the street in the opposite direction.

The officer narrowed his eyes angrily. “Damn ride-share drivers! He should have known better.” He looked her over and asked, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Kaylee held to her right shoulder with her left hand. It still throbbed where she’d smacked into his car. “I’m okay. I just want to get to the hotel and go to sleep. My flight leaves early tomorrow.” Thank goodness.

“Alright. Get in.” He held the door open for her. “You can sit in the front seat. No way I’m letting you walk the rest of the way.”

“Thank you.” A sudden, profound weakness hit her like a brick. “I don’t think I could walk right now.”

Once inside the room, she locked and rechecked every lock on the door before collapsing onto the bed. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, a call this time, not a text, and she pulled it out and answered before thinking. “Hello?” She cringed as her voice came out high-pitched and tremulous.

“Kaylee,” Blayne’s deep voice both calmed her and brought back the terror she’d just experienced. “What’s wrong?”

Words flooded from her mouth like a burst dam, all jumbled and incoherent like her thoughts. “The driver, he was late. It got dark and he…he dropped me off. I had to walk. It was dark. So dark. A man grabbed me. He tried to…to pull me into the alley. A cop stopped. My shoulder hurts. I’m okay. I’m okay.” She covered her mouth to stifle a sob.

Blayne’s voice deepened to a near growl. “Are you okay? Which ride-share did you use? What was the driver’s name?”

Kaylee took a shuddering breath. “I…I think I’m okay. I hit my shoulder on the cop car.” She paused to gain some semblance of control of her shaking voice. “I’ll screenshot the info to you. I…I can’t remember right now.”

“Where are you?”

“In my hotel room. I’m okay. Just shaken.”

In the background she heard who she thought was Hannah and Demarcus arguing over whose turn it was to go find wood for the fire, and a hacking cough that could only be Mama C. Blayne’s voice softened as his footsteps crunched away from the sounds at the viaduct. “Kaylee. I’m so sorry this happened to you.” She heard a whistle as he sucked air in through what was probably clenched teeth. “I…”

“You don’t have to say ‘I told you so’,” she sighed. “I know, I should have listened to you. I should have checked out this area before booking this stupid, cheap hotel.” She swiped angrily at the tears that refused to stop falling. In a quieter, still trembling voice, she said, “I just want to go home.”

“I wasn’t going to say ‘I told you so.’ I was maybe going to say ‘you should have listened to me’ but not ‘I told you so.’”

Kaylee’s voice cracked in a half-laugh, half-cry.

“But seriously,” Blayne said, “you’re coming home tomorrow, right? What can I do right now to help you?”

She nodded before realizing he couldn’t see her. “I leave for the airport at five a.m.”

“What can I do?” he repeated.

“Stay on the phone with me.”

“All night if you want.”

A relieved sigh blew through her lips. “Okay. Good. Good. But you sound cold, so please go back by the fire. I’m going to go brush my teeth, so hold on.”

She set the phone on the bed and rushed through the tooth brushing process. “Are you still there?” She hated the fear that still touched her voice like a broken bow against a violin.

“I’m here. Try to get some sleep. I’ll stay on the line as long as my battery lasts. It’s fully charged now, so it should last a while.”

Kaylee settled down on top of the covers, wincing as her head touched the pillow, thinking of lice and bed bugs. “I’ll try. Talk to me. Please. Your voice is calming.” Why did she say that? He probably thought she was so weak. And weird.

“Okay. Anything in particular you want me to talk about?” She heard no judgment in his voice.

“Anything. Your childhood. Your job. Your dreams and aspirations.”

Blayne snorted. “I didn’t have any dreams or aspirations until a month and a half ago. You brought hope back into my life.”

“How romantic,” Hannah sounded in the distance.

“Leave him alone, Hannah,” Mama C warned, before her words were lost in a fit of coughing.

“Privacy is a problem on the streets,” Blayne said, annoyed. “But, seriously. I owe you a lot, Kaylee.”

“I didn’t do anything for you that you couldn’t have done on your own,” she protested.

“Ahh, but there’s the core of it. I could have done it on my own, but I wouldn’t have. You gave me hope. And