10

The Damage to the basement was extensive. It would have to be completely remodeled. The insurance company estimated the damages at roughly twenty thousand dollars. Not including the five thousand of which was her own property. She had them cut two checks. One for her and one for her mother so she could get the repairs done. She had told her in no uncertain terms that she would not be able to stay there another day. So, she spent the afternoon cleaning up and packing up her stuff on the back of Chad's truck. By the time she was done it was time for her evening class. Chad dropped her at school and went to check her into a Residence Inn and unload her stuff.

Class went as smooth as usual, given that it wasn't a class she took with Aiden Lawrence. She hadn't seen him or his brothers and cousins all day since she hadn't been in the library that afternoon. She went into the library after class and spoke to Mrs. Kingston, who seemed relieved to see her. Chad had called her about what happened and to see if Katie could stay with her until they found her a place but, her husband had said no.

"I'm so sorry, Katie." The older woman had said, as she set up her things. "Harold is just..."

"It's fine, Mrs. K." She reassured her. "He's thinking of your safety and that of your grandkids."

The older woman nodded appreciating that Katie understood her husband's concerns.

She sat down to edit the class video and check into her online classes. She had not been able to sleep at Chad's the night before and had stayed up most of the night working and studying. She was exhausted but, she knew there was no way she could rest right now.

"You look like crap, Quinn." Aiden taunted, with a soft chuckle as he passed her. "I guess trouble really doesn't sleep."

She tried to ignore him but, every time he came near her he had something asinine to say. She struggled through her remaining study time. The truth of some of the things he said were like a stabbing pain to her heart. She packed up her stuff and went to the nearest rest room, where she sat in a stall and sobbed. She was still being punished for Edgar Callum's murder and she always would be. She had no family and the two people she thought still believed her, really didn't. When she came out there were other women in the restroom. She ignored them as she washed her face and pressed cold, wet paper towels against her eyes to try and reduce the redness and swelling.

"Here," one of the girls said, "Put some of this on and it'll make the puffiness go away. " She squeezed a dab of hemorrhoid cream on to Katie's finger.

"Thanks." She murmured and applied the smooth cream under eyes and an on her eyelids in a thin later.

"I usually have some drops to remove redness but, I'm out." She said, and when Katie didn't respond, she asked. "You're Kaitlyn Quinn, right?"

Katie paused briefly to look at the girl through the mirror then said in a hoarse whisper. "Yes."

"You know most people around here are afraid of you, right?" The girl asked, studying her. Katie nodded jerkily. "They really don't have any reason to be, do they?"

Katie shook her head and washed her hands just as someone began banging on the door.

"Anyone in there? I'm looking for Kaitlynn Quinn." Chad's voice sounded on the other side and Katie closed her eyes as she realized she was late coming out.

"I'm in here." She called back.

"You alone?" He asked.

"No." The girl answered. "But we're decent if you want to come in." She laughed.

He pushed the door open and peeped inside.

"I'm Emma Lacey, by the way." She told Katie, writing something down on a piece of notebook paper and handing it to her. "In case you want to talk about it."

Katie accepted the paper and nodded. "Ok. Thanks."

Emma stunned her by leaning forward and hugging her then turning and skipping out of the bathroom.

Chad looked stunned but, realized Katie had been crying. "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter. I just want to go..." She was about to say home but, she remembered she no longer had one. "Where am I staying?"

"I got you set up in a one bedrrom apartment on Keller. The old man was desperate for a tenant." Chad said. "Place is crappy but, it's somewhere to hold your stuff. The board refused to shell out three hundred a week for Residence Inn for a parolee but, they did go ahead and get you a voucher for some secondhand furniture and some supplies. We'll have to do that after your morning classes tomorrow. The place is a mess and you'll have to get in touch with the cable company to get internet, cable and phone but, power and water are included in your rent. You have a washer and dryer and stove and refrigerator included in the place but, they're filthy and need to be cleaned. I figure we can go Saturday and take care of all that. Until then, you're at my place."

When they walked out to the truck she noted that her stuff wasn't on the back of it any more. Chad explained that he had unloaded in the guest room where she would be for the next few days. He had the keys to her new place but he didn't want to leave her stuff there unattended.

At Chad's place, she kept herself in the guest room as much as possible. Most of the time she could be found at the small desk in front of the window with her ear buds in and her laptop up as she worked or studied. She tried to keep the same routine she usually had, and the same rules. Except for the bathroom, she kept to the room she was assigned. That seemed to suit him too. It was obvious he was nervous about her being at his place or being seen at his place, rather. She assumed it had something to do with the rules of his job but, it could have been because he was cool with Amanda's family and her brothers—Ed, Emmitt and Garrett—popped by frequently. Mr. Edgar had six kids: Edgar II, Emilia, Emmitt, Garrett, Samantha and Amanda. Emilia and Emmitt were twins, as were Amanda and Samantha—both sets fraternal. Ed II was only about thirteen months older than Emilia and Emmitt. There was a ten year gap between the first set of twins and Garrett who was eighteen months older than Sammy and Mandy, who were the same age as she and Chad.

Everything went along fine until Friday when Chad left for work. She was dressed in yoga pants and a tee shirt that was a little too big for her as she washed the blender and glass that she had used to make her morning smoothie. Just as she was drying her hands, she heard a key in his door and assumed it was him but, a shrill scream of anger alerted her soon after, that it was not. She turned around to see Amanda and Samantha standing there with shopping bags. Amanda's normally pretty face was scrunched into the most hideous mask of rage while Samantha's reflected shock as her mouth gaped.

"Oh hell no he doesn't have this murdering bitch in his house!" Mandy shrieked, and began dialing her cell phone.

Katie let out a calming breath, attempting to slow the heart pounding in her chest. Why does Mandy still have a key to his place if they are broken up? She wondered but, shook it off as she noticed Samantha becoming just as enraged as her twin sister. Katie didn't bother speaking to either of them. She just left the kitchen and went to her room and closed the door. She would have locked it but, there was no lock on that door.

The next thing she heard was Amanda yelling to someone over the phone, she assumed it was Chad, so she put her ear buds in but, on low volume in case there was a sneak attack. A few minutes later, the yelling continued and so did sobs and tears but, she heard the door open and felt some one come in and close the door.

She glanced back to see Samantha and their brother, Garrett, staring at her with fury on their faces. There would be no amount of rational conversation with them, she determined. So, she calmly took a bud out and turned to patiently wait for them to say whatever they wanted.

"Aren't you afraid of us?" He asked, fists clenching at his sides.

She just gave a slow nod. She was terrified of them, to be honest. She knew she had not done what they thought but, they would not believe her. The judicial system had convicted her. They couldn't be wrong, right?

"Why did Chad bring you here?" Sammy demanded through gritted teeth.

"Someone is stalking me." She answered slowly. "They broke into my mother's basement and destroyed just about everything. She said I couldn't stay there anymore. So, he brought me here until I could be placed again."

"How soon will that be?" Garrett asked, his anger still full force.

"He says this weekend...tomorrow or Sunday, I guess." She said, holding her hands clasped in her lap.

"How long have you been here?" Sammy demanded.

"Since Monday night...when it happened." She answered, staring at Garrett. He looked like his dad—same height and build, well, he was in better shape. She imagined that he was what Mr. Edgar had looked like at that age, except maybe not so menacing and angry. He had the same dark green eyes and rust colored hair—minus the gray. She wondered if he was anything like his father when his temper wasn't flared up so badly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He growled and she looked away.

"S-sorry." She began to stammer, and looked away again.

"Did you call Chad?" He asked, as he stepped closer to her.

She swallowed and shook her head no. They were going to hurt her. She could feel it. There was nothing she could do. She had no idea how to defend herself.