Jan sat in her bedroom in the middle of her bed, wearing a silk nightshirt and panties while pouring over folders and reports. It seemed things were going exceptionally well at the office, but, instead of lessening the burden, it only seemed to pile more work on.
While she read, her mind kept wandering back to Jack. She'd never felt so close to anyone, yet she wondered if their closeness was simply two people sharing a common experience - one charged with an emotion other than love, maybe loss. While he seemed so open and honest with his feelings, there always appeared to be something hidden - a room in his mind whose door she hadn't found yet, much less opened.
Tossing the last report back onto the pile, she picked them up, straightened them in her hands, and dropped them in the outside pocket of her computer case. She looked at the zipper for a minute and wondered if she should plug it in - log in and see if Jack was around. But they had both agreed; chat was not the place to communicate for now and had stuck to phone calls and e-mail.
Abandoning the idea, she picked up her glass, a plate, and wadded napkin from where she'd had a snack earlier and padded barefoot downstairs. What are you thinking about right now, Jack, she wondered? Setting the dishes in the sink and tossing the napkin in the trash, she checked the back doors and stopped at the alarm control to check it before heading back upstairs. That's funny, she thought. How could the alarm show the front door as open? Thinking she might not have pulled it closed completely when she came home from the office, she headed for the foyer. But she realized too late that the front door had been closed when she came downstairs, just a few minutes ago; living alone, she had a habit of keeping an eye on things like that.
She froze in the entryway from the kitchen to the foyer, staring at the front door which was open a few feet, and letting a cool breeze come in from the porch.
Glancing around quickly, she noticed her purse and car keys still on the foyer table under the big mirror. Grab the keys and run, or turn around and hit the panic button on the alarm? How could someone get in here, she wondered. There's a gate and cameras all over the place with two guards sitting in the guard shack at the corner of the property that are supposed to be watching the monitors and sensors.
Spinning quietly on her heels, she retraced her steps to the alarm station on tiptoe and punched the panic button. Nothing happened. She had never used it before but seemed to recall that some kind of confirmation should come up on the display, indicating she'd pushed it. Pressing again, this time slower and firmer, she carefully watched the display as it refused to acknowledge her action. Slipping into a panic, she turned quickly and lunged at the phone on the wall beside the refrigerator. Dead. Damn. She cursed the thing and threw it to the floor, watching it shatter.
Suddenly, conscious of all the noise she was making, she crouched behind the counter and listened. Nothing - no creaking boards, rustling curtains, or clicking door latches. There was only the quiet hum of the refrigerator as it blew warm air across her bare feet. Avoiding the pieces of broken phone parts on the floor, she crept along, below the counter, to the corner closest to the kitchen entrance and the foyer.
Stopping again, she listened and couldn't even hear the refrigerator above the pounding of her heart as blood rushed to her head. Hands shaking, she raised them to balance herself on the frame of the door, forcing herself to lean forward and peer around the corner. She felt her heart stop when she saw the door was now closed.
Glancing at the entrance to the front room on the right, she could see nothing but shadows and darkness, mostly darkness. Looking over her shoulder, she peered above the counter and quickly scanned the kitchen to confirm she was still alone. She couldn't see much of the back deck with so little light, but she had checked those locks, and they were secure.
Turning back to the foyer, she inched forward a little more, centering her feet under her crouching figure, ready to make a run for her car keys and the front door. Stopping to listen again, she waited, wishing desperately, Jack were here.
Taking a deep breath, she rocked back on the balls of her feet and sprang up, charging for the table. Scooping the keys up in one hand and snagging her purse for the cell phone it contained in the other, she grabbed the door, turned the handle, and pulled. She almost fell when it didn't come open, and she couldn't figure out why. Trying again, she looked down and realized the deadbolt was set from the inside. Freezing, she listened as she tried to stifle sobs of panic and fear.
Two breaths, three. Her heart didn't slow; she had to get control of herself. Four. Five. She counted to herself as she tried to slow her breathing before she passed out. Nothing had happened yet. She was still alive. Turning the deadbolt, she turned the doorknob again and was rewarded this time when the door pulled away from the frame, allowing her to scamper out. Clicking the alarm button on her car, she was confused when the lights started flashing and the alarm wailed, piercing the quiet night with a banshee's cry of intrusion. In her rush, she had hit the car's panic button instead of the alarm button without realizing it.
Ignoring the car alarm, she ran to the driver's side, cutting her feet on loose bits of gravel strewn around the black asphalt drive. She grabbed the car's door handle; but it slipped out of her hand; the door wouldn't open. Now in a full blown panic and needing to escape, she threw the keys down. Hugging her purse to her body, she started running towards the side of the house, in the general direction of the guard house. She wasn't sure if she could run full out for 200 yards, but she planned on giving it a hell of a try.
Just as she got about 50 yards away from the house, bright lights came on behind her. Then, what seemed to be a moving light swung across from the back, making her shadow move from left to right in front of her. Glancing back across her shoulder with her feet still pumping, the sight of four big lights and a smaller one moving back and forth just pushed her harder - hard enough that she was paying no attention to where her feet fell. The pain was excruciating when she stepped into the gopher hole, trapping her foot and sending the purse flying from her arms while she tumbled into blackness.
The uniformed security guard sat on the grass beside Jan and watched her breathing. Feeling the side of her neck, he could tell her pulse was fast but strong. In the headlights of the 4x4 used to patrol the grounds, he looked at her ankle. Definitely broken. His partner appeared and asked how she looked. "She's alive, but her ankle is shot."
"I've called for an ambulance, and the county is sending a couple of units over. You stay here with her, and I'll go to the gate and let them in. First, the front gate trips an alarm and now this. What the hell was she doing running like that, anyway? And dressed like that?"
The 4x4 backed up and pulled away, racing toward the front gate, leaving the guard with only a flashlight to watch over Jan.
Jan came to in the emergency room just as a young doctor pulled gently on her foot, trying to confirm the obvious. Completely disorientated, the pain shot up her leg, and she screamed. A nurse, standing beside her head, continued with the shot she had already prepared, and Jan slumped back on the examining table as the bright lights of the emergency room faded to black.
When she awoke, she could hear whispering, but for some reason couldn't see anything. Straining to look toward the sound, her vision was blurred by a hall light behind the voices, and she raised her hand to block it out, trying to see who was there. One of the blurry forms rushed to the side of the bed.
"You gave us quite a scare, Jan." Paul's familiar baritone was comforting as she let her head fall back on the pillow. Paul Morse was one of the original investors and business partners at the office. As financial director, he was always on call for an emergency or need of Jan's'.
