Warning: There is no-sex in this story.
Chapter 1: Our Shadow
There is nothing like a cold December morning to drive the last vestige of sleep from my body. My glasses fogged as soon as I opened the outer door. I bent forward to retrieve my handkerchief and my peripheral vision caught movement to my right, it was not close by, perhaps some forty feet away and on the other side of the street.
Ordinarily I would have been startled, but I was on guard for the presence of raccoons. The four-legged bandits had become frequent visitors to the cans than lined our neighbor's driveway. I half expected them to scurry across my path or confront my intrusion. However, the movement came from a person not an animal.
They moved quickly but in a manner of someone with a slight limp. Nonetheless, they made it to a waiting car and then drove off just as I was beginning to focus. I caught a glimpse of hair overflowing a hood. I could not be sure but I thought the figure had been a woman.
On this street at this time of morning, that was certainly an odd happening. However, I shrugged off the scene as soon as the car pulled away. There was not much else to think about so I hurried over to my own vehicle. It was 6am. With luck, I could get a lot accomplished before the office opened.
As predicted, my morning in the office went surprisingly well, no fires to put out and no egos to stroke. Maybe this was evidence of the Christmas spirit. Whatever it was, I made it out of there unscathed. I was taking a half day and meeting my wife for lunch at the mall.
When I arrived at the mall, I saw my wife making her way thru the crowd. The place was crowded with the usual holiday shoppers. Maddy was carrying two bags that she seemed to have trouble negotiating. I came upon her quickly. As I moved to grab both bags from her, I felt a tingling in the back of my neck. I glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of a woman in the distance. She appeared to be looking at us.
At first I thought she was looking elsewhere, that is until our eyes met. For a moment, we appraised one another but my eyes refused to stray from her face; it was devoid of all humor. She was not merely deadpanning us; she was studying our interaction…as if she were eavesdropping, looking at us with the air of a busybody. However, given her distance and the fact that neither Maddy nor I had spoken I knew that she could not have been listening. Then as quickly as I had seen her, she turned and walked away.
It then occurred to me that this woman moved in the same irregular manner as the person I had seen earlier that morning. I guided Maddy into a nearby restaurant and we sat down.
Maddy was describing the buys she had made. She was so excited at having found an outfit for her cousin Kate. As she spoke, she kept shifting nervously in her seat every few seconds. At eight months pregnant, I knew her back was bothering her and the hard plastic chair was not helping. As expected, she announced that she was going to the restroom.
I stood and moved her chair while helping her rise from the seat. I turned to watch her walking away. Even though the dining room was crowded, I caught sight of someone staring through the window separating the restaurant from the mall walkway. It was the same woman I had seen earlier, and she was focused again on Maddy.
This was getting creepy. I thought about telling Maddy about this but decided against it. It might needlessly upset her. Besides, it might just be a coincidence. Then for some reason I thought of Sylvia Seagrist. It had been a dozen years since that mentally ill woman had aimed an automatic weapon at random shoppers in a mall.
That image got me out my seat. I picked up our bags and waited for Maddy outside of the restroom. She was a little surprised to see me standing there when she opened the door and scrunched her face when she saw I was holding our bags.
I put my best smile on the situation. "Hey babe, it's too crowded in here, and I see how your back has reacted to those seats. Tell you what, let me make you lunch at home then I will give you a bath and a massage? How's that sound?"
"Marvelous", she said with a big smile as she interlocked her arm in mine.
I breathed easier now as I hustled her out the mall and into our car. I kept looking around for that woman, careful not to involve Maddy. As we pulled into our street, I checked again for our 'shadow'. Satisfied we were alone, Maddy and I entered our apartment.
Maddy was very tired from our outing. She slipped out of her clothes while I ran the water for her bath. I helped her get in the tub. There was foam seat in place for her comfort.
"I must be a sight", she said after obtaining a comfortable position. She looked at me as if she were going to cry.
Her hand was placed on the side of the tub. I placed my hand over hers and moved to kiss her forehead. She never looked lovelier to me. She was having my baby and her body was all warm and soft. Sitting there naked in the bath, I saw how vulnerable she was and all I wanted to do was protect her and make her feel safe and loved.
"Babe, you are as beautiful to me now as the day we married. Now sit back and relax."
I washed her tenderly, caressing her skin with both the cloth and my hands that were lathered with the scented soap. I took my time resting over various parts of her frame: her legs, her arms, the back of her neck, and her ears. On her neck and ears, I placed kisses as water rinsed over her.
I helped her up and dried her, again lingering over certain areas of high tension. Then we went to the bedroom where I commenced her massage starting with her feet. Within minutes, Maddy was asleep so I tucked her in bed and turned off the light.
The radiators hissed as I left the room. The temperature had been steadily dropping all day. I wondered if it were going to snow. Ours was a frontal apartment on the second floor. It had a good view from the living room window of the street as well as the city skyline. I looked out first at the southern sky and then down at the sidewalks.
The street was clear, as dusk l had descended. As I was moving back, I caught sight of a car across the street. It looked like the same vehicle I had seen in the morning. Furthermore, the engine was running and I could see the outline of one person on the driver's side.
This was no coincidence. We were being watched, probably by the woman from the mall. I thought about calling the police; but what did I have to offer? She had not actually come in direct contact with either of us, she just watched. If we were lucky to get squad car to come it could take hours. This type of call had the lowest priority. I decided to change the rules of the game we were playing.
I left the building by the back fire door and proceeded through the yard to the adjoining lot. From there I circled around until I made it to the street. I was now about 100 yards from the entrance to our building and the woman was parked more than half that distance between. I had brought a flashlight along to help me negotiate the walkway. I noted that the vehicle had Maryland plates. When I reached the car, I decided to take another risk…one that in hindsight was quite foolish.
I grabbed the driver's door handle assuming it unlocked. It was, so I swung the light directly in this woman's face as the door flew open. The effect caused her to recoil in her seat letting out a loud gasp.
