Southern Bouquet

Creeper

As Jake was pulling up to May's apartment, they both noticed a figure standing on her front stoop. Jake turned the headlights off and parked a couple of houses down from the apartment building. Every muscle in May's body seemed to tense up. She started visibly shaking from the fear coursing through her veins. Her heart was racing. Her breathing began to increase rapidly and she was pushing herself back as far as she could go into the seat as if she was trying to hide herself within the seat itself.

Jake reached over and held her hand. He watched the figure on her porch intently. The figure was wearing dark clothing, looking in windows with a flashlight.

"I'm going to go see what this guy is doing." he said squeezing May's hand.

May's grip tightened around his hand and she grabbed his arm with the other hand. Staring at him with wide eyes, she begged,

"Please don't. Anthony has so many guys working for him. I'd never know who the person was and I don't want anyone knowing I suspect anything." she said stopping him.

Jake sat back in his seat and waited. The guy on the front steps wiggled a window open and climbed in. May looked at Jake in fear.

"I'm not crazy, someone has been in my apartment!" she said covering her mouth with her hands.

Jake opened his car door, looked at May, and said,

"I'm sorry but I'm going to see what the hell is going on. Give me your keys. Crawl over to the driver's seat. Lock the doors. If anything or anyone approaches you and it's not me, get out of here."

May started to argue but Jake held out his hand waiting for her keys. She pulled out her handgun and handed it and her door key to him. Jake looked at her in both shock and confusion. She carefully crawled over into the driver's seat. She started the car, made sure all of the windows were rolled up and locked the doors.

Jake cautiously made his way to the front door and quietly unlocked it. He stepped in and held the handgun in place, careful not to make any sounds or run into anything. As he rounded the corner to the living room, he heard footsteps on the second floor. Quickly, he made his way through the living room to the stairs. With his back against the wall, he made his way up the steps quietly, thankful that he knew the layout of May's apartment.

The noises were coming from May's bedroom. Jake stood just before the doorway with his body still pressed against the wall, listening. The man was talking to someone on the phone.

"I don't see anything here, boss... No, nothing... Yes, I put one in the lamp in her bedroom and the ceiling fan in the living room... The diner? No, if you begin meddling at the diner, she's going to finally catch on to being watched... I don't think it's a good idea, it took you this long to find her because she's almost completely off the grid. Don't screw it up now... Her cell isn't here but there's already the bug in it, we can use that to continue listening in on her... Damn it, Tony, if you weren't such a dick and beat the shit out of her, you wouldn't have this problem..."

Jake's adrenaline was rising and his heart was racing. He wanted to go in there and interrogate the man but he stopped himself. He was learning more by listening to his side of the phone call than he learned from May tonight.

"Tony, if you want that done, you come do it yourself. I'm not ransacking her place. She hasn't even mentioned the flash drive, I bet she doesn't even know she has the damn thing."

Jake slowly backed away from the doorway slipping into the spare bedroom. He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, silenced it, and then sent May a text message.

Don't forget about movie night. We're starting with or without you, get your ass over here now.

He pressed send hoping May would take the hint to leave and go to his house.

May's phone dinged with an incoming text message. She looked to find Jake's name scrolling across her screen. Reading the text she sat for a minute confused. She decided to reply.

I'm sorry, I must have forgotten. I'm not home right now, should I still head over?

Jake's phone lit up with a text response. Reading the message he knew she needed clarification on if she should leave without him or not. He quickly typed a response.

Yes, get over here now. Just come on in, we're in the game room. If I'm not in there, make yourself at home, I'm running for more popcorn. These guys cleaned me out. See you soon!

May received the text and quickly put the car in drive. As she drove over to Jake's house, she prayed that he would make it out of her apartment unharmed.

"...no, I just got the alert, she's texting her boss. They're having a movie night at his place tonight and it sounds like there's going to be a good size group. I'm not sticking around here waiting for her... Yes, I'll run the number and figure out where the guy lives. The cameras will be active within the next 30 minutes, you'll be able to watch everything here from that point on, live. You'll get an alert when the camera senses movement. Alright, Tony, bye." The man started shuffling things around.

Jake peered out through the crack behind the door and watched him swing a bag over his shoulder and leave the bedroom. He headed for the stairs and stopped. He turned around for a split second and then descended the stairs. Jake waited until he heard the window slide shut to move. He realized that May was right to be this paranoid. Not only do they have her cell phone bugged, but her home is also bugged, and it seemed as if there were cameras in two of the rooms. Remembering what the guy said about the cameras being active shortly, he hurried down the stairs, through the living room, and out the front door, locking the door behind him and leaving everything as it was. He started jogging back to his house eager to make sure May made it there safely.