Page 8 of The Monster’s Weakness

That pain was still somewhere inside him, buried too deep to ever find. He never explored those feelings of helplessness and despair. But he remembered them. He wanted to protect Gemma from the same monsters who’d taken everything from him.

He waited until the light came on in her apartment. First floor. Second window from the left. Only then did he settle back against the headrest.

His phone buzzed.

Gemma: I had a really good time tonight. Thanks for walking me home :)

A smile tugged at his mouth.

She’d given him her number tonight. That part had been cute. He’d had it for months. Along with her address, her employment history, her bank balance, the name of the neurologist she hadn’t seen in four months because she couldn’t afford the copay, and every prescription she’d filled since March. Including the one she’d picked up yesterday. Eleven dollars. She thought the drug company’s assistance program had finally come through. It hadn’t. He had.

Another notification appeared beneath her message. No smiley face this time. Just a photograph, an address, and a time. Tomorrow at 7:20 AM. He opened it.

There was a man in a charcoal suit climbing out of a black SUV. Fifty-four, married, two kids. Liked expensive bourbon, cheap women, and taking the same route to work every morning. His next contract.

He looked up at her window again. Her shadow passed briefly behind the curtains.

Safe.

Warm.

Home.

Something inside him eased. He looked back at her text and typed.

Caleb: Me too. Sleep well.

If she knew what he’d done before walking into that bar tonight, she wouldn’t be sending him smiley faces. If she knew how many nights he’d sat in this exact spot before she’d ever learned his name, she wouldn’t have let him walk her to her door. And if she knew where the money for her medication really came from—

Well, she didn’t need to know everything. He’d learned a long time ago that people liked to pretend survival was clean. It wasn’t.

Tomorrow morning, a man was going to die.

Tomorrow afternoon, another month of her medication would be paid for.

For the first time in his life, he had someone worth keeping alive.

And God help anyone who made that difficult.

Chapter Four

Meyer’s Designs was a hit.

There was no one else lining up for the job. Gemma sat for an hour, and then went for an interview with a woman in a back room. Then she found out she had the job.

She didn’t quite know all the details of what the job entailed, but it was a job. She had a small desk outside of a main office. Her job was to answer the telephone, deal with some files, and handle emails. That was the start. The salary alone was much better than her last job. Once her probationary period was over, she hoped medical kicked in. But in the meantime, she still had her medication paid for. That stress was over for the time being.

As for the company itself, it appeared to be small, handling main designs for small businesses, as well as a few larger ones. It had a brilliant reputation, but there was also only one designer. The main setup was ... small.

She had yet to meet the designer and owner. Rachel, the woman who had interviewed her, had told her that her instructions would come via email, and that she was not to deviate from those instructions. She could go anywhere within the building, but the main office was out of bounds until the artist arrived. She didn’t tell her the man’s name, just that she would know everything all in good time. Everything was so vague, but Gemma didn’t care because this was a job. A good paying one within walking distance.

The first day was about getting acquainted with all the new software, along with number crunching which she was used to. She was asked to look through statistical analysis for certain products, as well as a few other things. It was fun. Refreshing.

Gemma had long given up on the idea of a career when her parents had ceased to help her. All that mattered now was getting a job that paid well. That was all she could think about. Career didn’t even come into it at this point.

After five days of working at Meyer’s Designs, she sat back and took a deep breath. It was lunchtime, and because she had been able to afford groceries, she’d made herself a pasta salad using lovely vegetables, and was even able to make a dressing. It was so strange how a week could change a person’s life.

Even though she didn’t feel comfortable taking payment in advance, she also knew she couldn’t turn it down because she needed the money. Her fridge had been empty and she was on her last bit of hope. Gemma didn’t know of any company that would pay an employee in advance. It made her nervous, because in her experience, it tended to mean something wasn’t right. Either way, she was not going to complain. So far, everything was perfect. Maybe a little too perfect, if anything.