Free Killer's Prey by Rachel Lee

sorry.”
    “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t want to upset you, but sometimes we need someone to talk to who really understands what it’s like. I’m here, any hour of the day or night.”
    Nora felt a wave of warmth wash through her horror. “I’m afraid,” she admitted. “I’m afraid that he might come after me. He can’t, they’ve got him on one of those electronic bracelets, but I’m not going to feel safe until he’s in jail. That’s why I came home.”
    “I can certainly understand that,” Emma said gently. “It’s going to be a while before you start to feel safe again. I know that for a fact. But you will, eventually. I can promise you that.”
    Some of Nora’s tension eased, but she was looking at Miss Emma in an entirely different way than she had during all her years growing up. The woman who had always seemed so strong and kind had had her own demons and scars to deal with. Maybe she was still dealing with some of them.
    Nora spoke impulsively. “I want to grow up to be like you.”
    Emma smiled. “I think you’ve already grown up far more than that. So, you want to help with the cataloging? Are you sure?”
    “Absolutely.” It would keep her out of that house, away from her father, at least during the library hours. It would give her something to focus on outside herself. “I need to be busy.”
    “Then I’m hiring you. I have a small budget for another assistant, but I haven’t had one in a while. Libraries aren’t as busy these days.” She rolled her eyes. “I can’t imagine why. Regardless, I’ll pay you for as much as you can work.”
    “I’d better warn you that I run out of steam quite a bit. It doesn’t last, but I’m still...recovering.”
    “That’s not a problem. At the rate this job is going, it may not get done for another generation. But it’s making me feel guilty to have folks donating so much stuff and not being able to keep up. You can have my office to work in, except for when I want tea.” Emma winked.
    Emma quickly explained where the already cataloged items were being placed, the spreadsheet on which the description of each item was being recorded and how the items were being numbered. Nora felt confident enough with this part of the task and was soon busy at it.
    She felt useful again, and what’s more, she felt safe here. Her mind didn’t wander down frightening paths, but instead took a trip into the pasts of others, most long gone, who had left their marks, big and small, on this county.
    All too soon, though, the afternoon waned, the early twilight arrived and Emma suggested she call it quits for the night. Nora glanced at the big clock on the wall and realized it was nearly six. Her dad wouldn’t be home again until nine, so it was safe.
    “I’ll drive you,” Emma said. “Candy is taking over for the evening.”
    Nora had never met Candy, or at least couldn’t remember meeting her. She appeared to be about twenty or so, with an ear-to-ear grin and a smattering of freckles across her cheekbones and nose.
    “So you’re the new archivist,” Candy said. “I wouldn’t take on that job for anything.”
    Nora managed a smile. “I’m enjoying it.” And she was. It took her out of herself, and far away, a welcome change.
    But now it was time to go home. To a blessedly empty house. Empty enough that she’d probably start thinking again. She didn’t want to think about it yet, though. She’d deal with it in the silent house. Somehow, some way, she had to come to terms with what had happened, and she knew she couldn’t do that by avoiding it. She was enough of a counselor to know that.
    Still, those long hours loomed in front of her, and the tension she had managed to forget while she’d been going through papers in the library began to build anew as Emma drove her through the darkening streets.
    “Will you be okay?” Emma asked as they pulled up in front of the Loftis house.
    “I have to be.”
    Emma sighed and nodded. “I remember.