The shops surrounding her were clothing stores whose salespeople didn’t arrive for work until ten a.m. She came in early to prep and cook. Obviously no one had reported this yet or the police would be here.

With her heart in her throat, she dialed 911 and stood outside before entering, only willing to do so with a police officer by her side. While she waited, she’d never felt so alone or experienced the solitude of her life more acutely. She’d left behind a life with friends, who she hadn’t contacted for fear Colton would pressure them for her whereabouts.

And though she had Kelsey here, Kelsey was an intern, not a real friend. At twenty-five, Faith was four years older than the other girl, who had her own group of friends from school. New York City wasn’t conducive to meeting people if you didn’t make an effort, go to the gym or classes, and put yourself out there. And Faith had done everything but. She’d kept her head down, run her business, and gone home alone at night.

Her thoughts went to Jason, a man she’d just met. She felt silly, but she’d put his business card in her jacket pocket, and she fingered the cool paper now, hoping it would make her feel better, but she had no intention of calling him.

He didn’t need her problems and he wasn’t her friend. He’d just been a helpful stranger.

She forced herself to think about the incident and who could have done it. If her brother had been the culprit, and how could it be anyone but him, how had he found her? She’d put all the paperwork in the business entity name, not her own, hadn’t put her picture on any of her social media, including the company website, and she’d taken a new last name to ensure she’d be protected. But if these two back-to-back episodes told her anything, there was no such thing as safe.

Once the cops came, they checked out the business before declaring it clear for her to go inside, at which point she had to step over a brick that had been thrown through the glass. Thank God whoever it was hadn’t gotten inside. Her equipment and cases were all intact and she blew out a relieved breath.

A forensic analyst arrived to dust for prints and bag the brick for evidence, while another officer took Faith’s statement. She debated telling them about Colton’s attack and threats, but that could only lead to them contacting the police department at home to question him, and she didn’t want to alert him to where she was on the very off chance this was a coincidence. If they found his prints, they’d have proof. He had a record, after all. But if they didn’t, they couldn’t accuse him anyway.

Finally they left her alone with the mess of her shop. Luckily for her, the man who owned the clothing store on one side came by and called a few friends, who boarded up the door until she could get someone in to fix it during the week. And there was nothing she could do about the graffiti until the window washers could fit her in.