Emergence Read Online Free

out. Perhaps y’all need a lift home.”
    The hair on the back of her neck pricked. She leaned over and picked Jake up. “Thank you, but we’re not far.”
    The corners of his mouth lifted into something that was supposed to resemble a smile, but the hardness in his eyes suggested otherwise. “Please, I insist.”
    Taking a step backward, she held Jake tighter and turned him away from the man. “No, we’re fine,” she forced out in spite of her erratic breathing.
    He took another step toward her. “You don’t look fine.”
    Emma scanned the street, finding it deserted. Should she scream? Should she run? “We’re okay, really.” She walked out into the street and around him. “Good luck finding your dog.”
    She half-ran, half-walked home, breathless when she walked in the front door and chastising herself for not locking up before she left. Still holding Jake, she searched the house for any signs of an intruder. When she realized they were safe, she looked out the front window.
    The man stood on the street corner, watching the house.
    Still holding Jake in her arms, she set him down on the sofa. His eyes were glazed, his body limp. Hysteria bubbled in her chest. “Jake!”
    He looked up at her and blinked.
    “Jake.” Her voice broke and she gave into her tears. “Talk to me, baby.”
    “Is the bad man gone?”
    She sucked in a breath. “Bad man?”
    His eyes widened. “He was a bad man.”
    Determined to stop this nonsense, she clenched her jaw. “No, he was just a man looking for his dog.”
    Jake shook his head. “No. He was looking for me.”
    Emma choked on sobs. “No, Jake! Stop this right now! He’s not a bad man. Mrs. Pemberton wasn’t bad. You didn’t really know those children were going to get hurt. This isn’t real. None of this is real .”
    Tears filled his eyes. “I’m sorry, Mommy.”
    She ran to the window again. The man stood in the same spot. What if Jake was right? What if the man really wanted Jake? There was no doubt the man looked suspicious and she couldn’t take a chance. She picked up the phone and dialed 911.
    An hour later, Emma was more frustrated than before she called. An officer took her report and said he’d look into it, but she knew he considered her to be a hysterical mother, no matter how much she tried to insist she wasn’t prone to overreaction. He told her that they’d send a patrol car through the neighborhood, but she didn’t expect anything to come of it.
    Distraught, Jake cried when she tucked him into bed and insisted she stay with him. Part of her worried that if she reacted to his fear, she’d be encouraging it. But her mother’s heart won out and she carried him into her room, snuggling with him while he watched children’s television.
    Emma stroked his head, her fingers playing with his soft curls until he fell asleep. She flipped off the TV and watched him, fear churning in her gut.
    What if this wasn’t all Jake’s imagination? If people were really after her son, she had to make the police believe her.
    And if she let herself consider that bad people might want her son, she had to consider why they wanted him. Could she accept the fact that Jake really saw bad things in his head? What if Mrs. Pemberton and the man on the street corner had somehow found out and had come to take her son? Who would protect him from them?
    The next day Emma bought a hand gun. The clerk pulled out a revolver he thought would be a good fit and she held it in her hands, sure she’d lost her mind. Buying a gun seemed paranoid and irresponsible. She had a toddler in the house, for heaven’s sake. She’d never even touched a gun in her life, yet here she was buying one. While her two-year-old watched.
    How messed up was that?
    But she left the store with the gun, after she passed the background check, along with bullets and a case to lock it up in. She’d even signed up to take classes to learn how to use it, although she had no idea who would watch Jake when