08

Total A-hoe. Like asshole but female.

I just straightened out of my seat and was tipping back the rest of my drink when another text came through.

[Stellan : Bring some alcohol, please.]

My eyes widened and I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or not. Whether he was just about to start drinking or had just ran out, trust Stellan to say please even at a time like this.

Well. Alcohol coming right up.

« I gotta go ! » I told Sidney as I launched to my feet and grabbed my clutch. « Totally had fun. It was a blast. Thank you. I’ll see you Sunday for a late lunch. »

« Where are you going ? » Sidney asked but I was already hopping off the last step and into the crowd. With a celebrity DJ guesting tonight, the place was packed but even blindfolded, I can find my way to the bar.

« Nash ! Over here ! » I urgently beckoned the bartender who was all the way at the other end of the bar. « I need a Laphroaig 10. »

Nash walked over to me so slowly, looking confused. « You mean a whole bottle ? »

« Yes, » I said, adding for fuck’s sake mentally. « Unopened, from your stock. Just add it to my tab. »

« Oh, and I want those dry ribs to go, » I added when I saw a waitress arrive at the bar with a small platter for another customer. « Nash, give Ashley a take-out box or something. »

The staff knows me well considering they see me on an almost weekly basis but they seem to be having trouble with my unusual requests. Ashley glanced at the guy who’d been expecting the food then back at me, clearly torn.

I sauntered over to the customer who was luckily a guy in his early twenties and flashed him a big grin and a hint of cleavage. Hopefully, he was straight. « Hey, I have to rush out to see a friend who’s just been dumped and is inconsolable. Ashley here will bring you out another platter right away if you’d be so kind to let me take this one. »

The guy’s eyes widened, dropped to my chest (which was really showing more than a hint), and jumped back to my face.

He smiled. « Of course. Sure. Take it. It’s on me. »

I beamed. « Aw, you’re too sweet. Thank you. »

He brightened up even more. « No, it’s all good. You’re really a… uh, a good friend. »

I was giggling for effect, watching Nash in my periphery as he rolled his eyes and took the tray from Ashley.

« You’re um, you’re… » the guy stammered, still gazing up at me. He was sitting on a stool but with me at five-seven plus four-inch heels, he was eye-level to my chest. « Aren’t you Kady Lynn Jones ? I have a magazine with you on the cover. »

I had a few covers but my last one about six months ago was of me straddling a big, black Harley in an electric pink string bikini. It flew off the shelves, mostly purchased by young guys like this one, but also by dads and uncles and grandpas and teen boys. Yes. I just had to make it weird. Real life is weird. And often perverted.

« Can I take a picture with you ? » the guy went on before I could even confirm my identity. He was already whipping out his phone. Thank God it was just his phone or there’d be human entrails to clean off the floor.

« I’m just waiting for my friends but they’re going to totally hate me for this and that’ll be so awesome, » he finished, his face practically glowing.

Nash had disappeared into the back to get my bottle so I was stuck there for the next thirty seconds.

« Sure. Why not ? » I said as I stepped sideways to let the guy stand next to me, his left arm hoisting up his phone. « Keep your hands to yourself, please, or you’ll lose them. Thanks. »

Whether that threat of mutilation registered or not, I didn’t care as I grinned up at the camera and waited for the flash. I quickly stepped back and nearly sighed out with relief when Nash reemerged with my liquor and food.

« Awesome ! Thank you ! » I said as I practically snatched the items off Nash’s hands. « I owe you guys big time. See ya ! »

I rushed out of the bar and into the back of a taxi and after it sped off, I sent a quick text to Sidney to hand Nash and Ashley a hefty tip from me.

When I finally had nothing else to do but sit and wait, reality hit me.

I was going to see Stellan in ten minutes or so.

All by myself.

Just the two of us.

In private.

This is a terrible idea.

I couldn’t dispute the voice in my head.

It’s too late now. I can’t leave him hanging like Rachel just did.

That wasn’t entirely accurate. I could still turn around. I had no real responsibility toward the man. But I was being pulled under anyway and apparently, I wasn’t doing a damned thing to fight it.

I was going to fucking drown.

The shop maintained the look of a warehouse from the outside. It sat on a small piece of industrial land right on the edge of Crescent Creek which carried the run off from the ocean into the interior of the city, right along the border to the next town.

The small parking lot was empty except for the black Land Rover I’ve seen Stellan drive around.

The cab driver looked around and asked me if this was the right address. He wasn’t weird to be skeptical about it. It did look like a spot where you’d trip on a dead body. I assured him it was, thanked him and dumped my ass out of the cab.

It wasn’t a long walk to what looked like the main door where I thought I’d have to spend ten minutes knocking. There must’ve been cameras or sensors discreetly mounted on the building exterior because the door opened when I was about a foot away from it. No one stood on the other side of the dimly lit entrance.

« Now, we just have to wait for him to jump out with an axe, » I muttered under my breath as I slowly walked through the short hallway that was lit by industrial wall sconces. The only thing I could hear were my ragged breaths and the clicking of my heels. « Maybe this is really why Rachel dumped him. He’s actually a serial killer. »

« I hate to disappoint you but I’m really not. »

« Jesus, Stellan, » I hissed after my heart nearly leapt out of my body when his voice boomed all throughout the building. « What’s with the PA system ? Is this a school or prison ? Because those are the only two places where it’s acceptable to use it. »

« Sorry, I didn’t mean to spook you, » he said still on the damn PA system. « The place is rigged with my version of a through-the-earth comm system that I developed for a rover project we were testing several hundred feet underground. This is one of the initial designs—still quite rudimentary. »

« And you have it on so you can hear the rats scurry around ? » I asked out loud even though it was clear he could hear the slightest noise I make.

I found my way to the center of the building where the second level opened to the ground floor. A spiral staircase in a corner connected them. There was a huge skylight that let sun and moon peek in depending on the time, warming a space that was all steel and concrete. There was an assortment of large work tables, equipment of all sizes and materials of all kinds. It looked like perfectly organized chaos and he was nowhere to be found in it. « Or is it so you can spy on people while they’re using your bathroom here ? »

I heard the faint smile in his voice. « I usually have it on at night here. Just because of the area we’re in. »

Before I could reply, he added hastily. « Not that you were in any real danger coming here. There’s a network of cameras set up outside that catches all traffic from every direction, including the creek. »

« Well, what if the driver decided to skin and salt me in a back alley way back from here ? » I asked because I couldn’t resist it even though I was well aware I was the one who insisted on coming alone. « You have satellites to pick up on my cab or what ? »

A long pause before a quieter answer. « Well, yes, there is satellite surveillance for the immediate perimeter, but I had Winslow no more than three car lengths back from your cab so he would’ve hopefully made it there in time. »

I frowned because I didn’t notice a tail. And because Stellan just couldn’t help himself despite what I said.

But then, in hindsight, if my attempt at a joke had actually happened, I would’ve been so, so, so glad to have Winslow tailing me. No one wanted to be a dumpster find, even bad bitches like me. So I wasn’t going to flay Stellan alive for overriding me on that one.

Jesus, Kady. Get your mind out of the gutter.

Yeah. The thought of Stellan overriding me flashed one searing hot image in my filthy mind. And it was stuck there at the moment, just as I looked up to see Stellan coming down the spiral staircase.