Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Lana sank into the seat across from Aurora. They were on a restaurant patio overlooking the water. Lana had finished speaking with Claire Barnes again, doing their final witness prep.
Aurora reached across the table and squeezed her arm. “How are you feeling? Ready for tomorrow?”
The trial would start first thing in the morning. “I think so. It’s been really busy, and I’ve still got more to do. But I really need an hour to decompress. I’m so glad you could meet me.”
“If I can help by distracting you for an hour and helping you relax, then I’ve earned my title as best friend.”
“Oh Rory, you earned that a long time ago. Now you can rest on your laurels. Please tell me you’re going to order a mimosa so I can live vicariously through you. I’d get one, but it’s back to the office for me after this.”
The waiter brought over the menus, along with the mimosa that Aurora—of course—had already ordered. She made a show of sipping it, and Lana laughed, happy as always to see Aurora enjoying herself.
Lana opened her menu. This was a seafood place with Mediterranean influences, and she looked for the most indulgent choice on offer: lobster pasta in a champagne-tomato cream sauce with fresh tarragon. Aurora chose the sea bass with risotto.
Once they’d ordered, she sat back in her chair, admiring the beachfront that curved away from them. The restaurant was situated at one of the prettiest vantage points in their entire town.
“Tell me about you and Devon. Catch me up on everything, and don’t leave a single detail out.”
The last two weeks had been hectic for Lana. But in some ways, they’d also been uneventful. The creepy stalker hadn’t contacted her again.
Max had come by her place when she wasn’t home to install the new security system.
They were speaking again, getting along in a perfectly civil manner.
But they hadn’t had any more open, friendly conversations like the one when he’d spent the night.
They were back to limiting themselves entirely to the subjects of work and Aurora.
Which suited Lana just fine, since she needed to be focused on trial prep anyway.
Lana and Max had met several times, both at his office and at her own, to cement every detail of his testimony.
She was still seething over what he’d said to Wayfair, and the disrespect Max had shown her by stepping so far out of bounds.
But she felt completely confident that Max was ready for his role in the trial.
He wasn’t going to let her down. And that meant Lana wasn’t going to let Claire Barnes down.
She had to admit though, Max’s outburst with Wayfair seemed to have actually made a difference. The lawyer had been nothing but professional with her ever since. Curt and ill-tempered, maybe, but still professional.
Aurora took another sip of her mimosa. “Sure you can’t share some?”
“Nope. Not today. Maybe not even until the trial is over, and I hear that guilty verdict.”
Aurora played with her napkin. Something was clearly on her mind, and Lana was surprised she hadn’t brought it up already. Usually, Aurora didn’t hesitate to share her opinions.
“How are things with Max?” Aurora asked.
So that was it.
Lana hadn’t told Aurora anything about Max spending the night because she hadn’t mentioned the stalker.
Aurora had been through some difficult times several months ago herself.
She’d even needed a bodyguard detail for a while, but that danger was behind them.
Lana didn’t want to bring up any traumatic memories.
“Everything is fine. Pretty much the same as it always has been. We’re both busy as ever.”
“But have you given any more thought to you two trying to be friends? Real friends, like you said? I know I acted all weird when you told me what happened between you two a long time ago. I just wanted you to know that I’m fine whatever you decide.
I don’t need you and my brother to be besties for my sake.
But if you do want to…you know, spend more quality time with him, I’m fine with that too. It’s all good.”
Lana choked on her ice water. “What kind of ‘quality time’ are we talking about?”
Heat filled her belly as she pictured Max naked. Even when she was annoyed with him, that image had a way of popping into her head at inconvenient moments.
“Nothing that I want to spell out,” Aurora said. “I just realized that I might’ve given the impression that I was judging you for getting your freak on. Please know I would never do that.”
“I know you wouldn’t.” Aurora was the most sex-positive person that Lana knew.
But she didn’t need Aurora’s blessing because nothing was ever going to happen again with Max.
That ship had sailed right off the edge of the earth ten years ago, and they’d already proven that a friendship would be difficult.
But Lana was glad that Aurora’s initial horror at the idea of her and Max sleeping together had worn off.
“If he had what you needed, that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
” Aurora took another pull of her mimosa, looking thoughtful.
“Max was single and on leave and probably super horny—ew, by the way. Sorry. And you were always working so hard in school. You deserved to let loose. When you see a dick you want to ride, and you’re both free, consenting adults, why not jump on that thing?
I certainly have. In the past, anyway. These days, Devon’s got the only joy stick I want to sit on. My poor vibrator is getting lonely.”
The server arrived at that moment with their plates. He was working very hard to keep a straight face.
“Anyway,” Lana blurted, “we’ll be choosing the jury tomorrow, so it’ll be a long day.”
“So smooth,” Aurora said, once the server had left. “I’m sure he had no idea what we were really talking about.”
Lana shrugged. She had few sexual hang-ups, but she’d never delighted in talking about it as much as Aurora did.
They dug into their food. It was delicious, and a cool breeze blew in from the water. It was hard to imagine a better way to spend the afternoon. She could almost feel her energy recharging, like a solar battery. She rarely treated herself to a meal this nice, but the expense was worth it today.
They were nearly finished eating when the server returned, holding two wine flutes.
“Two glasses of champagne. Enjoy, ladies.”
“We didn’t order these,” Lana said.
“I know. They were sent over from the guy at the end of the bar. I’m guessing you know him? Or maybe he’s just an admirer.” The server winked and moved on.
Lana glanced through the open doors of the restaurant. The bar was clearly visible inside. But there was no man at the end of the bar. Just a woman and an older couple, who were deep in conversation.
Her blood turned to ice. Lana stood up and dropped her napkin onto the table. “Don’t drink that.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Lana ran over to the bartender. “Excuse me, was there a man who ordered two champagnes for my table?”
“Oh, sure.” He looked around. “I guess he left. You don’t want the wine?” He didn’t seem surprised or concerned. Perhaps he’d seen women reject drinks from men all the time.
“What did he look like?”
The bartender grabbed a towel and started wiping off his workspace. “Ball cap, dark sunglasses. Average, I guess.”
Which was so incredibly helpful. “Please tell me you guys have security cameras here.”
The guy shook his head. “Nah, but we need them. Some money went missing from the till last month, and I got blamed. It was ridiculous.”
Lana pushed away from the bar and walked back out onto the patio. She spun in a circle, her eyes scanning everywhere. The other diners, the people out on the beach and in the parking lot. She was starting to attract stares.
Was he out there, watching her? Was she looking at him right now, and didn’t even know it?
Their server came over. “Are you all right, ma’am? Do you need something?”
“The check. I need to leave.”
He frowned, but he moved quickly toward the computer. Lana returned to the table, where Aurora sat twisting her hands together. “Please tell me what’s going on. Why do you look so scared?”
Lana grabbed her purse from the back of the chair. “For the past month and a half, I’ve been getting weird phone calls. The guy threatened me a couple of weeks ago. I thought he’d given up, had decided to leave me alone. But I’m worried that he was here. I think he sent those drinks.”
Aurora cursed, her large eyes growing even wider. “Then we need to get you out of here.”
The waiter returned with a check. Lana had enough cash, so she dug the bills out of her wallet and tossed them down.
Aurora grabbed her hand, and together they rushed out into the parking lot. Lana had parked her own car in a different lot farther down the beach, where she’d been meeting with Claire Barnes.
“We’ll take my car,” Aurora said. “But you drive. I’ll call Devon on the way.”
“On the way where?”
Aurora looked at her like she was dense. “To the Bennett Security office. Isn’t that where we’re going?”
Lana knew that was probably the best choice. She remembered what Max had said two weeks ago. Her stalker wasn’t satisfied with phone calls anymore. He was escalating. And she had no idea what he looked like or what he might do next.
Aurora tossed Lana the car keys, holding her phone to her ear. They both got in and slammed the doors. Lana reversed and sped out of the parking lot. She had to slam on the brakes when a pedestrian walked past with his dog. The guy had sunglasses on. Could it be him?
He’s making me paranoid.
She pressed the accelerator and shot down the street.
When she’d gone half a block, a dark car pulled out behind her. She glanced into the rearview mirror. The driver had on a ball cap and sunglasses. Her pulse jumped.
It’s not him, she told herself. It’s just a coincidence.
But just in case, she took an abrupt right turn and went down to take a parallel street.
The guy followed.
“Yes, we’re on our way.” Aurora lowered her phone. “Devon’s going to drive out and meet us. He said he’ll let Max know. Hopefully we’re being too cautious and this isn’t necessary, but I’d rather be on the safe side.”
Lana’s eyes kept darting to the rearview mirror. The man in sunglasses was keeping pace with her, turn for turn. Fear was starting to spiral in her head. Someone honked when she swerved out of her lane.
“Hey, watch the road, okay?” Aurora said. “We’re going to be fine. It’s only few more miles.”
Lana’s throat unclenched enough for her to get words out. “I think he’s behind us, Rory.”
Aurora turned around in her seat. “Are you sure?”
“No.” But she felt it. It was him. He’d told her that he was always watching. Maybe he’d been with her for the past two weeks, waiting for his moment.
Lana drove on. The car behind her was getting closer. Too close.
He was going to hit them.
Oh, shit.
His front fender smacked into her bumper, making Lana and Aurora both whip forward against their seatbelts.
“Oh my god!” Aurora cried. “What does he want?”
Whether he was just trying to terrify them, or if he had some other intention—if he was going to do something to hurt her and Aurora both—Lana didn’t know. But if fear had paralyzed her at the thought of this man targeting her, the realization that he might harm Aurora filled her with adrenaline.
She slammed on the gas, roaring through the next red light. Cars honked. Aurora screamed.
The sunglasses guy had to stop to avoid hitting other cars. But she saw him take an immediate left. He was going to try to cut them off. Did he somehow know where they were going? It was possible that he’d guessed, given her connection to Max.
But the guy wasn’t omniscient. He might want her to think he was everywhere, but that was impossible.
Lana turned the wheel, cutting to the right.
“Where are we going? This is the wrong way.”
They were driving away from the ocean instead of parallel to it. But Lana didn’t slow down. She went through a yellow light. At the next intersection, there were already cars going the opposite way. She had to stop and wait at the red.
Aurora was gripping her seat.
“I think I lost him,” Lana said.
Aurora was nodding, her chest moving as she breathed. “Okay, I’ve got it, those were evasive maneuvers. Right. I’ll give Devon an update on where we are.”
The light turned green, and Lana drove on, resuming their course toward Bennett Security. Each moment seemed to last an hour. Her senses were heightened as she kept watching for the reappearance of the man in sunglasses and his dark car.
But she didn’t see him. Soon, Aurora waved at a Jeep waiting at the curb. Devon pulled away and into position behind them. He escorted them to the Bennett Security building, and they drove through the gate into the parking garage.
Lana parked and shut down the engine. Aurora jumped out right away, running toward Devon.
Then, finally, Lana let go of the steering wheel. Her hands were cramped from gripping so hard.
The driver’s side door opened. Max stood there.
“Lana? Jesus, are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “Max, he could’ve… Aurora…”
He leaned over, slid his broad hands beneath her, and lifted her straight out of the car. Lana let herself fold into Max’s arms.