Chapter 9
KYLE
Istared at the unmoved bedcovers, a frown on my lips as a dozen different things raced through my mind. Had she run off because of that kiss? Because of what I’d said?
Had I literally driven the poor woman to leap off her balcony and run into the night without her stuff because I was suffocating?
I’d checked the ground below her room. She wasn’t lying in a heap, so she hadn’t fallen. Where was she?
I glanced at the night table, noting the charger there. No phone. So, wherever she’d gone, she’d taken her phone. Was she coming back?
I pulled my phone from my pocket, intent on calling or texting her. Would she answer or would I just scare her off?
My fingers drummed the side of the device while I considered my next move. My heart skipped a beat as an idea formed.
Alex had tracked her phone before, at least to know she was nearby. Could he do it again?
I hoped so. I just wanted to make sure she was safe. And I also wanted to make sure I hadn’t completely put her off, but that was secondary. At least, that’s what I told myself.
I left her bedroom behind and hurried through the halls to Alex and Ava’s double doors, banging against them as I shifted my weight from foot to foot.
“Come on, come on,” I muttered, urging someone to answer as I prayed they weren’t heavy sleepers.
I knocked again, this time louder.
A second later, Alex yanked open the door, his eyes slits. “Doc?”
“Hey, I need a big favor,” I gushed, my voice fast and breathy as panic edged it.
“Now?” Alex asked, his features twisting with confusion.
“Yes, now. That’s why I knocked.”
“Ace?” Ava asked, tugging on her robe as she approached. “What’s the problem?”
“I don’t know, Doc’s panicked.”
“Nattie’s gone,” I blurted.
Ava frowned, her eyebrows pinching together. “Gone?”
“Yeah, did you check the kitchen or the living room? I put the alarm on. It would have gone off if she walked out the front door.”
I shook my head, annoyance building as I tried to explain what I already knew. “She’s not in the house. She jumped off the balcony.”
“What? Is she okay? Do we need to call an ambulance?” Ava asked.
Alex’s eyes went wide, his body stiffening. “Oh, dude, is that what you meant when you said she’s gone? Is she…you know…dead?”
“No. At least I hope not. No, I guess she somehow went over the edge and is fine…she’s gone…she’s not here.” I shook my head as I tried to sort through the explanation in a meaningful way. “I went to check on her. She didn’t answer. I poked my head into the room–“
“You did what?” Ava set a hand on her hip.
I held my hands up in my defense. “I know, I know. I get it. Line-crossing. But I just wanted to make sure she had fallen asleep. You know, new place, trouble sleeping. I was trying to be caring.”
“Okay, okay, forget what Ava said,” Alex prodded.
“Hey!” Ava said with a smack of his chest.
“Sorry, babe. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Just…he’s getting all off-track, and we need a more focused answer.”
I massaged my temples as tension built in them. “Look, I peeked in. She wasn’t there. The sliding door is open. I need to find her. You tracked her phone before, please, please, please tell me that you can do that again.”
I pressed my palms together, my features pleading with him.
“Well, yeah, I totally can, but…” He shot Ava an uncertain glance.
“Okay, so let’s do that.” I rolled my hand in the air, trying to speed up the process.
“Doc, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” Ava answered.
“What? Why? Ava, now is not the time to be a stickler for the rules, okay? Nattie is out there somewhere alone, and she shouldn’t be.”
“Ava has a point. She’s out there alone by her own choice. You brought her here. She was safe here, but she chose to leave. Maybe you should just wait for her to come back on her own.” Alex shrugged, his features questioning.
“Or she got a threatening message. She fled from the house to stop her ex from finding her and hurting us. And now she’s out there all alone and afraid. Or she’s with him and equally afraid.”
Ava shot Alex a glance before she stepped forward, wrapping her arm around me. “Aww, Doc.”
I ran a shaky hand through my hair as I puffed out a breath. “I’m just worried.”
“Find her,” Ava said to Alex.
He raised his eyebrows as he backed away from us, grabbing his phone. “Okay, let’s see where the mysterious Nattie is right now.”
My heart hammered against my ribs as I waited to hear where she’d gone. I hoped she was just walking the beach or something innocuous, but I had a sneaking suspicion that she was in some sort of trouble.
Ava gently rubbed my shoulder, trying to console me in some small way. “Easy, Doc. We’ll find her.”
“Yep,” Alex said, tapping his phone. “We definitely can find her. She’s at her old place. Beach Rider.”
My chest constricted. Why would she go back there? Did she forget something? Did someone else know she was there?
I backed away from the door. “Okay, I’m going.”
“Whoa, whoa, Doc, wait,” Ava called. “You can’t just race off after her.”
“I have to. I can’t explain it. But I know she needs me.” I continued down the hall, my heart ready to explode from my chest.
Was I making this all up or was our connection real? I’d only just met her, but it felt like we’d bonded. And that kiss had sealed the deal. At least for me.
“Dude, you shouldn’t go alone. What if there is something going on with her ex? Someone should be with you,” Alex answered as Ava disappeared from his side.
“It’s fine. I’ll be fine. I just want to go–“
“Ava’s changing. I’ll stay here and monitor her location. Just wait for Ava. She can handle a situation if it comes up.”
I shifted my weight from foot to foot, wanting to leave immediately. But having a black belt in jujitsu could be useful in a situation like this.
Time seemed to stand still as I waited for her to emerge, but thankfully, Ava wasn’t much of a diva. She didn’t need to be as a natural beauty.
Within a few minutes, she emerged from their bedroom in a dark tracksuit, pulling her blonde hair up into a ponytail. “All right, Doc, let’s go get your girl.”
Alex kissed her cheek as she passed. “Be careful.”
“Always,” she answered as she joined me in the hall.
“Thank you, Ava,” I said as we hurried down the stairs, disarmed the alarm, and headed to her car.
“Of course. You really care about her.”
“What can I say?” I asked as I climbed into the pink SUV. “That kiss sealed it for me.”
She offered me a sideways glance as she fired the engine. “Just be careful. I don’t want to be nursing your broken heart if she turns out to not be what you expect.”
I nodded, but didn’t answer. I was never careful with my heart. That was how I’d had it broken before. But this time seemed different. I’d always been the one chasing, always pushing myself into whatever space I could.
But Nattie had met me halfway. Her kiss had been proof of that. Maybe she was toying with me, but maybe not. I hoped not.
It took us only a few minutes to reach the Beach Rider, and Ava slid the car next to the curb just up the street. She studied the outside of the motel. “I can see why you wanted to move her. This place is gross.”
I kicked open my door. “I told you. Let’s just find her.”
Ava slipped from the car, her eyes never leaving the building. She checked her phone, following the dot. “Looks like she’s in that building.”
I nodded, heading for the left wing of the motel. “Yeah, that’s her old room. Hey, if she’s going through something, I’m totally cool talking to her, but it may be helpful if you talked to her too. You know, woman to woman.”
“Woman to woman?” Ava asked, her nose wrinkling. “I may not be the best choice. I’m not exactly average.”
“No, but you are a woman. And maybe she’d feel more comfortable opening up to you.”
She shot me a glance before she nodded. “Fine. I’ll do what I can.”
We approached the room she’d been in before, but before we reached it, someone popped out. My lips parted as I stared at Nattie.
“Nattie?!” I called, my voice a panicked question.
“Hey,” she answered, her tone almost flippant. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about her entire demeanor seemed different. I started to question the connection we’d had.
My eyes lowered to her body, my nose wrinkling at the leather pants and jacket. She hadn’t been wearing that earlier. She must have changed before she leapt from the balcony.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She hesitated a moment before she bobbed her head. “Yes.”
Why was her tone so clipped? “I was worried sick. I went to check on you, and you were gone. Why did you come back here?”
“Oh, uh, I forgot something. I didn’t want to wake everyone so I just…slipped out quietly.” She shrugged nonchalantly like it was no big deal.
I couldn’t get over the change in her. She seemed so forward, so not like she had been earlier. Had I really done that much damage with what I’d considered an innocuous and kind of cute statement?
I didn’t want to believe it. That the connection we’d shared—the spark that had lit me up inside—had been nothing but my imagination. But the woman standing before me now? She wasn’t the same Nattie. She couldn’t be. My heart refused to believe it, even as my mind screamed otherwise.
“Well, you had us in quite a panic, especially Doc,” Ava said, giving my shoulder a shake. “Not that you need to check in with us or anything, but…you know, first night, everyone was a little on edge.”
“Sorry,” she answered, her dark eyes flicking to mine.
Oddly, they seemed cold. I didn’t get that sweet warmth that had enveloped me before. I couldn’t explain it, but I’d suddenly wondered if I’d made the entire thing up.
I needed time to think, but I still wanted her to be okay whether we had a connection or not. “We should head back.”
“You could go on ahead. I’ll be along in a minute,” she answered, her gaze flicking back to the hotel room.
I spotted what I thought was a shadow moving behind the curtain. Was someone else in there? Could that explain her odd behavior? Was she trying to convince a violent ex that we somehow weren’t as close as we were?
“I really think you should come back with us,” I pressed. “We’ve got the car. And besides, how will you get in? Are you going to shimmy up the drainpipe?” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
She laughed, but it sounded hollow. “Right.”
After a glance back at the motel room, she nodded. “All right. Let’s go.”
“Were you finished?” Ava asked. “Did you need to grab something else?”
“Nope, all finished,” she answered with a shake of her head.
The fact that she willingly came with us made me feel better, but not by much. I couldn’t wait to get Ava’s take on this which I was certain was going to be epic.
We made the short trip home and shuffled back into the house.
“Well, thanks for coming to find me and the ride back. I’m going to head up now.” She poked a finger upstairs.
“I’ll walk you up,” I said a little too enthusiastically. I immediately chided myself for being too overzealous. This was why the woman leapt off her balcony. I was smothering her.
But the offer was out, so I motioned for her to precede me up the stairs and, after a warning glance from Ava, followed her.
She waited at the top, and I led her through the halls back to her door. “Well, here we are. I hope you get some rest.”
“Thanks. Oh, and uh, thanks for coming to find me.” She nodded.
“Of course.” I grinned at her, wondering if she’d kiss me again.
She pushed into her room and closed the door, a fleeting smile on her face before we lost sight of each other.
I slapped my hands against my forehead as I puffed out a breath. What had just happened?
“We need to talk,” Ava said from the end of the hall.
I winced, hating that it was looking more and more like she was right. Something was going on with Nattie, and I wasn’t sure we knew the whole truth. But I was worried that whatever she was hiding could destroy us.
I twisted to face her, my features grim. “I know.”
“What the hell was that?” she questioned as we headed back toward her bedroom.
“What happened?” Alex asked. “Did you find her?”
Ava huffed out a sharp laugh. “We found her, all right. Back at the motel, dressed in leather from head to toe and acting very differently than she had earlier.”
“Ahhhh,” Alex said, his jaw hanging open. “Okay.”
My mind spun as it searched for an answer. “Maybe she has Dissociative Identity Disorder.”
“Split personalities?” Ava asked.
I shrugged. “Could be. Maybe this isn’t Nattie.”
“She knew you. Is it normal for one personality to know what happens when the other is around?”
“No,” I said, my shoulders slumping. “But this could be some new form I’ve never heard of.”
“You’re grasping at straws, Doc,” Ava said with a clap on my back.
“I know, I know,” I said, my voice a little whiny, “but the connection we had was so intense…and now…just nothing.”
Alex furrowed his brows. “Nothing?”
“Yeah. It’s like night and day. All that warmth, all of those feelings between us, it was all gone when I saw her now. I just don’t get it. What the hell is happening?”
My stomach plummeted as I saw my sweet life slipping from between my fingers. Something had happened to Nattie between the time we kissed and now. And it had changed everything. Would we ever recover?