Chapter 6
Kinley sat in her car and stared up at the apartment building and debated whether or not to go up to Gage’s door and knock.
Again.
She’d been sitting in the parking lot of his apartment complex for two days.
When she’d left Washington, DC, ten days ago, she’d planned on heading to South Dakota or somewhere in the northwest. She got five thousand dollars out of her bank account, and headed west. She stopped at crappy motels along the way, feeling unsafe and on the edge.
Then one day, after making it all the way to Colorado, she found herself turning south.
She spent the night in Denver. Then Pueblo.
Then Santa Fe, and before she knew it, she was driving back east. Toward Texas. Killeen, Texas, specifically.
Being here was stupid.
It was crazy.
And yet, here she was.
She hadn’t been able to get Gage out of her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized that he’d probably have connections who could help her.
She knew going to him would put him in danger, because if someone was following her, or found out where she was, they’d assume she’d told him what was going on.
So she needed to either leave right now and do what she’d originally planned, or suck it up and trust Gage.
She was going to go out on a limb and tell him everything.
But she hadn’t expected him to be gone. She should’ve at least considered the possibility. She knew he was Delta Force. Knew he was sent out on a moment’s notice. He’d told her as much. Kinley wondered if he’d messaged her again. If he’d tried to let her know.
Guilt crept in once more. She hated not knowing if he’d tried to get in touch, but hated even more knowing that, if he had, he probably thought she was a colossal bitch for not returning his messages.
And now she was sitting in the parking lot of his apartment complex like a stalker.
But she literally had nowhere else to go.
She’d slept in her car for most of the last ten days, and she was dirty and smelly.
Her belly gurgled, protesting the lack of food Kinley had given it lately.
It was nine in the morning, and Kinley had hoped that she’d be able to catch Gage, but that hadn’t been the case. He still wasn’t home.
She could easily start driving aimlessly again, but her resolve had grown. She didn’t want to let Stryker—or Brown, if he was involved—get away with what he’d done. If he truly was The Alleyway Strangler, he needed to be stopped. And right now, she was in the best position to make that happen.
She didn’t want anyone else to suffer at his hands.
But she was also scared. She could still feel that hand on her back, trying to push her into the path of the oncoming train. She’d been lucky to come out of that with only a cut on her chin.
Kinley was deep in thought, so when someone knocked on her driver’s-side window unexpectedly, she let out a screech and did her best to crawl into the passenger seat and away from the person she knew was about to come through her window and kill her.
She had her butt on the other seat and was readying to open the door and run when she looked up and met a pair of remorseful green eyes. The blonde woman on the other side of the door took a giant step back and held up her hands, showing her she was unarmed.
“I’m sorry, so sorry!” the woman said. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just worried about you and wanted to make sure you were all right.”
Feeling her heart beating a million miles an hour, Kinley forced herself to take a deep breath. Shit, she was going to die of a heart attack before Stryker’s goon could find her to finish her off.
Embarrassed at her over-the-top reaction, Kinley scooted the rest of the way into the passenger seat, then opened the door and climbed out.
She might be flustered by the woman showing up out of the blue like she had, but she wasn’t an idiot.
She wasn’t going to step right into the woman’s clutches if she was up to no good.
“I really am sorry,” the other woman said.
“I thought you saw me walk up. My name is Gillian. Gillian Romano, and I live in this complex with my boyfriend. I saw you parked here yesterday too, but I didn’t think anything about it until I saw you knocking on our friend’s door this morning. Lefty’s not here.”
Kinley was confused for a second. Who was Lefty? Then she remembered that it was Gage’s silly nickname.
Her stomach dropped. She knew he wasn’t there, but for some reason, hearing it confirmed made her shitty situation all the more awful. “Do you know when he’ll be back?” Kinley asked.
Gillian shrugged apologetically. “Sorry, no. I also couldn’t help but notice that you slept out here last night. Do you…do you want to come up and have some breakfast with me?”
Kinley could only stare at the other woman in disbelief. She was pretty. Her blonde hair was squeaky clean and shining. She wore a pair of jeans, as well as a T-shirt with a basset hound wearing sunglasses.
“You don’t know me,” Kinley blurted. “Why in the world would you invite me into your apartment? Is your boyfriend there?” she asked suspiciously.
She’d heard about women luring other females into a trap, allowing their significant others to then rob and sometimes do even worse things to the victims.
“No, Walker’s not here. He’s with Lefty.”
“Does your boyfriend have a nickname?” Kinley asked, realization dawning.
Gillian tilted her head and studied her, as if she was contemplating whether or not to answer. Finally, she said, “Trigger.”
“I know him,” Kinley told Gillian with a small smile, feeling relieved.
“You do?”
Kinley nodded. “Tall. Black hair. Swimmer’s shoulders.”
“That’s Walker. I’m sorry, what was your name?” Gillian asked, sounding a bit suspicious herself now.
“Kinley.”
“Kinley…? Oh! Walker told me that Lefty’s been talking about a woman named Kinley. That must be you!”
It was Kinley’s turn to be surprised. “He’s talked about me?”
“Well, not to me, but if you met Lefty and my boyfriend, then you know how close they are. You don’t know me, but I assure you, I’m completely harmless.”
“Oh…um…okay.” Kinley wasn’t sure what to think of the other woman. She seemed to be sincere, and she did seem to know Gage, but she wasn’t sure she should really trust anyone. Anyone but Gage, that was.
“After you knocked on Lefty’s door, then slept out here in your car, I had to come down,” Gillian said.
“To be honest, Walker wouldn’t be happy with me; he doesn’t even like me taking an Uber.
But I’m a pretty good judge of character…
one recent misjudgment notwithstanding. I saw you down here yesterday, and last night, and I felt bad.
As I said, I don’t know when Lefty will get back, but I can offer you an ear over breakfast if you want. ”
Kinley wanted to refuse. Wanted to politely decline and be on her way. But something about the other woman made it almost impossible. Gillian was open and friendly, and that was something Kinley hadn’t experienced much of in the last two weeks.
She nodded tentatively.
“Great! Grab whatever you need. I work from home, and honestly, I’m going a bit stir crazy. I like being by myself, but I’m also used to being around people too…which I realize makes no sense. I’m an event planner, and I’m between events right now, and I’d be happy for the company.”
Kinley had never met someone like Gillian. She was outgoing and welcoming and made her long for something she’d never had…someone to talk to about her troubles.
She reached into the backseat and pulled out her duffle bag. She wasn’t going to leave it behind, just in case Gillian had ulterior motives. She grabbed her keys and locked her Corolla and followed Gillian up the stairs.
“I moved into this complex with Walker a few months ago,” Gillian said.
“He had a small apartment that didn’t really fit all our stuff.
Now I feel absolutely spoiled by three bedrooms. Of course, Walker’s already talking about finding a house, but I’m not ready for that yet.
We found this place because Lefty already lived here.
He talked to the manager when a place opened up, and I think he and Walker have really enjoyed living near each other.
Of course, it gives me some space as well.
When Walker overwhelms me with his protectiveness, I tell him to go visit with Lefty and give me some peace and quiet. ”
Gillian chuckled, and Kinley couldn’t help but return her smile.
They walked up the stairs together, and Gillian opened her door and led the way inside.
For a second, Kinley considered wildly if this could be a trap.
The person who was hired to kill her might’ve somehow followed her, and was using Gillian as a lure…
but she dismissed the thought immediately.
She had a feeling whoever had pushed her in DC wouldn’t bother with such elaborate subterfuge.
He’d simply pull out a gun and shoot next time.
Besides, if anyone was following her, they’d had ample opportunity to kill her during the long drive, anytime she’d been forced to pull over and rest for a few hours before hitting the road again.
Kinley placed her bag by the sofa Gillian gestured to before she sat.
“Can I get you something to drink? I put biscuits in the oven before I went downstairs to see if you wanted to join me. I can whip up some eggs too, if you want. Or I’ve got oatmeal and fruit.”
Kinley felt her eyes fill with tears, and she desperately tried to hold them back. After ten days of being on the run and sleeping in her car and doing whatever she could to stay under the radar so she wouldn’t be found, the simple offer of something to eat and drink had pushed her over the edge.
She turned her head and bit her lip to try to control herself, but it didn’t work. Two tears rolled down her cheeks.