11. Chapter 11
Chapter eleven
Lucy
After Dax dropped me off in his space shuttle, I trudged up the stairs to the studio and immediately hoisted myself into bed.
I was both physically and emotionally drained.
Despite getting the license plate number on the SUV, I felt a million times worse after watching the improved footage than I had the first time I watched it.
Whether I wanted to admit it or not, Dax was right about one thing.
Chad and Gabe were dangerous men. Dangerous men who said they were going to come after me the same way they did to Tara.
The video spooked me. And the way Dax talked about what he would do to them was almost as petrifying. Yet somehow, I trusted him.
I replayed the night in my head as I lay in bed.
My shift at the restaurant. Talking to Bianca.
It dawned on me I had been so focused on the footage I never told Dax what she said about her friend.
I yawned as I pulled out my phone and googled The Wire.
The nightclub’s website popped up and I clicked around on it until I exited the page and added the word owner.
I scrolled for a moment until I found an article published three years ago.
Nightclub Chain Owner, Marty Sanchez, Sued for Sexual Harassment of Employee at Scottsdale Business
Marty Sanchez, owner of San Francisco’s The Wire and several other night clubs between California and Arizona is being sued by a former employee for sexual harassment in the workplace.
According to the employee, Sanchez allegedly tried to solicit prostitution from several staff members at his Scottsdale, AZ nightclub, including from the plaintiff…
Ugh. What an absolute piece of shit. I scrolled through a couple more articles to find the former employee ultimately settled with Marty in depositions. The greasy-looking motherfucker got away with it. Paid his way out of something he should have been locked up for.
I wasn’t going to let the same thing happen with Chad and Gabe.
There couldn’t be enough hush money in the world to stop me from making sure they paid for what they did to Tara.
What they threatened to do to me. I was conflicted about what Dax said about the cops.
It was their job to put people away for these kinds of things.
He seemed so sure going to them wasn’t the right move.
I tossed my phone to the side of my bed and flicked off the lamp on my nightstand.
As darkness encompassed the small studio, it wasn’t the quiet wrath in Dax’s sharp blue eyes I thought about.
It was something darker, deeper. Etched into his sharp cheekbones and the firm-looking ripple of his muscles I could see through his shirt.
The way he looked when he held my head up from the floor of Bellissima’s kitchen when I slipped on the ice.
It sent warmth pooling in my center. I closed my eyes fully and felt myself slip slowly into a stifling dream.
One where my tongue trailed across a set of rock-hard, tattooed abs.
Strong fingers and rough caresses. Long moans and forbidden pleasure.
I woke up to the sound of a jackhammer berating concrete in the street outside my window. The gray daylight shined through the apartment, and I pulled myself to a sitting position.
I wasn’t scheduled to be back at Bellissima until the evening, which gave me several hours of free time.
I thought about the footage and what Dax said about me needing to be careful.
A shiver drew up my spine thinking about what Chad and Gabe could possibly have planned for me.
God only knew where they were, and how far they would actually go to hurt me.
I debated texting Tara. I wanted to tell her everything.
That I’d enlisted the help of a moody chef with a shadowy view of the justice system to avenge what they did to her.
But I didn’t want to do anything that would make her have to relive that night.
And when the time came—when everything was out in the open—I’d make sure she had her chance to see their retribution.
Until then, I would give her the space she needed.
Instead, I settled into the desk chair in the corner of the room with my piping hot black coffee. Just as I pulled my phone from the pocket of my oversized hoodie, the screen flashed with an incoming call.
“Hi, Mom.” I tapped the phone as I slid into my desk chair in the corner of the room. I took a sip of my coffee, the hot liquid sliding down my throat almost painfully.
“Hey, sweetie!” My mother’s cheerful lilt burst through the speaker, sending a rush of melancholy straight to my stomach. “You sound sleepy, did I wake you? It’s almost noon here already!” They were two hours ahead of San Francisco time in Iowa.
“No, I’m just getting my day started. It’s good to hear your voice.
” I tried to keep my tone devoid of emotion, but I hadn’t realized how badly I missed my parents until this very second.
A heavy feeling sank into me as I thought about how far away they were.
I hadn’t seen them since last Christmas.
“It’s good to hear yours too, stranger! You haven’t called since last week. I was starting to get worried.”
She would have definitely been worried if she knew even half of what was really happening in my life.
“I’m okay…” I answered too quickly and forced myself to take a calming breath.
“I’m sorry I haven’t called. Between finals and applying for internships, I’ve been really busy.
” It wasn’t exactly a lie. I didn’t mention the job at the restaurant, didn’t want to explain how I came into that position.
“That’s great, sweetie. I’m so proud of you. I didn’t mean to make you feel guilty. You should be busy living your own life! We just miss you so much. I feel terrible we won’t get to see you this summer.” Her thick midwestern twang sent a surge of homesickness through me.
“I miss you too, Mom.” I hoped she couldn’t hear the choke trapped in my throat, drowning it with another sip of hot coffee.
“Your dad and I are already packed and ready to leave for the airport in a couple of hours! It’s a red eye flight to Paris. Did I tell you we’re flying first-class? We’re so excited. I heard the seats are like beds, and they serve you bottomless champagne, isn’t that something?”
“That sounds really great, Mom.” I tapped the tips of my fingers across my temple. I wished I could spill everything to her. I wanted her to know what I’d really been doing. That I might be in danger, and I needed her comfort more now than ever.
But that would be selfish. My parents waited their whole lives to take a trip like this. They could never afford it because they were too busy spending all their time and money on our family. They deserved this. I couldn’t let my current state of disaster interfere with their happiness.
“And our hotel room has a view of the Eiffel Tower from the balcony! Can you believe that? A balcony!”
“Wow, I’m so happy for you guys. Take lots of pictures for me. I can’t wait to see your adventure when I come home for Thanksgiving.”
“I will, baby girl, you know it! Did you see the photos I sent you the other day of our neighbor Sheila’s new puppy? It’s amazing how great this phone takes pictures. And oh my lord, that puppy is just so cute…”
I rubbed my eyes and sipped my coffee as she rattled on about life at home in Iowa.
My mom was always my person. Throughout my whole life, her bright spirit and charm lifted me up on my downest days.
Today, however, was all I could take not to burst into tears as she chatted about life back home.
The simplicity of life there was so damned far away from this tiny apartment, and light years away from the chaos outside its walls.
By the time we hung up, my body felt like it had soaked up some of her brightness.
I was still tense, but I felt a little better knowing my loved ones were safe from the threats here.
My parents would be out of the country. Tara was back home.
Chad and Gabe were still out there, but Dax was wrong.
I couldn’t just live my life in hiding. That would be letting them win.
I peeked out the window. The fog was starting to disperse, revealing a crisp blue sky. It was going to be a beautiful day, and I wasn’t going to let this one go to waste.
When I hopped on the Muni, I wasn’t exactly sure where I was headed. As the bus ticked up and down the hilly streets of San Francisco, I found myself keeping an eye out the window. Searching for something. Someone. A black SUV. A faceless man in a cowboy hat.
I wasn’t paranoid.
At least I didn’t think I was. The footage confirmed there was a possibility I was in danger. But for now, I had to trust Dax was working on getting to the bottom of everything. In the meantime, I wasn’t going to let this turn me into a coward.
I decided to hop off the bus at Crissy Field.
The sunny day sparkled across the clear depths of the bay.
The lines of the Golden Gate Bridge fascinated me.
I drew it a couple of semesters ago when I was taking an architectural illustration class.
The symmetry, the tension. The way the light spilled through each cable like a portal to something divine.
It truly was one of the most magnificent things I’d ever seen.
I walked along the path, my skin soaking up every drop of vitamin D as I found the perfect spot.
I pulled my hoodie from my pack and laid it out atop a hilly stretch of grass.
Nearby families with picnics and dogs sprawled across the field, and I let my mind wander as I twiddled my pencil between my thumb and index finger.
My hand started to glide across a blank page of my sketchbook.