CHAPTER 4 ALEXIS
I wait in the room while he runs my dress down to Gregory’s car. He said he will text Gregory from my phone that I’m safe and that the keys to the Yukon will be at the hotel desk.
I had to tell him where I hid my phone—under the backseat. I told him to leave it there.
He drops his suitcase at his rental car, too, and then he swings back up to the room to get me.
“We need to go,” he says as he walks into the room breathlessly.
I lift to a stand from my place on the bed. I was hoping we had enough time to, you know…seal the deal.
“Why?” I ask.
“There was a text from Gregory that they’re on their way here.”
“Already?” My eyes widen. “What did it say?”
“Here,” he says, handing me his phone. I look at the picture he took of my phone.
Gregory: Alexis, where have you gone?
Gregory: We’ve tracked you to the Ritz Carlton in Santa Barbara. We’re coming to get you.
Dad: How could you do this to me?
These messages were sent nearly fifteen minutes ago.
Most certainly they’re racing to get here.
Danny’s right.
We need to go.
Now.
We race down to the parking lot, but it’s an awfully long walk from his ocean view room to the parking lot on the other side of the hotel.
I wear his sunglasses and hat to protect my identity as best I can. With the huge shirt and shorts, nobody would ever look at me and think oh hey, there’s Alexis Bodega.
We get to the parking lot and spot another Yukon pulled behind the one I parked half an hour ago. They’re already here.
I thought Gregory was buying me an hour.
My dad wasn’t selling that much time, apparently.
Nobody is near the car, and we both look around, shrug, and start to make our way toward the lot to get into Danny’s rental.
But we both stop short when we spot my father walking out from the front lobby with Brooks and Gregory trailing behind him.
My dad looks furious. Brooks doesn’t look quite as forlorn and sad as a man who was just left at the altar should look. And Gregory…well, he looks the same. Blank expression as he surveys the area.
The party of three heads toward the two Yukons, and we duck behind a row of hedges.
We watch my dad open the front driver’s side door and look around, obviously searching for something, and I’m guessing it’s my phone—which Danny says he hid even better than I did.
And even if he manages to find and unlock it, it won’t matter.
He won’t find what he’s looking for. I was smart enough to delete Danny’s contact from my phone before I hid it in Gregory’s car.
“God dammit!” I hear my father yell even from here.
“Where’s your car?” I whisper.
He nods to the first row of cars. I parked in the first row, too, but on the opposite side of where we’re standing.
“I could sneak over to my car and pull around to the driveway back here to pick you up,” he suggests, nodding toward the side of the building where we’ll be out of sight.
I nod. “Let’s do it.”
He leans down to drop a kiss to my lips, and his eyes catch mine before he takes off. His hold a gleam to them that makes my pulse race a little faster. “Adventure awaits.” He wiggles his brows before he grabs the hat off my head and pulls it down low over his eyes.
I can’t help a little laugh at the sentiment. I feel like I’m in some suspense movie where I’m hiding out from the people trying to find me.
Instead…it’s not a movie. It’s my actual life.
And I will play the hell out of this part if it means Danny is on the other side.
Danny walks casually toward his car like any other man walking toward a car in a parking lot. He does nothing to raise suspicion, and my father makes one fatal mistake.
He puts his trust in Gregory to keep watch.
I see Gregory as his eyes connect with Danny, but Danny keeps his head down low. Gregory turns toward my dad and says something, and for a second, my heart fills with fear.
I should know better.
I should know I can trust Gregory to help orchestrate our escape.
But they got here awfully fast.
Given how everyone else in my life has betrayed my trust, why shouldn’t I believe he will, too?
I just want to run away for a little while. I just want to be with Danny. I just want to escape my life and the utter circus it has become.
My dad bends down further into the car and searches under the seats. It’ll be mere seconds before he finds the phone, and Danny reaches his car just in time. He fires it up, casually backs out of the space, and pulls onto the main road.
Wait a second…
Is he leaving me here?
My heart palpitates loudly in my chest as I watch everything unfold, and then I watch as Danny turns into the next entrance of the hotel and pulls up along the driveway behind me.
I glance over at my dad, who obviously located my phone since he’s now looking at it, and Gregory manages to turn him so he’s facing away from us.
I run to the car and leap inside, my heart racing wildly, and Danny exits the parking lot. I turn around to see if my dad or Brooks is watching us, but they’re totally oblivious to the fact that the person they’re looking for just managed a clean getaway.
My heart isn’t quite calm yet, though. We may have made our first escape, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stop searching for us. My father is relentless and will stop at nothing to find me.
Which is why we need to find a damn good hiding spot.