Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Trixie stayed in her room for about twenty minutes after Jack and Ace saw her safely inside.
But she wasn’t ready to go to sleep yet. And what fun would it be to stay in that nice hotel, so close to the action and excitement of Hollywood Boulevard, and not do a thing?
Just stay locked in her room like a prisoner?
No thanks.
It already felt as if the walls were closing in on her. She needed to get out of there and walk around. Just for a little while.
She would be careful. Besides, no one from Vegas even knew she was in Los Angeles.
With it being the second largest city in the United States, the odds of her running into someone she actually knew where pretty slim.
So, she left her room on the seventh floor and headed down the hall. On the way toward the elevators, she passed a family—a mom, dad, and two kids, —all in bathing suits and with towels wrapped around their necks. Smiling, she gave them a little wave and kept on.
Trixie stepped aside when a hotel employee pushing a room service cart came down the middle of the path.
Just past him, two strong men were walking toward her. It was faint—as if they were trained not to react much—but she saw something in their eyes.
A light of recognition.
She swallowed hard and tried to act casual as she continued toward the elevator. Glancing over her shoulder would only let the men know she was onto them—if they were indeed there for her.
Oh crap! She should have stayed in the room!
But maybe they were going to her room. That was the direction they were heading, after all. So, perhaps leaving had been the right call.
She suddenly wished she’d taken Jack and Ace up on their offer. Or even Auntie Athena. The kind woman had offered her a room there at the nursery. It wasn’t as fortified as the Daddy Guard mansion was, probably, but there was no way anyone was getting past Trevon!
None of that mattered now. Trixie had made her bed. She was just going to have to lie in it.
It seemed to take an eternity for the elevator to arrive. After nearly giving up and sprinting to find the emergency staircase, she heard the ding a few seconds before the doors slid open.
She stepped inside and turned around to push the button for the ground level, still trying to appear casual like any other hotel guest going out for a bit.
But the act crumbled the moment she saw the two big men coming straight toward her. They were probably twenty feet away and gaining ground fast.
With a startled gasp, Trixie reached out, hit the button four times in rapid succession and then changed to the button that indicated it closed the doors.
The doors started to slide closed painstakingly slowly. If the men reached out and shoved a hand or foot between them, the safety mechanism would no doubt trigger, forcing them open once more.
It looked like the guy who took the lead was trying to do just that. He reached out, but was a second too late, with the doors closing enough not to allow his hand in.
Through the faint sliver that remained, however, Trixie could still see enough to notice the angry snarl he now wore.
Then the doors were completely shut and the car started its descent. Remembering where everything was from touring the hotel earlier that day upon her arrival, she hit the long, oval button that read POOL.
The rooftop pool was on the fifth floor on a section that stuck out from the rest of the building, giving swimmers—depending on where they were in there—a wonderful view of the Hollywood sign in the distance. Or they could look out onto the street below.
Unfortunately, Trixie wasn’t there for the view or the water.
She had to move quickly before those men caught up to her!
There was a chance they were just two creepy guys who’d noticed a young lady by herself and decided to strike. But those odds were pretty slim, she realized.
Besides, they looked like tough enforcer types. She’d seen their kind in Vegas; men who hurt people for money.
The thought made her shiver.
Stuff the fear down. Just move!
The doors opened a few moments later. After bolting from the elevator, Trixie hooked a slight right and ran past the hotel’s fitness center.
She ran along a window to her left that extended the length of a long corridor before she hit the glass doors that led to the pool area.
It felt good when she was finally outside.
To get back in, you had to scan an ID badge, but that wasn’t an issue as hers was tucked away in the pocket of her jeans.
She wasn’t planning on going back into the hotel, though. Not alone, at least. And when she did, it would most likely be only to get her stuff.
If she was even able to do that.
Outside, it was as if there were potential killers chasing her. People laughed and splashed in the pool. It didn’t matter that it was only April. The pool was heated, so the mild temperatures weren’t keeping anyone away.
Kids played among the lounge chairs. A few people stood against the waist-high glass wall that went around the part of the roof not protected by the building, smiling while someone else took their picture with the Hollywood sign in the background.
Trixie kept going.
The roof extended beyond the pool and the lounging area.
The waist-high wall gave way to a full-size doorframe that had a metal door set in it.
Like the door she’d just exited the hotel from, she just had to push the bar in and open it to leave.
Getting back in, though, from the other side would require her keycard.
She went through, leaving Loews Hollywood Hotel behind and entering the Ovation Mall.
Looking down, she saw a vast open-air shopping and entertainment complex that featured stores and eateries. Plenty of people milled about, helping her feel a bit safer.
That feeling of security didn’t last long, however. She heard heavy footfalls behind her and turned to see the two guys from the hotel on the other side of the small fence, hurrying toward the door.
They’d reach it in no time.
She had to move. Now!
There were multiple staircases and escalators that would help her descend the four floors of shopping mall. Surely there were a few elevators, too, but there wasn’t time to find them right now.
The stairs would be quickest.
With that in mind, Trixie took off like a rocket.
She moved like her survival depended on it.
Because she knew it did. Right now, it was either move… or die.