Chapter 17 #3
“What the fuck?” Ralen snapped. “He just left you there?”
“Uh-huh. And then I had to get a ride with these really nice people who had been to the concert too. They took me straight home. Dotty said I shouldn’t have gotten in that car though.”
She really shouldn’t have. Addie totally agreed with Dotty on that.
“You got into a car with strangers?” Ralen said sharply.
Wow, Ralen seemed really upset. Monroe didn’t seem bothered by it, though. She just smiled and shrugged. “Hey, it’ll work out in the end, right?”
Yeah, sometimes her sister was a real worry.
“There is the possibility that the person wasn’t dead,” Ink said. “And until we can find some video footage, we probably won’t be able to find out too much more.”
“Were there no security cameras in the area?” Dotty asked.
“Not so far,” Ink replied. “There was one camera pointing at the parking lot, but we discovered that it hadn’t been in operation for at least a year. I’ve got someone going around local businesses, but some of them don’t open until after midday. However, if there’s footage, we’ll find it.”
“I asked The Broker about this,” Dr. Claw said.
“A broker? Like an insurance broker?” Dotty asked.
“No,” the voice said, sounding amused. “Not an insurance broker. If it was a contract kill, then he didn’t arrange it.”
“A contract kill,” Monroe said. “Do you think that’s a possibility? Does that sort of thing really happen? Are there really contract killers out there? I thought that was just something that was on TV.”
“It’s not,” Brody told her.
“Thanks for asking,” Ink said to Dr. Claw.
“Of course, anything I can do to help. I am nothing but helpful,” the voice said.
She had the feeling that might not be entirely true, but she simply smiled and waved with the hand that she’d pulled free from Monroe.
“What are you doing, Addie?” Dotty asked, staring at her in surprise.
Oh, was she being weird? Should she not have done that?
Cash took hold of her shoulder and squeezed it lightly. Then he leaned into her. “It’s all good, Addie. You’re fine.”
“I’m really not sure how his mind went to contract killing,” Dotty said. “We don’t even know if the guy was murdered, if he was dead, who this other man is. He didn’t see Addie, so there’s that at least. I think he’s probably the least of our worries.”
“I agree,” Ink said.
“What do we do now?” Monroe asked. “I still haven’t found Vextar, and the way the cops were asking me questions, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go looking for him anymore.”
“Especially since there’s a message on your hotel mirror saying, ‘leave or die,’” Ralen said dryly.
“Right. That is a pretty good indication that we should get out of town. Right, Dotty?” Monroe asked.
They were going to leave? Of course they were going to leave.
This wasn’t their home. Addie guessed they’d just grab all their stuff and leave after talking to the cops about their hotel room.
She still wasn’t sure about going to the police.
What were they going to say or do? Nothing had been taken.
Although that message was pretty threatening . . .
She swallowed heavily. It still made her feel sick.
Dotty nodded. “Yes, we should go as soon as possible.”
“You sure that’s what you want to do?” Ink asked.
“Why?” Monroe asked. “What do you think we should do?”
Addie gave Ink an interested look. What did he think they should do? Should they stay? Maybe if they stayed, she might run into Cash.
No, no, no. She couldn’t think like that.
They had to get back to Las Vegas.
Ink tapped his pen against his chin. “Well, I’m guessing you all have lives to get back to in Las Vegas.
And the person who wrote the message wanted you to leave, so they’re not likely to bother you once you do.
So, if you really want to go, I think that would be safe.
Alternatively, we have a safe house you can stay in.
I have men that I can put there to guard you. ”
“No, that’s not going to work,” Dotty said. “I have to get back to work. Plus, that sounds awfully expensive. Don’t your men have other jobs? Surely you can’t pull them on short notice to look after us.”
“I could make it work. It would be a stretch, but I’d do it.”
Ink stared right at her as he said that. Did he mean he’d do it for her?
Surprise filled her. He didn’t even know her. Why would he help her?
“I think you should stay until we find out who this person is,” Cash said. “What if they do follow you to Las Vegas? There’s no guarantee that they won’t.”
“The message clearly said, leave or die. So staying here wouldn’t really be a good option, would it?” Dotty said. “No, we’re going to talk to the police, tell them about the message. They can do what they need to do, and then we’re getting on a plane and leaving.”
“All right then,” Ink said. “I’ll try to convince the police to come here to speak to you.
When you are ready, Cash, Ralen, and Butch will take you right to the airport and wait there with you.
” Ink nodded to them. “If there is anything else you need, just let me know. I’d also like contact details for all of you, so that I can get in touch if we find out anything further. ”
“Of course,” Dotty said. “I’ll come with you now. We can call the police and get this all sorted out.” She pushed her chair back and stood, then glanced down at Monroe and Addie. “Are you two going to come as well?”
“I really think I need to lie down,” Monroe said, rubbing her head and looking pale. “Is there somewhere I could do that?”
“You can nap in the safe room,” Ink told her.
“So, all three of these guys work for you then?” Dotty asked, as they moved towards the door.
“Cash and Ralen don’t. They’re just doing a good deed.”
Doing a good deed?
She didn’t know if she liked being called a good deed.
“Come on,” Ralen said to Monroe. “I’ll walk you back to the saferoom. You should take some food with you.”
To her surprise, Monroe actually nodded and picked up the fruit salad as she got up and followed Ralen out. Butch had already left, she hadn’t even noticed him go.
That left her, Cash, and Brody.
“Do you think that you could work with someone who would sketch out an image of what you saw that night? Not necessarily just details about faces, but the whole thing,” Brody said to her.
Addie nodded.
“Good. I’ll set that up and let you know.
” He picked up his laptop and left the room.
Well, she guessed that she’d go and sit back in the staff room or something.
She pushed her chair back and tried to stand, but Cash placed his hand on her shoulder and held her down.
She sent him a shocked look. What was he doing?
“What did I tell you about getting up from the table?” he said in a stern voice.
What was he talking about? What did he tell her? Suddenly, it came back to her. He’d said that she couldn’t get up until she’d eaten the sandwich and at least part of something else. Had he really been serious about that? He couldn’t make her sit here and eat like she was a child.
Addie gave him a look, but he just stared steadily back at her. “Eat.”
She shook her head.
An amused look filled his face, and he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “Are you being naughty, Addie?”
Naughty? She wasn’t being naughty. What was he talking about? She could feel a flush of red filling her cheeks.
Addie had discovered a while ago what she was.
She knew that she had Little tendencies, not that she’d ever really done anything about it.
It wasn’t like she could go searching for a Daddy or join a BDSM club.
The idea of a club filled with strangers who might want to do things to her, no, nope, not happening.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you scared of me?” Cash asked.
Scared of him? No. Scared was the last feeling she had around him, unless she was talking about her emotions and feelings towards him. Those were something she was scared of. But that was to do with the way she felt about him, not because she thought he might harm her.
“Because you don’t ever have to be scared of me, Addie.
I know I look scary. I also know I can be bossy at times.
For most of my life, I’ve felt like I’ve got no control over what I do, when I do it, or how I do it.
There’s always someone pulling my strings, and I like to be in charge.
I can be bossy. It’s important that you eat.
You’re already small, and I can tell you’re feeling the cold, which is probably because you haven’t got enough fuel in your body.
And you haven’t had enough sleep. You need to eat to keep going. Understand?”
He wasn’t wrong. He was just high-handed in how he went about it. But sometimes she needed someone to take control and just tell her what to do. She needed to shut off the part of her brain that kept worrying, thinking, and trying to tell her that she was doing everything the wrong way.
If someone else was in control, she didn’t have to worry about any of that.
Reaching out, she picked up the sandwich and took another bite. Cash placed his hand on the back of her neck and rubbed it slightly. “That’s my good girl. You’re doing such a good job.”
Killing her. He was killing her.
Was she just a charity case to him? A good deed?
Maybe he and Ralen just felt invested in what was happening. They wanted to see it through. But what about their jobs? Did they not need to work today?
“Your sisters are something else, huh?” Cash said. “Dotty is a force to be reckoned with. Monroe seems so happy and fun.”
Was he interested in Monroe? How could he not be? She was utterly gorgeous and yeah, lots of fun.
She was very different from Addie. Monroe was an extrovert, people flocked to her, wanting to be around her.
With Addie, they just gave her polite stares or looks of pity and kept out of her way, as though whatever she had wrong with her was catching.