Chapter 18
A loud thumping noise interrupted my dream.
I clawed the edges of it back – something about a warm place near the ocean, with waves lapping at the sand, and …
Thump thump thump.
What the hell?
The panic gripped me quickly – had Wilson found out about last night? Had he tracked me down already? I scrambled back on the bed and pressed my hand to my chest to calm my racing heart, looking frantically around for my Glock.
‘Open up, Kendra. I know you’re in there.’
It was Alice.
‘Shit, fuck, fuck,’ I whispered.
I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and stumbled to the door, stubbing my toe on the chair I’d wedged there for my protection. I shook my foot as the thumping started again.
‘Kendra!’
I yanked open the door to see Alice’s furious expression.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ I demanded.
She snarled at me, angry and beautiful.
‘Coming to get you, you idiot.’
‘What are you talking about?’ I demanded. ‘How did you even find me?’
‘That doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘You ran away.’
I had to get Alice to leave – as soon as possible. I had sworn to myself that until this was over, I wouldn’t let her back in. It was the only way to keep her safe.
‘Fuck off or I’m calling the police,’ I said wearily.
I tried to slam the door in her face, but she stuck her foot in the way.
‘You’re calling the police? Yeah, right.’ She slapped her hand on the door and shoved her hip against it to really make sure I couldn’t shut it on her.
Then she pushed her way into the room and slammed the door closed. She whirled back to me, her eyes full of righteous fury, and grabbed my chin so I couldn’t look away from her.
‘Ow,’ I complained.
‘You left,’ Alice said, still simmering with anger. ‘You walked out in the middle of the goddamn night.’
‘I left a note,’ I said, rubbing my cheek. She’d left me sort of dazed, and strangely aroused by how much she seemed to care.
‘I should slap you for that fucking note.’
‘What is your problem?’ I yelled. ‘I’m trying to protect you. I’m almost breaking my fucking back from bending over backward so I can keep you safe.’
‘That’s not how this works!’ she yelled back. ‘It’s not on you to protect me. I care about you too.’
‘How did you find me?’ I asked again, not willing to let that particular point go.
Alice raised her chin defiantly. ‘I waited for you to come back … I thought you’d realize pretty quickly that you were being ridiculous and change your mind.
When you didn’t I checked the admin panel from the Wi-Fi router and brought up your search history.
You were on the website for this hotel for fifteen minutes the night you left. ’
I flushed with anger. ‘That’s a massive invasion of privacy. That’s not something you do to people you care about!’
‘It’s exactly what you do to people you care about!’ she screamed. ‘Especially when the people you care about are goddamn idiots!’
‘You don’t care about me,’ I spat. ‘You care about getting your shit back.’
‘How fucking dare you! After everything we’ve been through together you think this is still about the jewelry?’
‘Of course it’s about the fucking jewelry! My whole life revolves around shitty people, stolen junk and being a generally terrible person.’
‘You actually believe that?’
Someone in the room next door pounded on the wall. ‘Shut the fuck up!’
Alice glared at me like that was my fault, and I snarled at her in response. Then I grabbed the front of her stupid, prissy, white shirt and hauled her in so I could kiss her on her stupid mouth.
‘I hate you,’ she gasped when I pulled away.
‘Baby, the feeling’s mutual.’
She shoved her hands into my hair and kissed me again.
‘You are the most infuriating person I have ever met,’ she said when we stopped kissing. ‘And if you ditch me now, I will hunt you down and make your life miserable.’
The retort – that my life was already miserable, thank you very much – was right on the tip of my tongue. And for some reason, I didn’t say it.
Alice stalked over to the curtains, yanking them open and spilling bright sunlight into the room.
‘This place is disgusting,’ she told me.
‘I am aware, yes.’
‘I would ask you why you’re staying here in particular, but I’m pretty sure I’d only get a sarcastic answer.’
‘That’s a good bet.’ I hesitated for a second. ‘I know you’re mad at me right now, but I’m not lying when I say all I’m trying to do is make sure Wilson and his people can’t get to you and hurt you again. Keeping you out of the equation now is the right thing to do.’
‘We’ll discuss your gross paternalistic attitude in a minute. Get dressed, Kendra,’ she snapped, and I grabbed my duffle bag without saying a word in response and took it into the bathroom.
‘Get dressed, Kendra,’ I mimicked once the door was closed behind me.
‘I heard that,’ she shouted.
My fashion choices were severely limited at the moment, so I pulled on whatever was clean enough, brushed my teeth, and decided my hair was going to do whatever it wanted so there was no point trying to style it.
When I walked out of the bathroom, I held up a finger to silence Alice before she said anything.
‘I’m going to need you to shut up until I’ve had coffee.’
‘Then let’s go get coffee,’ she said wearily.
I opened the hotel-room door and gestured grandly for her to leave first.
Fortunately for both of us, there was a coffee shop across the street – a tiny, bougie place that looked totally out of place in this neighborhood. The bell above the door tinkled as we walked in, and there was only one person ahead of me in the line, which was good news.
‘What can I get you?’
‘Double shot americano please,’ I said. ‘And a breakfast sandwich. Oh, and a slice of banana bread,’ I added, realizing I was starving.
‘No problem. Do you want the Colombian blend for an extra –’
‘Sure,’ I said, waving away any more questions. ‘And whatever she wants.’
‘I’ll take an iced chai latte with oat milk, please,’ Alice said sweetly. ‘She’s paying.’
I glared at her before slapping my card down on the reader.
Twenty-nine frickin’ dollars for breakfast. This city was out of control.
‘We’ll bring it over to you when your drinks are ready,’ the guy said, looking between us like he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Well, he wasn’t the only one.
Alice took one of the seats at the bar by the window, giving us a good view of New York passing by on the street outside.
‘I’m still so angry at you,’ she muttered when I hauled myself into my seat.
‘You have no reason to be.’ That was a lie. She just didn’t know all of the reasons she should be angry at me.
‘Where were you last night?’
‘In bed,’ I said with a fake-ass smile.
‘Before that.’
I silently pleaded the fifth.
Someone cleared their throat from behind us, and I was more convinced than ever that the barista was taking every possible opportunity to eavesdrop on our conversation.
‘Here’s your order,’ he said, and set down the tray on the bar.
I glared at him until he disappeared back to his coffee machine.
‘Did you work out the riddle? Or find the next clue?’
Alice scowled as I pointedly ignored her and unwrapped my breakfast sandwich. It had egg and gooey cheese running down the side. I took an enormous bite and almost groaned – it was insanely good.
‘Where the hell did you go?’ she demanded.
I hesitated for one second before deciding that telling her the truth would probably save time in the long run.
‘I broke into Wilson’s house. The riddle was about a trinket box that I accidentally sold to him when I needed money for rent. I needed to get it back to find the next clue.’
Alice’s eyes widened. ‘You broke into his house?’
‘Uh huh.’
‘You’re a complete idiot.’
‘I know. Anyway, it’s done now. No harm, no foul.’
‘I don’t understand why you couldn’t have brought me with you,’ she said, clearly still sulking.
‘Because, Alice,’ I said with my mouth full, ‘I almost got caught on my own. This whole thing has got really, really fucking dangerous, and if there were two of us there last night, we would both either be in jail or in the morgue right now.’
Alice sighed heavily and propped her chin on her hand, staring out at the traffic.
‘So what did you find?’
I looked over my shoulder, just in case, and Alice understood what I wasn’t saying. I couldn’t tell her right now. Not in public.
She nodded, understanding. ‘What do we do next then?’
‘What’s next,’ I replied, then took another bite of my sandwich, ‘is that you’re going to go home and I’m going to carry on with what I need to do.’
‘No,’ she said stubbornly
‘It’s not up for debate.’ My frustration was starting to bubble over, and I couldn’t understand why she was refusing to back off given the risks.
Alice leaned in close. ‘No,’ she repeated loudly. ‘You can’t keep pushing me out, Kendra. You need help.’ She glanced down at where the egg was currently dripping out of my sandwich. ‘So much help.’
I sighed heavily and focused my attention onto my breakfast. I couldn’t deal with her until I was fully caffeinated and my stomach was full.
Once I’d polished off the sandwich, banana bread and most of my coffee, I shifted to look at her.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ I said.
We were close enough to Central Park that walking the dozen or so blocks north to get to a green space wasn’t a chore.
The sun was out, blasting heat and turning the city into a sweaty mess of grumpy people, and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.
In six months we’d be covered in snow, and New Yorkers would complain about that too.
‘I’m going to need you to tell me what happened last night,’ Alice said as we approached Columbus Circle and the park. ‘And don’t think you can fob me off, because I’ll know if you’re lying.’
I grit my teeth and ignored her until we’d crossed 59th Street and headed into the leafy canopy of Central Park.