Chapter 12 #3
I was looking at her from an odd angle, almost like she’d propped her phone up in the cup holder. Her fingers gripped her steering wheel, her blue eyes flickering back and forth from the road to the rearview mirror.
“Sloane!” I stood up, anxiously pacing around the room.
She took a shaky breath, the phone toppling when she took a last-minute turn. “I’m being followed. I think.” She righted the phone; bright headlights swept across her car, and her eyes flooded with panic. “I am. I’m being followed. Rhys, what do I do? I can’t drive to a police station!”
“Fuck!” I speared my hands through my hair. “Drive to your parents' house. Now, Sloane.”
“I can’t,” she whimpered. “I haven’t told them what’s going on with Stu. I can’t take this to them.”
“You can and you will. You’re out of options here. You can’t go home; that gate closes too slowly.”
“Rhys, you don’t understand! I’m not going to their house with my stalker ex-boyfriend tailing me!”
Goddammit.
I swiped the room key from the dresser and stuffed it into the pocket of my pajama pants, jogging towards the door. “Now’s not the time to be stubborn. Where are you?”
“I—I’m not sure. Five minutes from the apartment. I noticed the headlights and started making random turns.”
“Where’s Cami?”
“Home? I think?” The phone shifted again as she made another harsh turn. Her eyes were focused on the rearview mirror before the headlights made another appearance.
Shirtless and with my hair still damp from my shower, I took off down the stairs to find Dom.
If she refused to go to her parents' house, her only other option was Dominic and Cami’s.
I wasn’t sure how either of them would feel knowing that Stu was on her ass.
None of us really knew what he was capable of.
I sprinted down the stairs, rounding the final set and throwing the heavy metal door open. There were annoyed and curious glances as I tore through the lobby, my bare feet slapping against the tiled floor.
“Why is he so close to me?”
Glancing down at my phone, I noticed the headlights were brighter, lighting up the inside of her car.
“Goddammit!” I threw open the golden doors to the hotel bar, frantically scanning the darkened room for my teammate. “Head to Cami and Dom’s. Now.”
“What?” she shrieked. “No! She’s home alone. I’m not doing—I can’t bring other people into this.”
“Tough shit, Sloane. Either you go to your parents, or you head there. They have a good security system; you’ll be safe there.”
I craned my head over the crowd, locking eyes with Dom as I pushed through groups of people. The laughter on his face died the instant he saw me. He rushed in my direction, shoving through the crowd.
“What?” he asked roughly. “What’s wrong?”
“Sloane. She’s being followed.” I fought to catch my breath, shoving my phone into his chest. “Tell her she can go to your house. I don’t know what else to do.”
He nodded once, urging us back toward the entrance. “I promise, Sloane. She won’t care. Neither do I. I’ll let her know you’re on the way; she’ll open the garage for you.”
Their conversation was muted by the thumping bass and the sound of my pulse pounding through my ears, so I could only hear bits and pieces. Sloane was putting up a fight, of course, scared to risk putting Cami in danger.
I understood where she was coming from, but none of us would be able to relax until we knew she was safe. Once we were back in the hallway, Dom handed my phone back to me. “I’m calling Cam, get her over there.”
“Pip, please.” I wasn’t above begging at this point. “Head to Cami. She’s waiting to let you in, okay?”
Indecision wracked her features. “I just—I can’t do that. I can’t put her at risk.”
“It’s the safest place for you to go right now.
If you go to the apartment, he’ll be able to follow you into the garage.
You won’t go to your parents' house because they don’t know about everything.
Cami knows. Go to her. If—If you’re not doing it for yourself, do it for me, Sloane.
” My voice cracked, and a tear slid down her cheek.
She whipped the steering wheel around, tires screeching on the asphalt. “Okay, okay. I’m—I’m going. Tell her I’ll be there in ten.”
Relief flooded through my body, and I turned to face Dom. “She’ll be there in ten.”
He nodded. “Cami’s standing inside the garage. Tell her to block the driveway and run for the door.”
“Did you hear that, Pip?”
She nodded and lifted a hand to wipe at the tears streaking down her face. My heart shattered. I should be there. I should’ve figured out a way to stay or a way to get her to come with me.
Her eyes flickered back and forth from the road to the mirror, then a horn blared, making her jump. “What is he doing?”
“He’s just trying to scare you.”
“Yeah, well, it’s fucking working.” Her voice broke, and I fucking hated it.
“Take a deep breath. You’re almost there. You’re gonna be okay.”
She made a noise like she didn’t believe me, but she stayed on track to Cami and Dom’s.
The drive seemed to take forever. Sloane kept silent, except for a few whimpers here and there, but I paced the halls of the hotel.
After a couple of minutes and several concerned stares, Dom convinced me to go back upstairs.
But I still paced, my fingers raking through my hair almost painfully.
After the longest, most nerve-wrenching ten minutes of my life, Sloane turned onto their street.
“Okay, I can see their house.”
I stilled, my focus going to the screen. Dom had their security cameras pulled up, watching Cami at the garage. “Is he still behind you?”
“Yes,” she answered before the question was even out of my mouth.
“Floor it, Sloane. Put as much distance between him and you as you can, then run and get into the house. Got it?”
Her engine revved as she sped down their quiet suburb.
My heart was racing painfully in my chest, and I couldn’t even begin to think about everything she was feeling at the moment.
The phone jostled as she slammed on the brakes, the transmission screaming when she threw the car into park before it came to a complete stop.
“Go, Sloane!”
She took off, leaving her phone in the car and the car running. I moved toward Dom, watching my girl sprint like hell toward the garage door. The asshole in the SUV turned into the driveway as much as he could, but she’d done exactly as Dom told her and blocked the whole driveway with her car.
Once she cleared the door, Cami slammed it down. We watched it all unfold on the cameras as they ran through the garage and into the house.
He quickly swiped to a different camera, and relief flooded my body once again when she was safe inside, and Cami’s shaky hands set the alarm.
Sloane threw herself around Cami, and even though the cameras didn’t have audio, I could tell by the way her body shook that she was sobbing in her best friend's arms.
“Fuck!” I threw my phone onto the bed, rage quickly replacing relief. I’d never wanted to kill someone with my own two hands before. But I was getting pretty damn close.
Dom slumped onto the edge of the bed, combing a hand through his hair, his shoulders sagging a little. “He’s gone. Sped off the second she made it inside.”
“He could come back.”
I could tell by the hopeless look in Dom’s eyes that he was worried about the same thing.
“Fuck it.” I shook my head and went to my phone, immediately booking two red-eye flights from Boston to Denver. “They’re both coming here.”