Chapter 6 Nova #2
My gaze lifted from the rings, a wry smirk touching the corners of my mouth.
Until I locked eyes with the ponytailed man standing only feet behind me, reflected in the store window.
The edges of my vision went fuzzy while the sound of blood rushing in my ears drowned out the noise of the mall. No one here but the two of us, staring at each other in the window. A scream worked its way from my chest to my throat, threatening to escape my mouth.
“Look out!” Another senior citizen in another motorized scooter cut between us, making my stalker jump back to keep his feet from being run over.
I saw my chance, and I took it, fleeing for the ladies’ room sign two doors down. The disapproving reactions of the people I bumped into were nothing but noise, like a mosquito buzzing in my ear. The door. I had to get through the door, which I threw my body against before bursting into the room.
The overhead lights were painfully bright, an effect made even worse thanks to the white tile floor and walls.
I was almost blinded, squinting against the glare, my feet carrying me frantically across the bleach-scented space and into the last stall in the row.
Would he risk being spotted coming in here?
Maybe I would get lucky, and a bystander would stop him.
This was how bad things had gotten now. Relying on a bystander.
There was one particular nosy bystander whose face flashed in front of my mind as I leaned against the metal door’s lock I had flipped. Vaughn’s green eyes were as bright and intense in my memory as they were in reality. He was so sure there was something wrong with me, wasn’t he? And he was right.
And dammit all, I was about to admit it. What other choice did I have? Going to the police was out, at least for now, until I knew for sure what I had witnessed and knew Dad wasn’t responsible.
Going to friends? I couldn’t rope them into this.
I didn’t have that many, and Dad was fully aware of who they were after ten years of friendship.
He had always been an involved parent. I never thought the day would come when I would regret that.
It would only take Nico offering to check up on me for him to learn their names.
The rest was too ugly to think about, even in theory.
I was out of options. There was one man I could reach out to without fear of him being tracked down.
Rather than greet me normally, he answered my call with both guns blazing, rancor dripping from every word. “Oh, are you calling to apologize for the attitude in my casino, Oxford?”
“Vaughn?” Even a soft whisper echoed through the tiled bathroom.
“That’s who you called, right?” he fired back, probably smarting after our latest encounter.
I couldn’t hold back tears of relief at the sound of his voice, anger or no anger.
The fact that he was a total stranger worked in my favor and his.
He didn’t have to be pulled into anything since we really had no prior history, and a drunken wedding would be the last thing anybody who knew me would suspect.
Nobody would connect us. “You were right,” I admitted once I’d convinced myself this was the only option. “I need your help.”
“Dammit, I knew it!” he crowed. “I knew you—”
“Shut up,” I begged, still whispering, shaking so hard I was afraid I might drop the phone in the toilet. “Sorry, but just shut up for a second, please. I have no place to go, and someone is following me. I don’t want to lead him back to my apartment. What can I do?”
“First off, is there a reason you can’t go to the police?” At least he didn’t waste time with stupid questions about whether or not I was in my right mind.
I pressed my lips together tightly, shaking my head even though he couldn’t see. “There is, but I can’t tell you why. Please, Vaughn,” I begged.
Silence—profound, prolonged. I doubled over, closing my eyes, biting the inside of my cheek to hold back a helpless sob while icy sweat rolled down my temples. What was I thinking? There was no way Vaughn would help me. He was a casino owner, not a superhero.
As it turned out, he only needed time to process.
“Here’s what you’re going to do,” he announced.
I could almost be talking to a different man, one who took control of the situation, whose voice was suddenly sharp.
Decisive. If this were any other situation, I might be a little turned on.
“I’m sending a car to pick you up, wherever you are.
My driver will take you to my house, and I’ll meet you there.
I’m on my way out right now,” he told me.
Tears of relief spilled onto my cheeks. He would help. “I’m in the mall at Planet Hollywood, down the street. Hiding out in the ladies’ room.”
“Jesus Christ. It’s that bad?” He muttered a few choice words under his breath. “All right. I’ll text you a thumbs-up once I have confirmation the car has arrived. The driver will pull around to the rear entrance, off the Strip. His name is Oliver. Ask for it before you get in the car.”
“And if he doesn’t give me the right name?” I asked.
“Then you don’t get in the car.” Was he laughing at me? Did I have the right to give him shit about it when he could very well be saving my life? “But he’ll be there. He knows his shit. You’ll go to my house, and you’ll be safe there… for a price,” he added almost as an afterthought.
I should’ve known. “What would that be?” I asked, imagining all sorts of degrading suggestions.
“The truth.” He was serious too. There wasn’t so much as a hint of a joke in the demand.
While I appreciated his genuine concern, I felt a twinge of conflict that he wasn’t entertaining any degrading thoughts.
Jesus Christ, what was wrong with me? I was obviously stressed to the point of not thinking straight.
“If I shelter you, I deserve to know why. Understood?”
Who was this man, and what had he done with my husband? “Fine,” I whispered since I would have agreed to almost anything if it meant getting out of this bathroom safely.
Though I had to wonder if I’d truly be safe anywhere near Vaughn Eastman.
“An alarm is going to sound shortly after I send you the thumbs-up,” he announced. “Count to ten slowly, then leave the bathroom and go directly to the rear entrance where Oliver will be waiting.”
“An alarm?”
“Don’t worry about it. The place will clear out. Use that to your advantage. Do you understand?” he nearly barked. “Or do I need to explain myself again?”
Somehow, he knew exactly what I needed to hear and how I needed to hear it. My fear crystallized into something potent. Clear, focused. “I’ve got it,” I told him, my pulse slowing down, the panic in my head going quiet. “I’ll be waiting.”