Kara
I’m pulling up to work at the gym when my phone rings. I check my phone to see it’s my dad. “Hey, Daddy.”
“Where are you?” he barks into the phone.
“I’m pulling up to the gym for work, why?” I suddenly find myself scared. His voice is panicked. I’m looking all around checking my surroundings.
“Are you alone?”
“Daddy, what’s wrong?” I snap.
“Is Slade with you?” he screams.
“No.” My voice is shaken and comes out in barely a whisper.
He sighs into the phone. “I want you to hurry inside while you’re still on the phone with me.” I climb out of the car and run into the gym, checking my back as I do.
When I get inside and I’m finally safe behind the counter, I ask again. “I’m inside, now will you tell me what’s wrong?”
“Noah has disappeared. We were supposed to meet this morning to go over the plan for getting to Higgins. He never showed up, and when the guys went by his place to check on him, it had been cleaned out. We have no idea where he is.”
I lean on the counter, resting my head in my hands. “Why did you guys release him?”
“We had nothing concrete to hold him on. He wouldn’t give us a sworn statement, and we couldn’t use what he told us at the club because he was high.” He sounds so defeated. “I’m sorry, honey. I had no choice.”
“I know, Daddy, and I’m sorry. I don’t mean to yell at you. I’m just tired and I want this over with.”
“I know. Try to have a good day at work and I’ll be in touch soon.” I cut the call and turn to find Colton directly behind me.
“Are you okay?” I can tell he’s concerned.
“Yeah, the situation with my ex is just getting out of control.” I place my phone into my back pocket. I look up at the clock and note my first client is going to be here shortly. I need to get my head in the game. This client is brand new to using a trainer and she doesn’t need someone whose head is all messed up.
“Come to my office.” He leads the way. The entire way there I’m praying I don’t get fired for bringing my troubles to work. This isn’t usually an issue for me, but this I can’t manage to leave at home, it keeps following me. He closes the office door behind us. “Take a seat.” I sit in the chair across from his desk and he sits in his desk chair.
“I’m really sorry, Colton. I swear I’m doing what I can to leave this outside of here.”
He puts his hands up to stop me. “First, you’re not in trouble. Take a deep breath for a second.” He waits for me to take a deep breath before he says more. “Better?” I nod. “Good. Now, tell me where this stands.”
I go into the story about how Noah was going to help us catch Higgins and now he’s disappeared. I tell him how I think it has to do with him being on drugs and that I told Noah things were done between us. A tear escapes me. “I’m sorry, Colton. I’m a bit embarrassed and I’m not sure how to handle this. I don’t want to lose my job. I enjoy working here.”
“We like you working here, but we can’t have this guy in the club. It’s not safe for you and it’s not good for the gym or our clients. I need to come up with a plan and I’m not sure what that’s going to look like yet.” I nod my head. I feel like such a fool right now. I’m sitting in my boss’s office crying because of the situation I’m in and I’m supposed to be out on the floor working with clients.
“Do you want to go home? We can tell your clients you’re sick and have them work with someone else for today.”
I sigh. “Honestly, I’m not sure what I should do. I don’t want to be stuck at home but I’ll admit I’m nervous.”
He leans back in his chair and crosses his leg at his ankle. “Why don’t you call your boyfriend? I’ll give you some privacy. Talk to him and see what you guys come up with. When you’re done, come out onto the floor and I’ll support your decision either way.”
He leaves the room and I grab my cell phone from my back pocket. It was on silent, so I hadn’t realized that it had been ringing, and I have about a million text messages from Slade. I don’t bother reading them, I call him right back.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m sorry I worried you. My phone was on silent in my back pocket. I’m in my boss’s office. We were talking about the situation and what I should do.”
“Cole is on his way there. If your boss will allow him to pretend he’s working out in the gym, you can stay. He’ll keep an eye on you and then make sure you get back home safely when you’re done. We need to talk about how we’re going to handle this until both Noah and Higgins are caught. I have a plan but I have to talk to my boss first.”
“Slade, please don’t do anything stupid.” I sniffle from the tears that have been running down my face.
“I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you safe. Please, just do me a favor and listen to Cole.”
“What are you going to do?” I’m scared he’s going to go after them himself and I don’t want that. He could not only get hurt, but he could get himself into a ton of trouble.
“Nothing today. I promise, but I need to start working on the plan to nail these bastards. You get your work done and I’ll see you at home tonight.”
“Okay.” I cut the call, grab a tissue from the box on his desk, and clean myself up. When I have myself under control, I walk out to the front of the gym where I find Cole is already here and it makes me feel safer already.
“Cole.” I run to him. He gives me a friendly hug.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m better now that you’re here, thanks.”
“What are you going to do?” Colton asks, standing beside us.
“Are you okay with Cole being nearby?”
“I told him that was fine with me as long as he’s discreet. I can’t have your clients freaking out because you guys are being followed around the gym.” Cole tells him that with the way the gym is set up with the mirrors and everything, he can stand a bit of a distance and still ensure that I stay safe. This appeases him, so I agree to stay for my shift. I missed working with my first client, and I have ten minutes before my next client comes in. I pull out her workout sheet and take a look at what we’re doing today. I fill Cole in on the machines we’ll be doing, and he takes off into the gym.
Soon my client comes walking over from the elliptical drenched in sweat. “Hey, girl. You ready to do this?” She wipes the sweat from her face with a towel and fist bumps me as we walk into the gym. We start with some squats. I set up the bar, she steps in front, setting it up on her shoulders before she backs away and bangs out twelve solid squats. “That was too easy. Bump the next set to fifteen.” She smiles and nods, but does it. “Good, now twenty.”
She laughs. “My ass has to be able to walk tomorrow.”
I laugh. “You use your legs to walk, not your ass.”
She shakes her head. “I see you have jokes today.”
“I try.” I chuckle.
She approaches the bar and does her last set of twenty. While she does, I can see Cole out of the corner of my eye approaching a machine that’s next to the one we’ll be doing. “Good. Let’s hit the leg curl.” We walk over, talking about her day and what her weekend was like. A lot of my clients talk personal stuff as they work out. It’s kind of nice, because I get to know them as people not just a number. When I’m done with my client and I get back to my desk, I find a teddy bear sitting there with a card that has my name on it. I’m a bit nervous at this point but don’t say anything because I’m waiting for her to leave before I do. As soon as she’s out of earshot, I shout. “Hey, Cindy. When did this arrive?”
“A few minutes after you went off with Amy.”
“How was it delivered?” My brows furrow.
“A guy walked it in and said it was for you. I told him to leave it on your desk. He dropped it and left.”
I pull the card from the envelope and begin to read it.
Kara,
I’m sorry I can no longer help your father nail Mr. Higgins. I will end up dead if I help him and I need to be around to fight for you. I want you back in my life and won’t just walk away because you’re now dating Slade, even if that means removing him from the picture. I love you and I get that I wasn’t good at expressing it, but I want to try harder. I have to disappear for a little while but I’ll be back for you. Be careful because Higgins is coming for Miranda and I don’t want you mixed up in that.
Love you now and forever,
Noah
I begin to shake as I text Cole, telling him to get back to my desk. He’s there in a matter of seconds, and when he sees something was delivered, he calls my father immediately. As soon as he hangs up with him, I go to Colton’s office and let him know that I’m done for the day. I’m too shaken up at this point to work with another two clients. He tells me not to worry about it because Kenny is on his way in to walk the floor. He’s going to have him take my clients instead. When I get back, Cole is on the phone with Stone, filling him in on the situation and the threat that was made against Miranda.
My father gets to the club and I run to him. He wraps me in a hug and tells me to try and relax a bit. He takes the card from Cole and reads it. “Damn it, Noah,” my father growls. “This kid is going to get himself killed and we still can’t get to Higgins because this is nothing more than hearsay.” He turns to Cole. “Get her home. I’ll take care of this.”
Cole escorts me to my car, but before he has me get in, he sweeps it for anything suspicious looking. When he sees nothing, he opens the door for me and has me climb in. “I’ll be following right behind you. Slade is on his way home too and he’ll meet you there.” I nod my head and watch as he climbs into his car. Once he has his started, I pull out of my spot and head straight home.
We pull up to find Slade’s car in the driveway. I run straight into the house. “Slade,” I call out. “How is Miranda?”
“She’s fine. Zane set up security for her and Cole will be staying with you.” He hugs me. “Are you all right?”
“I’m tired. This is so draining, but I’m all right.”
“We have nothing going on tonight. We’ll make it a relaxing night at home. You can soak in the tub and then we’ll watch a movie in bed so you can fall asleep when you’re ready.”
I nod. “Will you stay with me in bed? I don’t want to be alone.”
“There’s nowhere else I want to be.”