Dylan
“WHAT ABOUT THESE?” Addison asked, holding up a pair of dark blue jeans that would look amazing with her black knee-high boots. She paired the jeans with a baby-blue sweater with silver thread woven throughout, giving it a little bling, that stopped just above her belly button. She decided not to wear a lace cami underneath it so she could show a little skin.
“Perfect. Casual, but classic. He’ll love it.” All her clothes were gorgeous and fit her perfectly. I never understood why she spent so much time deciding what to wear.
She held the sweater up to her chest and looked into the mirror. “Yes, but will it force him to spill case secrets with me? We need details on the man who interrupted Kirk the Jerk’s adulterous romp.”
“It’s an exchange,” I reminded her. “And not of your body. You give him information, he gives you information, and everybody walks away smarter. Win, win. See? Nobody has to feel dirty over it.”
“But seducing the hot cop into whispering his secrets over my naked body sounds like much more fun.”
“You’re ridiculous, you know that? You’re going to a restaurant full of people on his lunch hour. Please do not take off your clothes.”
“Don’t talk to me like you know me,” she quipped. “And be glad you have a best friend willing to throw her body at a fine-ass detective so you don’t have to be someone’s prison wife. You hate fish... can you imagine if you had to go by that name every day?”
“What the hell does fish have to do with anything?”
“It’s what new prisoners are called!” She ground out. “Don’t you know anything?”
“You watch way too much TV.”
“Whatever.” She shook her head. “The sacrifices I make for you. It’s like you don’t even appreciate them.”
I giggled, rolling my eyes. I appreciated this sacrifice, but clearly not as much as she did. “You’re a giver, for sure. Just make sure you don’t show him yours before he shows you his.”
Surprise widened Addison’s eyes. Then she laughed at me.
My cheeks burned as I caught the unintentional innuendo. “And I totally did not mean that to sound sexual, you perv. Now, do you have the flash drive?”
“Yep. It’s in my bag.”
My phone rang. I looked at the display and my stomach sank.
“What? Who is it?” Addison asked.
Bracing myself for the guilt trip I knew I was about to receive, I forced a smile and answered. “Hey, Dad, how are you?”
“Wondering why I haven’t heard from my little girl in over a month. Thought you might be dead in a Dumpster somewhere. Crime in that city is out of control. It’s like people go crazy from living on top of one another.”
I knocked my head against the doorjamb a few times.
Addison scrunched up her face. She gestured at her phone, silently asking if I wanted her to save me.
I did, but if I brushed him off now, I’d only have to endure this call later. Shaking my head no, I left Addison to get ready and headed into the kitchen to do an inventory while Dad continued to prattle on about the many reasons I should go home.
I stopped him long enough to fill him in on the statistics. Again. “Chance of violent crime is one in eighteen here, Dad. Klamath Falls is one in nineteen and Medford is one in sixteen.”
“Which is exactly why you should come back to the country.”
“We have a lot less meth here, though. I mean a lot less. Most people even have their original teeth,” I argued.
“I didn’t call to fight,” he said, sounding exhausted. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay and see what you’ve been up to.”
His concern made me feel bad. He wasn’t getting any younger, and with the daily damage he did to his liver and kidneys, he wouldn’t be around forever. I needed to forgive him. He was asking about my life, and the least I could do was be honest with him. I took a deep breath and began. “You know, the norm. Got fired from my job, accused of killing my boss, did a little time in the slammer, and made out with a man I really like.”
“I get it, Dylan, you’re happy and safe. You don’t have to be a smartass.”
Well, I tried. Time to change the subject. “You’re right, Dad, sorry. What’s new back home?”
He gossiped about people I hoped I’d never have to see again while I thumbed through recipes, making note of the ingredients we needed. I managed to get him off the phone right as Jake arrived to sweep Addison away. After they left, I headed out to go shopping.
My Honda Civic had a few dents, chipped paint, and wasn’t from this decade —or the last—so it didn’t exactly blend in with the cars in Addison’s building’s parking garage. But today it stood out for a whole different reason. The driver’s side tire was flat.
I took a moment to swear and kick the damn tire before deciding this was the universe’s way of reminding me I needed to exercise. I’d been eating better than my usual fare while staying with Addison, and if I didn’t find a way to eliminate some calories soon, more than my boobs would be in danger of falling out of that pretty green dress. The grocery store was only a few blocks away, so I grabbed my reusable bags from the trunk and took off on foot.
I was almost to the store when I heard a man call out, “Miss! Miss! Excuse me, miss.”
Curious, I looked over my shoulder. A man wearing a baseball cap was jogging toward me, waving his hand in the air.
“Miss, can you please help me with directions?”
I stopped walking so he could catch up. “Uh… depends on what you’re looking for.”
He slowed as he approached, keeping his head down. He had dark glasses on, and I could barely see his face. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
“OMSI. I promised my kid I’d take him, and I think I took the wrong exit.”
“Sure did. You’re on the wrong side of the river,” I said, brushing off the familiarity. Dark hair, Portland-pale skin, scruffy beard, he looked like half the guys in this city. I pulled out my phone to show him a map.
The man stepped closer. Too close. I went to move away from him, but something hard pressed against my side.
“I’m gonna need you to come with me, Dylan.”
“What? Why? How do you know my name?” I’d heard his voice before. I tried to get a better look at his face, but he poked me harder in the side. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“Just settle down. Come get in my car and tell me what you did with the money, then I’ll let you go. Nobody has to get hurt.”
My pulse skyrocketed. “What money?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. Come on.” He tugged me in the direction he’d come from.
I had no clue what money he was talking about, and there was no way I was getting into his vehicle. I slid my phone into my pocket and pressed the emergency button on the fob Jake had given me for my keychain. Then, I thought of a way to stall.
“I need to get my medication,” I announced, nodding toward the store.
“What the hell are you talking about?” the man snapped.
“I… I have a condition.” I stammered. “A heart condition. My prescription just got refilled and I… I need to pick it up.”
“You can pick it up when we’re done,” he said.
Yeah, right. If I left with him there’d be no coming back. I dug my heels in, “No. It’s past time for me to take it. I already feel all jittery and… it’s dangerous for me to go without.” I could not stop trembling, which only authenticated the lie. Hoping he was buying it, I nodded toward the store again. “It’ll only take me a minute.”
He swore.
Come on, Jake, be listening.
Jake had said to give as much information as I could, so I tried again. “Please don’t hurt me. I’ll come with you, I promise. You said you’d let me go if I tell you where the money is, and I will. But if you don’t let me get my heart medicine, my heart will probably explode before I talk. Then you’ll never find out what we did with the money.”
He seemed to consider my words for a few moments before jabbing me in the side again. “You know what this is?” he asked.
I nodded, knowing, but hoping I was wrong.
“Then what is it?”
I swallowed, trying to force moisture down my throat so I could speak. “A gun, right?”
“Good. You’re smart. Prove it, and don’t do anything stupid. Stay close to me and make it quick, you hear?”
“Yes.”
He shoved me toward the store.
My heart pounded against my chest as we made our way through the doors and toward the pharmacy department. My mind drifted back to my conversation with Dad. Less than an hour after arguing with him that the city was safe, someone was trying to kill me over imaginary money. If I died today, he’d probably engrave “I told you so” on my tombstone.
I wasn’t about to let that happen. Especially not now, after all Addison had gone through to clear my name. She’d be so pissed if some asshole shot me right before her big dinner. The dinner I was supposed to go to with Asher. Wearing that dress. I couldn’t die before he saw me in that dress. As much as I hated to admit it, I was looking forward to watching his eyes bug out of his head and his tongue roll out of his mouth to hit the floor like Roger Rabbit.
I prayed for a long line at the pharmacy counter.
Thankfully there was an elderly couple in front of me. They had to pick up a whole bag full of medications and apparently some were new, because the pharmacist was called over to give a consultation.
Sweat was beading on my forehead. How would this goon react when he realized I didn’t have a prescription, much less a heart problem? Worried the authorities wouldn’t see us all the way in the back, my whole body was shaking when I glanced over my shoulder.
“Hey. What’s going on?” the gunman asked.
“I feel like I’m gonna pass out. I really need my medicine.”
That’s when the boys in blue showed up. I saw them in my peripheral, so I tugged away from my captor and hit the deck.
Gunfire erupted.
The last thing I thought of as I dropped to the floor was that damn green dress. Then everything went black.
* * *
Addison
I stared at Jake across the table and smiled. We’d just received our lunch order and he was sharing a funny story about his brother... his father had caught them smoking when they were in their mid-teens and forced them to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes. Well, at least, as many as they could smoke until they threw up.
As I giggled over the shenanigans the boys got into, an alarm went off on Jake’s phone. He tensed and studied the display.
“Where’s Dylan?” he asked. “Was she planning on going somewhere?”
I shrugged. “Not that I know of. Why? What’s wrong?”
He dropped forty dollars on the table. “We have to go. Now.”
My heart raced. “What’s going on with Dylan?” I asked.
Instead of answering, he put the phone to his ear and listened, gesturing for me to follow. I grabbed my purse and jacket, and we hurried out of the restaurant.
The radio in his car was going crazy when we climbed in. Jake set his phone down and cranked the dial in time for us to hear, “…all available units to the corner of Lovejoy and northwest Thirteenth. All available units. We have a possible hostage situation in Safeway. Suspect is armed.”
“Hostage situation?” I asked, unable to believe my ears. Why had Jake asked about Dylan? Was she connected? “Is Dylan the hostage?”
Something else came over the radio, but I was too busy freaking out to hear what was said.
“Not sure what’s going on, but I need to listen.”
I bit my lip and nodded. Hostage? Who would take Dylan hostage? Why? In Safeway? Feeling worried and helpless, I pulled out my phone and fired off a quick text to Asher, letting him know he needed to get his butt to the downtown Safeway right away.
By the time we arrived, I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore, although I was able to keep my sobbing to a minimum.
Cop cars with flashing lights and ambulances (three of them), were blocking two streets and various uniformed people were behind the safety of their vehicles, some with guns drawn, others watching the front of the store. One of the ambulances took off as we pulled in.
Jake turned to me and stroked my tears away with his thumb. “Stay here. I’ll find out what’s going on, but I need you to stay in the car.”
I nodded.
“She’s gonna be okay, sweetheart. Okay?”
I nodded again, but didn’t really believe him as he climbed out of the car. I grabbed my purse, pulled my gun out, and unlatched the safety. He had five minutes and then I was going in.
As I sat in Jake’s car, everything was eerily quiet. It was so quiet, my shallow, quick breathing sounded more like wheezing. I forced myself to take a few deep breaths as I waited. I noticed a drop of water... just one... land on the windshield and slide down to touch the wiper, and I waited. I checked my watch... two minutes. I sighed and glanced back out the window. Nothing was happening. How could so much be riding on absolutely no activity?
My phone pealed, breaking the silence and about causing me to jump out of my skin. Asher’s photo flashed across the screen so I hit talk and put it to my ear. “Ashey.”
“I’m on my way. What’s happening?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’m in Jake’s car. There’s a hostage situation at the downtown Safeway, and I think Dylan’s the hostage.”
“What? What were you guys doing this time?”
“Nothing. I swear. I was about to turn all our evidence over to Jake. He and I were at lunch when he got the call.”
“Evidence as in the spreadsheet?” Asher asked.
“Hmm. Yeah. And a recording Dylan got.”
“What?!”
“Asher, I love you but I can’t talk about this right now because I’m kinda worried about my friend being a freakin’ hostage in Safeway. Where the hell are you?”
He took a deep breath. “You’re right. Sorry. I’m… I’ll be there soon.”
He disconnected, and I put my hand on the door, determined to find out what the hell was going on. Just as I pulled the handle, Jake appeared between two cruisers, jogging toward me. I relatched the safety on my gun and shoved it in my purse, then jumped from the car. “What’s going on? Is Dylan okay?”
“She’s on her way to the hospital. There was some gunfire—”
“She was shot?” I screamed, and made a run for the remaining ambulances.
Jake caught me and pulled me to his chest. “She’s fine, Addison, and she’s not in there. She whacked her head and knocked herself out. It’s just a concussion.”
“What?” I gestured at the cop cars and ambulances. “All this… for a concussion?”
“No. There was a gunman. But Dylan hit her head when she fell.”
“Why did she fall?” I demanded, worried he was shielding me from the truth. “Did he shoot her?”
“No, Addison. We don’t know the details yet, but it sounds like she tripped trying to get away from the shooter.”
Okay, that was totally Dylan. It would be just like her to trip and fall, especially in a high-stress situation like a gunfight at the Okay Corral. “Where is the shooter?”
Jake frowned. “He slipped out the back. We got a description, though, and his face will be on every news channel within the hour. We’ll find him.” He draped an arm over my shoulders and squeezed me to him.
I stayed in the safety of Jake’s arms for a minute, processing this new information. Dylan had been held hostage. Why? Did some random guy just draw a gun on her in the middle of the grocery store? Or did this have something to do with Kirk’s murder? If so, the shooter could be on his way to the hospital to finish the job. I pulled away. “Jake, I need to get to the hospital.”
“Okay. Just let me make sure everything’s secure here and I’ll take you.”
He didn’t understand. Dylan was unconscious and vulnerable, and the shooter could beat up a cop, steal his clothes, sneak past security, and… and… I really needed to get to the hospital.
I was about to call a cab when Asher drove up.