Chapter 8
Zane
I’d arrived at the nightclub an hour earlier, running late, and we were getting ready to open the doors. I knew things would pick up fast, and I wouldn’t have a lot of time to spare once the party got started, so I slipped away to call Kathryn. I wanted to check in with her, and I needed the comfort of her voice.
I hadn’t expected to hear her crying on the other end. And worse, she was so stubborn about everything. She wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, and I knew it had to be something wholly traumatic for her to be in tears to start with. When I eventually got it out of her, my heart sank, and I had to make sure she was okay. Did she really think telling me I didn’t need to come was going to stop me?
Now, I was desperate to get to her. My heart ached for her. My mom was only a couple of hours away, and I knew how torn up I would be if something happened to her when I wasn’t around. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to feel stuck and unable to make the short drive to stand vigil until I got some news.
I tried to keep calm as I stalked out of my office and into the main area of the club, where the first early arrivers were starting to filter in. I liked that people were so anxious to arrive, but I never understood hitting a nightclub so early.
I walked past these first arrivals, heading straight for the bar up front. I’d seen Charlie, my most tenured bartender, about twenty minutes ago. He’d been the first guy I’d hired, and he was the most reliable. He was also the best and gave me a run for my money when it came to good mixing and creating unique drinks. The girls loved him, and that was another bonus that made him an asset I didn’t want to lose. He had an exorbitant salary for a bartender, but he was worth it. And I was willing to bet there were nights he made just as much in tips as he did on the clock. He was amazing.
But there was another reason he was invaluable to me, and I needed to talk to him before I left. I never skipped out on the club without an alibi, and I knew that, even if Charlie didn’t know anything specific about my personal life, he understood there was something going on that made me a seriously unhappy man. Any good bartender could read people, and I thought he had a pretty good guess what sort of hell I lived at home. He’d covered for me before, and he’d do it again tonight without asking questions. It was a quality I would have willingly paid twice as much for, if necessary.
He came out of the walk-in fridge with a giant bag of ice and nodded to me as I approached him. “Hey, man, I need a favor.”
He dumped the ice in the chest and gave me a head tilt of acknowledgement. “What’s up, boss? You need to get out of here?”
He was a good man. I couldn’t tell him where I was going for obvious reasons, no matter how much I trusted him. But I could tell him why. “Yeah, I got an emergency call, and I’ve got to head out fast. If anyone’s looking for me, I’m on an important call. Just send a page to my phone. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
“You got it, boss. Hope everything turns out okay.” I sent a vague salute and hotfooted it out the back, stepping into my office long enough to grab my wallet. As an afterthought, I locked the door to my office against prying eyes, and I ran to my car, hopped in, and peeled out of the parking lot, breaking just about every law on the road as I raced down the streets toward Kathryn’s apartment. I wove through traffic, sliding in and out of spaces between cars like a pro.
I considered calling to check on her halfway there, but I knew I needed to focus or I’d slip and have an accident. It was more important to get there safely so I could be with her. I just didn’t want her to suddenly decide she had to go to Louisiana and start driving on her own or something like that. She was too emotional and didn’t need to drive. I would buy her a plane ticket, take her to the airport myself, and arrange for a car to pick her up and take her to the hospital, if I had to, just to keep her safe and calm.
I knew I shouldn’t be getting involved at all. This was out of my realm. I had a wife, albeit in name only, and Kathryn hadn’t mentioned any kind of relationship between us yet, just like I hadn’t. But I felt more at peace with Kathryn in her worst moment than with Sam at her best, and after her forgiveness and eagerness to see me, I owed her some sort of gesture, even if it was just being there as a shoulder to cry on.
I turned onto Kathryn’s street and could see her apartment a couple blocks ahead. I slowed down; the last thing I needed right now was some neighborhood patrol with a hard-on for sports cars to pull me over for exceeding the speed limit by two miles an hour. I crawled impatiently toward the building, resenting every moment of having to keep to such a turtle speed on a main thoroughfare, and breathed a sigh of relief when I parked.
I stared up at the apartment and saw lights on but couldn’t see any shadows moving inside. I selfishly hoped she hadn’t fallen asleep or left.
I started to get out, but I saw something move across the street. I turned to look. It was just an automatic reaction, not a conscious one, and I almost dismissed it instantly in favor of getting to Kathryn. It was dark and hard to see, but the guy who climbed into the car parked across the street looked a lot like Alfonso, the waiter I’d just hired, and that had me curious and more than a little suspicious.
I squinted, trying to see better, but the guy started the car and drove away. I hadn’t seen where he’d come from, and I’d only caught a quick glimpse in the dark before he’d disappeared inside his sedan. But in that moment, it was creepy just how much he resembled my new employee.
I cast the thought aside. I hadn’t gotten a good look at his features, and if the police put me in front of a lineup, I doubted I’d be able to pick him out. Besides, I had more important things to deal with than a stranger who reminded me of someone else. I wanted to get to Kathryn.
My nerves got the best of me as I neared the door to her apartment. I was getting too close, I could feel it in the way my heartbeat thrummed faster and harder and my mood shifted. I wanted to look at her, to touch her, to smell her skin.
She’d gotten under mine.
I hesitated to climb the stairs for a moment, a wave of absolute terror at what I’d gotten myself into freezing me in place, but I couldn’t walk away. I tilted my head back and looked to her front door at the top of the staircase, resolving to do exactly what I felt compelled to do for once in my life. If there were consequences to my actions, good or bad, I would deal with them later. Right now, Kathryn needed me.