Chapter Nineteen

Addie

“Stay right here,” Cliff says, his voice low and threatening. The sudden change has my heart pounding hard in my chest. So hard I feel like I’m going to faint. He slips from the room as silent as a shadow.

After a few moments, I creep out of bed and dress. Something feels… wrong. And since Cliff came into my life, I’ve spent a whole lot more time listening to my gut. It’s never wrong.

With trembling fingers, I pull on a bra. Numbness creeps in inch by inch as I pull on panties and leggings, then my shirt. I creep toward the window and carefully peek out of a crack in the material.

And my heart sinks to my toes at what I see on the street below.

Somebody betrayed me.

News vans line the otherwise quiet street. Paparazzi mill about, cameras at the ready, and throngs of people stand like cattle waiting to stampede at the earliest sign something’s up.

My life is over.

They found me.

I’m fucked.

Suddenly, Cliff blows back into the room and grabs my wrist. “Come with me,” he growls, and I instinctively listen. He’s going to keep me safe. And I realize that I didn’t even for a second think he was the one who betrayed me.

I trust him.

But that still doesn’t answer who did give me up. I don’t think it was Dakin. I’m not so sure it wasn’t Zac. In the living room, I come face-to-face with Zac.

“Trust me,” he says. I glance over at Cliff, who gives the tiniest hint of a nod.

So I let Zac turn me around and cuff my hand behind my back. The second officer leads, and Cliff follows us. I go along with Zac as he takes me out, loudly reciting my Miranda rights.

He and another officer push through the throngs of people and lead me outside even as cameras flash and people yell at me. They yell ugly things at me, call me a whore, a slut, a tramp—and even more terrible things, things I’d never call my worst enemy on my lowest day.

In front of the building, Zac puts me in the back of the cop car, and he and the other officer get in the front. Miserable, I keep my head down. But I can’t stop the tears. They roll down my cheeks and dot my leggings.

The car pulls away from the curb, and Zac speaks to me. “I’m sorry. We tried to get there before everyone else.”

“Who told them where I am?” I ask, feeling so very broken.

“I’m not sure yet,” Zac says, “But when I find out…” He trails off, and the other officer speaks.

“The usual spot?” he asks, and I sense he’s talking to Zac since I have no freaking idea what he’s talking about.

“Yeah, the usual,” Zac says. “I’m so sorry, Addie.” His voice is more gentle than I’ve ever heard him. “I wish I could have kept them away from you.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, unable to even find my voice as the tears stream down my cheeks and my throat squeezes painfully around a lump. We drive a few blocks, but I keep my head down. I don’t want to risk anyone seeing me. Or taking my picture. Or anything.

I want nothing more than to become invisible right now.

And as they haul me to jail, all I can think about is how lucky I am. Because at least if I’m locked up, I’ll get some damned privacy. News crews and paparazzi won’t be able to come harass me at inopportune times.

“Okay, Addie,” Zac says. “I need you to listen very carefully.”

I lift my head and look at him. He’s so very serious, my heart takes flight in my chest. We’re driving down an old street, one that’s silent. Not a single other car passes us.

“Slip your hands around to the front,” he says, and I adjust until my hands are in front of me. He hands the key through the grate separating the front and back of the car, and I take it.

“Take them off and set them on the seat next to you.” He’s walking me through, and I do as I’m told, wondering what the hell he’s got planned. When the cuffs pop free, I take off the other side and drop them on the seat. I pass the key back, then rub my wrists, reveling in my freedom.

“When we stop,” he says, his eyes locked on mine as his partner takes another turn deeper into the silence of this area, “get out and duck between the hedges. Don’t look around, don’t come out. Just hide.”

I nod. “Thank you,” I whisper.

But Zac doesn’t answer. He merely nods. “Stay safe, okay?” he says, and his partner looks at me in the rearview mirror.

I see concern in both their faces and know my situation is dire.

“We’re here,” the other cop says as he pulls the car to a halt in a parking lot that’s deserted. It looks like an old warehouse lot. I open the door and head for the hedges. Ducking into them, I hear the car peel out and leave.

My life has come to this. Weird games of hide-and-seek, on the run from news and paparazzi and people who want to call me names or bring me harm thinking they’re supposed to and that I’ll like it.

I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could go back in time and never even consider the possibility of modeling. I wish I could take back every second with Arlo, every moment spent in Las Vegas, every single picture of me that’s out there for the world to see.

But mostly I wish I could take back those naked pictures.

No, I take that back. I wish I could take back letting Arlo take them. If Cliff had taken them, I’d be safe. Because Cliff is a fucking man.

He’s not a damned predator trying to keep me under this thumb and locked up in a box he’d created to keep me in line. He’s not out to have something to use against me. He’s not the kind of person who’d use something against me like that, even if I’d hurt him.

Good people don’t do what Arlo did.

He’s the one who is in the wrong, not me. A leaf tickles my nose as the sun breaks through the clouds and warms my skin. Right here between these hedges, I stand, wondering what comes next. How long am I going to wait here? How long until someone comes for me? And what exactly is the plan?

It’s not like I can go back to Cliff’s place. People are going to be looking for me now. I’m not safe anywhere. I can’t go home. I can’t go to my parents. I can’t go anywhere.

I’m screwed.

The gravity of what’s happened fills me and weighs on my chest like an elephant is sitting on my heart. I hear a vehicle pull into the lot, and my whole body tenses up. Did someone find me? Did some news crew follow the cops here? Am I just out here to be picked off by some pervert?

Trembling, I stay as still as I can and hold my breath.

The vehicle parks much too close for comfort, and I wonder if I should risk a peek out to see who it is. Or maybe I should run. Maybe I can hide somewhere else, somewhere less conspicuous than where the two hedges meet in the very corner of this old parking lot.

I hear the sound of footsteps coming in my direction.

My fists ball up. I’m fucking ready to fight for my life. I’ll kill anyone before letting them put their damn dirty hands on me!

The footfalls stop, and I carefully release my breath and take another, keeping so silent there’s no way this person can hear me. But suddenly, I’m not alone.

Cliff presses a hand to my face, covering my mouth, and I melt into him.

“Not a sound,” he whispers in my ear. I nod, so happy to see him I can hardly contain myself. “As far as I can tell, no one followed me. But wait to come out until I tell you. And when you get in the truck, get in the back and get as low as you can, okay?”

I nod, and he releases my mouth. I press my lips to his, and he kisses me back. “I’m here,” he whispers between kisses. “You’re safe.”

And I don’t doubt his words.

Not for a second.