Shae pulled onto the scenic outlook off the highway. She didn’t know how long she’d been driving for. She didn’t know where she was. She didn’t have a phone, or money. All she had was a stranger’s car that she was pretty sure she was illegally driving and the clothes on her back. She would either have to go back to the house or call Daddy. Nope. Even in a life and death situation, she wasn't calling that bastard.
She needed to go back. She needed to find out what happened to him. She needed to figure out who he was.
The drive, as stressful as it had been, had given her some clarity. Tristan wasn’t who he said he was. He was definitely the man she was locked in the closet with. The mysterious John. It wasn’t that normal people wouldn’t carry a gun, but it was how he used it. He hadn’t waited for the other people to fire; he’d fired first. Any other good guy with a gun would’ve waited. They would be on the defense, not the offense. He didn’t know what she’d been dealing with. He didn’t panic or hesitate. He didn’t freak out. He didn’t know the full level of the threats that she’d been getting and ignoring, but still he had done what was necessary.
At least a normal, advertising consultant Tristan wouldn’t. But the mysterious private detective John would. She needed to go back and find out the truth. She didn’t think he was a Blackthorne spy, but he had skin in the game somehow. Shae didn’t like mysteries. She didn’t like being used and lied to. She definitely didn’t like making out with people who were using her. Tristan had to answer for his actions somehow. But for now, that would have to wait.
Shae leaned back in the driver seat and let out a deep breath. She was by no means relaxed, but it was the first second since she took off running that she allowed herself to breathe. As she allowed the tension to creep out of her muscles, the exhaustion caught up with her. She’d worked all day, had a whirlwind romantic dinner, then spent the rest of the evening running for her life. All at once, she could barely keep her eyes open. The little parking spot at the scenic overlook wasn’t someplace she could legally park and take a nap, but right now she didn’t think she could drive. She was low on gas and didn’t know how she’d make it back to Seaside Escape. She locked the doors and let her head fall back as the sun started to rise. Within seconds, she had fallen into a deep sleep.
By the time someone knocked on the door, Shae had no idea what time it was. The sun was shining brightly in her window, and she winced at the unexpected brightness. She looked to her left out the window, half expecting to see a disapproving cop glaring down at her. But it wasn’t. The blonde woman outside the window wore jeans and a T-shirt. She was pale, unlike a native Floridian. Shae squinted, not sure whether this was part of some strange stress dream. The woman motioned for her to lower the window. Shae wasn’t exactly in a trusting mood, but this woman didn’t seem like too much of a threat. Even so, Shae only lowered the window about an inch.
The woman leaned down close to the window, and Shae put her hand on the keys, ready to turn the car on and drive away at a moment’s notice. The woman’s eyes followed the motion, and she was obviously aware that Shae was jumpy. “What’re you doing?” she asked casually.
“I, um, I’ve had a long drive. I was just taking a small break.”
The woman nodded as though it was a perfectly reasonable explanation. “So.... Where you goin’?”
Shae started to become more curious about who this woman was. “I’m sorry, can I help you?”
“Possibly. But, in all honesty, I’m here to help you.”
She let out a laugh. “I don’t think you can.” At this point, she didn’t know whether anybody could help her.
“Well, you might not, but my buddy Tristan seems to think that you’re in a lot of trouble. Now what do you say we have a talk?”
––––––––
––––––––
Shae woke up as the car came to a stop. She was almost embarrassed that she’d fallen asleep again, but after once again replaying the events of the past forty-eight hours, she decided not to beat herself up about it. She was only human. She checked the mirror for signs of drool and ran her fingers through her hair. Her once cute ponytail she’d worn for Tristan was now a limp thing hanging at the back of her head, with loose tendrils of hair falling out everywhere. Actually, it looked pretty standard for her. She sat up, and looked to see where the woman had taken her. She expected to be confused but she recognized the place immediately. “You’re staying in a foreclosure?”
The woman, Toni she’d introduced herself as, looked questioningly over at Shae. “You recognize this place?”
“I have a contact who tells me about good auctions coming up. This place is a little out of my price range, though....” Although Seaside Escape was a luxury residence, this was a verified mansion. It could probably fit five to ten Seaside Escapes inside the massive rooms. Not to mention that the place probably didn’t even need to be fixed up. From the pictures she’d taken during her quick scouting trip, the place looked gorgeous. And it also meant that whoever Tristan’s friends were, they were living very illegally.
Not that Toni seemed to care. She got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind her. Shae had a feeling she didn’t slam it on purpose. She just did everything with a little extra gusto. Shae more gingerly climbed out, her body sore from the past few days. “Are you going to tell me why Tristan sent you yet?”
Shae noticed there were a few nice cars in front of the house. She doubted they all belonged to Toni. How many people were staying here? Toni didn’t look like some drifter. She might be wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but they were both in very good condition. Shae hadn’t worn designer labels in a very long time, but the cut of the shirt was nice enough to tell her that it wasn’t just off some random discount shelf. Toni went inside, and Shae stopped at the entryway. What was she doing? Toni said she worked with Tristan, but Shae didn’t know whether she believed her. The only reason she had taken a chance and gone with her was because she was kind of out of options. With no money, and soon to be no gas, she would have to start hitching soon enough. Normally, she’d flag someone down to call the police, but Detective Perlman had more than proved the police to be useless for her. They were probably covering up Tristan’s murder right now.
Toni popped in the doorway and looked questioningly at Shae. “You gonna stand there all day?” Then her brow furrowed and she looked concerned. “You don’t have a concussion, do you? Should I have taken you to the hospital instead? I never think to ask these things first.”
Shae shook her head and tentatively walked over the threshold. “I’m fine. Just flustered and confused and kind of feeling like an idiot for even following you here.”
Toni gave her a comforting smile and reached out, setting an arm on Shae’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I get a lot of people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. It’s kind of a gift. Now come on, let me get you some breakfast and I’ll start answering questions. I know you have a lot.”
“You said you were sent by Tristan. Have you heard from him? Have you had like your people or something go check on him? He sent you, right? When did he send you?”
Toni let out a little laugh. “Okay. I guess we’ll start with the questions now. My name is Toni, as you know, and I’m Tristan’s boss.”
“I’m assuming you’re not his boss at the advertising agency he told me he worked at.”
Toni gave an awkward little grimace. “Yeah, sorry. Not in advertising.”
“So how much did Tristan lie to me about?”
“Knowing Tristan? Probably everything. Don’t worry, he has a good heart. And technically, he was acting on my orders. So if you’re gonna be mad at someone, be mad at me.”
“I don’t see why I can’t be mad at both of you.”
“Touché.”
“But why did you send him to spy on me? What was the point?”
“Because I’m trying to take down Blackthorne. When he ran into you the other night, we realized you were involved with him. Since his cover was blown, we figured he could get some information from you. I know most everything about Blackthorne, but I hadn’t connected that Damask was the owner until you offhandedly mentioned the name. So if you knew that much, I figured he could learn more. Unfortunately, Blackthorne’s little henchmen happened to find you before he could get anything useful out of you.”
“So now you’re just going to ask me? Why couldn’t you do that before?”
“Because I didn’t know you. Take it from me, I have a lot of experience. We’re tracking down people like the ones who run Blackthorne—you learn not to trust anybody. Everybody, no matter how innocent they seem, has a reason to lie. Scratch that. Especially the innocent ones.”
Shae sighed and looked around. This entire structure seemed to support Toni’s pessimistic point of view. Beautiful, elegant, and all wrong at the same time. “Where’s Tristan? I want to talk to him.”
“Well, Blackthorne’s henchmen didn’t get a hold of you so he’s still at your house. Waiting to see if they come back.”