Brad stared into my eyes. My heartbeat rose even faster. “How about you?” He gently touched my face. “Good, you’re warming up too. We gotta buy you a new coat.” He grinned.
I rested my hand on his chest and began playing with the zipper of his sweat suit. I unconsciously unzipped it even further, and my hand traveled inside. I was fascinated by the beat of his heart. He sat silently as I gently traced his chest with my fingertips. I became overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude. I was alive because he risked his body, his life, for me.
“Bradley, you could have died.” I became lost in his eyes.
“I don’t know about that.” He grinned, trying to make light of what we had just been through.
“I’m sorry for being an idiot.”
“It was just as much my fault. I agreed to go back in. I’m sorry we didn’t get your purse back.”
“How could I have been so stupid? I brought my daughter into that house.” Tears began to pour out of my eyes.
Brad put his arms around me, combing his fingers through my hair.
“You didn’t know, Nicole. You are so innocent. You are so trusting.” He held me till I finally calmed down. My head lay on his shoulder for security. “It’s gonna be alright.”
“Don’t leave me, Bradley. I don’t want to be alone.”
“I’m right here. It will all be okay.”
Rubbing my eyes, I realized I had fallen asleep. “I’m so sorry. I know you have better things to do than stay here with me.”
“Nicole, you have been through a lot. What kind of friend would I be if I left you here alone? You should get some rest, though. You only slept for about twenty minutes.”
I stood up to walk to the room, but staggered, half asleep. Brad lifted me, cradling me in his arms, and walked toward the guest bedroom and laid me on the bed.
“You sleep tight.” Brad covered me with a blanket. I grabbed his hand as he was leaving, and he sat on the bed beside me.
“You told me not to get in cars with killers, but you forgot to warn me about moving in with one!” We laughed as I sat up in the bed. “Thank you for everything, Bradley.”
He let out another little chuckle, “I have to admit that it was so worth it.” He grinned.
I tilted my head in confusion.
“That was a really hot bra you were wearing.”
I smacked him playfully, but decided to play along. “And I must say that is a pretty sexy chest you’ve been hiding.” I blushed. “You saved my life . . . I guess I kinda owe you one.” I leaned over, looking at his lips. I owed him my life. But Dylan . . . I am in love with Dylan. I gave him a peck on the cheek.
“You owe me about a million, but I’m not keeping track or anything.” He smiled. We tried to forget about what could have happened. Being with him, laughing with him, comforted me. He was so easy to talk to. My eyes unconsciously drifted to his lips again.
I am in love with Dylan, I reminded myself. I ran my fingertips over the blankets, flashing back to the night Dylan and I were in this room together. Without thinking, I blurted out, “I almost made love to Dylan here.”
“Excuse me?” He lifted an eyebrow.
“It would have been our first time.”
“And you are telling me this why?”
“I’m sorry, I was just thinking out loud.”
“Wait a minute. You haven’t had sex with Dylan, yet? What’s up with that? I think that is a first.”
“I just wasn’t ready. I haven’t been with anyone since Jessica’s father. I guess I’m kind of scared to get hurt again.”
“You’ve only been with Jessica’s father?”
“I don’t know, maybe I’m stupid. I know it’s different for guys, but to me it’s kind of sacred. When you make love to someone, you give yourself to them.”
“I can’t believe you haven’t been with anyone since your ex. You are hit on almost every night, and you’ve been dating Dylan for months. I don’t think he has ever had a girl say no to him.”
“He jokes about me being the only girl who makes him keep his clothes on.”
“So my naked chest against your almost naked chest . . .?”
“Yeah, he might kill you for that.” I smiled.
“I’ll have to tell him I got some skin.”
“You are such a jerk.” I playfully smacked him.
“Hey, don’t forget I saved your life.”
“What am I going to do with you?” I hit him again. “I better get to bed. Dylan will be upset if he found out I stayed up all night with you.”
“Goodnight, Nicole. If you need anything I’ll be right down the hall.” He kissed my forehead.
“Thank you again for everything, Bradley. Sweet dreams.” As he walked out the room, he turned out the light. I lay there in the darkness.
I slowly slid my hands back and forth over the comforter. My mind relived the night Dylan held me in this very room. I longed for him. “It will be worth waiting for. I promise.” Thinking of him helped keep me from reliving the horror I just went through. The image of him holding me made me feel safe. I couldn’t wait to be in his arms again. Comforted by his image, I soon drifted to sleep.
Chapter Forty-five
When Brad called the police department, they couldn’t confirm that Steve had been picked up. We wondered if they took the phone call seriously. Steve was good at manipulating people.
“You need to go to the police, Nicole,” Brad tried to convince me. He’d been reading the newspaper article about Alan’s body being identified from his tattoo.
“I’m scared, Brad. What if it makes him even madder? Hopefully, he thinks I went back to the Lower 48 with Emily. Hopefully, his wife’s detective finally locked him up. We called the police, isn’t that enough?” I wanted to confirm it, but I had lost the business card.
“Nicole, Steve is wanted. He’s a murderer, obsessed with you. You have to go to the police to make sure he doesn’t get out. We have the hunting knife with blood on it. It could be human blood. Both of the mechanics have disappeared. Steve owed them a lot of money, right?”
“He did. He owed them for a few months’ work.”
“That is motive. And the detective, he never showed. He told you he was going to arrest him. He never showed up. You have to go to the police. That blood in the sink, I’m pretty sure that was human blood.”
We entered the police department to speak to an officer about my suspicion that Steve was the one who had murdered the mechanic that was in the paper and about everything in person.
When we walked in however, I gasped. I heard the man with the fiery-red hair’s annoying boisterous laugh. I grabbed Bradley’s hand and stopped him from going any further. A knot tightened in my stomach, and I brought him outside.
“He’s the cop, the friend of Steve’s—the one who showed up two hours late and shook his hand when he was supposed to be rescuing us! He is not going to help us.”
“He is the police officer?”
I nodded, pulling his hand to guide him toward the door.
“We need to do this. You’ve got to get Steve locked up forever. We’re in a police station. Nicole, he can’t do anything to you here.”
“Let’s come back. I’m scared. Let’s come back when he’s not here.”
Bradley convinced me it was okay to talk to another officer there. I told the officer everything. We handed them the knife, hoping that Bradley’s fingerprints and the snow hadn’t compromised all of the evidence. I explained how the mechanic, who worked for Steve, had turned up stabbed to death.
“There is another mechanic missing as well. He didn’t show up for work. I’m worried something may have happened to him too. And the private detective, he never showed up. Detective Jackson, that is his name. We don’t know whose blood we saw.” I tried to remember everything. “And there is a stack of fake IDs under his bed. Look under his mattress upstairs.”
The man behind the desk wrote down everything. “I wish we’d had time to get the stack of IDs. It had all his
different identities. His real name is Dennis something. He’s wanted in Florida.” The officer wasn’t able to confirm that he was picked up since he could have been using one of the other aliases.”
Bradley made me stay home for a few days, just to be safe, since Steve knew where I worked, and we had no idea where he was. I couldn’t fly home because I didn’t have my ID and couldn’t use my airline ticket without one.
Dylan still hadn’t called. He had no clue of the danger I was in. It had been almost a month since I’d heard from him. I had no way to contact him and missed him so much. Brad said Dylan had left a few messages for him on his old cell number, but he hadn’t actually talked to him, and Dylan never left a number to call him back. Brad had dropped his cell in the snow, when we trying to get away from Steve, and no one had his new number.
“If Dylan thinks about it, he has my home number, I hardly ever use this phone but he has the number. Or the bar, maybe he will call the bar.” Brad tried to comfort me.
But truth was, I secretly wondered if Dylan didn’t care anymore.
Emily did call the club and left a message, so I knew they arrived home safely. But she didn’t leave a number to call back. My insides were churning. I had lost control of everything. Even though Bradley was wonderful, I felt like I was in limbo. And I missed my little girl. I wanted to go home. I wanted to hear Jessica’s voice, but I had no idea how to get in touch with them. All my numbers were trapped inside that stupid house, and the thought that he had all my contacts haunted me. My mind kept drifting to the worst images. My only comfort was that almost four thousand miles separated that monster from my family. I needed to find a way to get their phone number. I needed to hear my angel’s voice.
I wanted to somehow raise the five thousand dollars that Dylan loaned me before I went home. But it wasn’t possible. Bradley said Dylan would understand.
Sitting on the couch, I tried to figure out how I could get home for Christmas. Brad said he’d loan me the money, but I had no ID!
Alone in the house, I began feeling sorry for myself, so I grabbed the phone hoping it would help me forget everything that had gone wrong.
I called Bradley. “So how was work tonight? Did he show up?”
“No, luckily he didn’t. Hopefully the police arrested him already.”
“So, did you miss me?”
“Of course we did.” He paused for a moment. “Listen, Nikki, if you’re okay, I’m going to drop Katie and her friend off at her place on my way home. She’s is really messed up. I hate to send her home in a cab. She’s babbling on about how Steve killed her boyfriend. She actually got up in the face of that red haired cop and said his friend was a murderer. I don’t think he’ll be coming back in. Are you okay? Can I drive her home first?”
“I’m fine. Get her home safe.”
“You can probably come in tomorrow. I think if he was going to come in, he would have done it by now.”
“I don’t like the fact that cop was there. Why didn’t he arrest Steve if he isn’t a dirty cop.”
“You told the cops you suspected Steve? Maybe they thought you were calling about someone else. He’s a cop, Nikki. I don’t think he would let someone get away with murder if he knew about it.”
“I really need to work. I’m going crazy here by myself. I guess I’ll start a movie. Drop her off and hurry back, okay?”
I struggled to keep my eyes open and watch the show but quickly surrendered to my sleepiness. When Brad got home, he sat down next to me on the couch. Leaning over, he kissed my forehead.
“Such an angel when she’s sleeping.” I could hear his words break through my dreams.
Lifting my body from the couch, he carried me to the bedroom, laying me gently on the bed. I could feel him taking off my shoes. He gently wrapped the cover over me.
“Sweet dreams, Nicole.” He turned off the light as he left the room.
Chapter Forty-six
Oh, it felt so good to be back at work. It was Saturday, so a steady flow of people came in throughout the day and night. I loved the tips. It’s always nice when you come back and people missed you.
The band was good—not as good as my Dylan’s band, but they brought in a crowd, which made my night wonderful. So many people wanted to buy me shots to celebrate my return, but I was not in a mood to drink. I figured as long as I was staying at Bradley’s, I should stay sober. Even though nothing would happen, there was some kind of attraction there, and I didn’t want to do anything that might heighten my desire and upset Dylan, even though it was probably already over.
Suddenly through the crowd, Steve’s face appeared in the distance. Was I was being tormented by flashbacks? I pivoted to get a better view of the man, and then ran to the bar in horror.
“Bradley, it’s him. He’s here.”
Brad turned his head toward the monster and realized, “It’s your car. He must have seen your car parked here. That must be why he hasn’t come in before.”
“What do I do?” My heart started beating faster.
“Hold on. I’ve got an idea.” He leaned over the bar. “Barbara, I need you to do a favor for me.”
“What is it, Brad?”
“See that guy over there? I need you to distract him for at least fifteen minutes.”
“That guy over there?”
“Don’t point. Don’t make it obvious.”
“Nicole, you need to take my truck and get out of here,” he said, pouring me drinks so we didn’t look alarmed. “Leave your car here. He will think you are in the bathroom or something.” He discreetly handed me his keys.
“How will you get home?”
“By cab. I’ll leave your car here, since he’s obviously keeping an eye out for it. I’ll be fine. I’ll radio Pete to walk you to my car and make sure Steve doesn’t follow you. Act like you’re still passing out drinks until the moment right before you walk out the door.”
“I’m really scared.”
“I’ll get there as soon as I can, or I’ll send someone to be with you. Call me when you are home safe.” I was so nervous. I was trying to not show the terror I felt. I gave people drinks as I focused on the door out of the corner of my eye.
I began walking out the door and someone came up to me.
“Can I have two beers please?” Leave me alone, I thought. Do not draw attention to me here at the door. I walked away from the door so it wouldn’t seem like I was leaving.
“Can we have two shots?”
I looked at Bradley. He gave me a nod like “Get the hell out of here.” That’s when I saw him. Steve dodged people as he moved toward me in the crowd. What do I do? What can I do?
“Pete, that’s him. I’m scared.”
“Go into the employee’s bathroom. I’ll handle this.”
Pete was huge. I was safe, but I was trapped in the bathroom—only 100 feet from the exit. I searched the stall for something that would help me disguise myself. I found sunglasses, a scarf, and hooded jacket. I gently creaked open the door.
Pete motioned to me to get out so I rushed with him outside, making my way to Brad’s truck.
“Go! Hurry home, and do not stop the truck for anyone.” I rolled up the window, stepped on the gas, and drove out of the parking lot. I was shaking. I saw someone out of my peripheral vision come out of the bar quickly. I didn’t look back to verify if it was him or not. I scanned the rearview mirror, but it didn’t seem like anyone was following me. When I got to Brad’s house, I ran inside and locked the door. Frantically, I began closing all of the blinds so no one could see into the windows and dialed the club.
“I’m home, Bradley.”
“Good. He’s still here, so you are safe. He went outside a few times, but saw the car was there and returned. I think he’s waiting for you to get off work. I called the police. When they arrest him, you won’t have to worry anymore.” We hung up the phone.
I sat in the house. Alone. I turned so I could see the clock. Time seemed to stand still. It had only been
twenty minutes, but it felt like a decade. The phone rang. I jumped. Hoping it was Bradley, I answered it.
“He was sitting at a table trying to blend in when the police picked him up and smashed him against the wall. They handcuffed him. You are finally safe.”
“Finally! Oh my god, finally! Bradley, can you please come home soon? I know it’s safe, but I really don’t want to be alone.”
“I’ll ask Pete to close up for me tonight.”
I heard the keys at the front door. My mind was instantly transported to the week before when we were trapped in Steve’s house. Almost in shock, I curled up in a little ball on the couch. The door opened. It was Bradley. He rushed over to me.
“Are you okay? Oh my god, I was so worried about you.”
I was shaking, reliving the fear.
“You are safe now.” Sitting next to me, he put his arms around me and held me tight. “They arrested him. You are finally safe.” He rubbed my back, “You have nothing to worry about anymore.”
He gently put my head on his shoulder and kissed my forehead. He was warm. I closed my eyes, wrapped in his arms.
“I’m here now. You are safe. Why don’t you get some sleep?”
“Can I stay here for just a minute?” I didn’t want to move. I just wanted him to hold me.
“Of course you can, as long as you need to.”
He kissed my forehead one more time and held me until I was no longer quivering. I didn’t want to be alone. I was a little afraid to go to the guest room by myself. I wished I could stay on the couch in his arms but realized there was no way Dylan would understand that I wanted to be in the arms of someone else. I wasn’t sure I understood it, either.
I hadn’t talked to Dylan since he returned to the Slope. It had been almost a month. I had no way to contact him. I missed him. I really missed him.
“Why hasn’t he called me, Bradley? Why hasn’t Dylan called?”
“I don’t know, Nikki. I just know that if you were my girl, I never would have been able to leave you in the first place.”
The Impostor, A Love Story Page 28
