Her eyes narrowed in his direction before she continued. “So he offered me a job, because let’s face it, he probably felt sorry for me. I was in between jobs at the time and it sounded like a good deal. So I took him up on the offer.”
“To deliver drugs. What an offer. I’m surprised with your psychic abilities you didn’t pick up on that,” he stated in a sarcastic tone before her arm automatically shot out to give a somewhat playful but mostly forceful shove to his chest. He didn’t move, didn’t even flinch; just captured her hand in his and pulled her toward him.
“We have to do something about your violent tendencies,” he whispered as he stared intently into her eyes.
“I’ll keep them, but thanks for the offer,” she whispered back, her own eyes caught and held by his before her mouth decided to dry up and her nerves began to hum from the contact. A few moments passed and it really appeared as if he was either hypnotized of thinking intently about something.
She’s a weed. She’s mental. She talks about food in her sleep. She’s delusional…she has the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen…
Snap out of it, asshole.
He blinked a couple of times before shifting his eyes elsewhere.
What was that? Seriously, that was weird. It was like he was going to move in and kiss me or something. In a lobby. With a bunch of people walking around. Was he going to kiss me? Does that mean he’s not going to kill me? He’s supposed to kill me. What’s going on with this dude?”
She cleared her throat in a nervous gesture as her eyes flitted from his profile to the lobby once again. As if on cue, the commotion in the room became even more deafening as people poured from the elevators toward the front door heralding the beginning of lunch hour it seemed. A few people were headed in, but most of the mass was headed out.
“So what do we do…? Wait.” Her eyes focused on one person in particular. A man in a suit. Rather decent looking, probably about her age. She had seen him before. Where have I seen him before? He was walking toward the wall of elevators. He was taller than most so his head was easy to track as he made his way through the waves of people walking in the opposite direction.
Her feet immediately began to walk forward before her arm was caught and held. She surged forward anyway.
“Come on.” She tugged at her arm and indicated he should follow her.
“What is it?” she could hear behind her as she navigated through bodies.
He was a friend of Rick’s. Or maybe just an acquaintance. He stopped to talk to Rick as they were seated in the VIP section of a club in Downtown Detroit months ago. The first of two dates Rick actually took her on before being relegated to friends only status.
She remembered him. He was very tall and the young woman he was with had to have been at least two feet shorter than he was.
Maybe because she was sixteen.
Guilt and nervousness rolled off the poor girl as she stood next to him, shifting her weight from one stiletto heel to the other as he and Rick made small talk. She met him online. He thought she was twenty-two. Boy was he in for a surprise. Looking into his eyes offered nothing. No insight, no guilt. He truly didn’t know. She, on the other hand, was an open book. A veritable feeding frenzy of emotion. While the men were talking, the girl offered a shy smile to Jane.
“Hi. I’m Rina.”
“I’m Jane. You’re sixteen.”
A look of pure horror turned her smile into an open mouthed gasp. “What?”
“Yeah. You’re sixteen. You snuck out of the house. You told your parents you were going to watch movies at your friend…hmmm…Haley? Yeah. Haley’s house. You took your sister’s ID.”
The girl immediately looked toward her ‘date’ but he was so engrossed in conversation with Rick, he had no idea what was taking place next to him.
She immediately sat next to Jane on the couch, her eyes huge with confusion and fear. “Who are you? How do you know that? “
“You’re planning on having sex with him.” She peered even closer into the girl’s dark eyes. “Yeah, you are. Oh my god, he could go to jail. Did you even think of that?”
“Wha…How…?” Tears sprung forth from her eyes as shaking fingers tried to stop the flow. Mascara raced in streaks down her heavily blushed cheeks. “Please don’t say anything…”
“Believe me, I wish I couldn’t. But there it is. You better end this date now before he becomes an unknowing pedophile. I kind of feel sorry for him,” she threw in on a whisper.
“You ready, Babe?” he was speaking to the girl. A choked sob erupted from her throat as she leapt from the couch and staggered on her heels through the crowd, heading for the exit it seemed.
“Babe?” A quick glance to Jane revealed utter confusion etched on his face before he wove his way through the mass of bodies.
“What was that all about?” Rick had asked. Jane had shrugged and kept her lips compressed into a tight line.
That was him. That was the guy. She kept pushing forward, her hand searching for, then finally finding Pete’s behind her. Grasping it, she continued toward the elevators, rising up on tiptoes to try and follow the movement of his head through the crowd. He was entering an elevator. Jane stopped abruptly as the crowd leaving the same elevator blocked their way. Pressing forward was not an option unless of course she physically pushed people out of the way. She watched helplessly as other bodies filed in to the small space and the door began to close.
“Stairs?” she gasped, looking for a stairwell in the general vicinity.
“Not unless you’re incredibly fast. I ran with you this morning, remember? Sloths are quicker. Just hold on.”
He held her hand tightly. Her back was practically plastered to his front.
“See that?” She watched his arm raise and his finger point toward the row of numbers above the elevator door.
“Oh…yeah.” She watched as the numbers lit in rapid succession before stopping, then moving on.
“12…15…18. Ok, now it’s on its way down. We’ll just check those floors,” he stated before giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Who was that?” he asked from behind her.
“I’m pretty sure he’s a friend of Rick’s.”
“Which one?”
“The really tall guy in a suit. Did you see him?”
“Yeah, I noticed him. Come on.” The elevator doors opened after a loud tone sounded. He tugged her after him as he walked forward. He immediately pressed the button for the fifth floor before leaning against the wall. The doors closed leaving them alone in the small space.
“See? I knew I made a good decision with you. You’re nuts but you might just prove to be helpful after all.” He breathed out as his eyes stared at the digital readout changing rapidly as they ascended.
“If I’m so nuts, why are you still holding my hand?” She quipped lightly. He dropped it like a hot potato. His jaw clenched just the slightest bit and he continued to stare ahead. “Sorry,” he muttered as they stopped and the doors opened after a loud ding filled the small space.
*****
Their eyes were firmly attached to the digital readout as they descended hours later. The search was fruitless. They had wandered in and out of office lobbies, concocting BS stories for each office and netting absolutely no clue as to the whereabouts of mystery tall guy in a suit. It was exhausting both physically and mentally.
“We’ll get a coffee and wait for him,” he stated as he wandered from the elevator toward a small coffee shop situated on the far side of the cavernous lobby.
Three mocha latte’s and a whole grain bagel later, she was still seated at the small table watching with keen interest, maybe a little too keen. Talk about a caffeine buzz…
Every once in a while she would shift her gaze to Pete’s profile but from his grunted, noncommittal answers to her questions, it became evident after latte number one that his focus was entirely on the scene in front of him and not on her. Almost as if he was absolutely fixated. It was slightly disconcerting
how intense his concentration was and she gave up the effort.
People milled about the lobby, most leaving at around the 5 pm timeframe. A new group started to filter in from outside. People dressed much more casually than the others leaving the building, some of them carrying what appeared to be cleaning supplies in smart compartmentalized containers.
A strange bleating noise sounded and her eyes immediately shifted toward Pete as he hurriedly grabbed the small beeper-like contraption he carried in his inside coat pocket.
The sound ceased as he pressed a small button and apparently deciphered the screen as his lips moved silently. It was fascinating. Maybe too fascinating as his eyes lifted and grabbed hers briefly before the sound of his chair scraping against the floor caused her to blink away the hold on her attention.
“I’ll be right back,” he muttered before standing and wandering toward the lobby, leaving her staring after him. What was that thing? And who was sending the messages? Was this how he received his ‘contracts’? It was odd that he felt the need to remove himself from her presence when it went off. As if she’d be able to decipher the messages anyway…
A small shake of her head and a blown out breath from her lips occurred simultaneously as her eyes focused on the lobby in front of her once again. The delivery she made here was big. Bigger than a normal delivery, that is. This one took two trips with a loaded dolly. The girl situated at the desk in Suite 1030 was a temp, much like herself. Jenny…Jenny… something – she couldn’t remember the last name - was on the little nameplate fastened to the front of her desk. Unlike Jane, Jenny was actually able to make it at least three days into her assignment. She was nervous when Jane arrived, only because everyone else in the small office suite was in a meeting. Jane read her thoughts as she internally debated what to do briefly before shrugging and signing the slip of paper presented to her.
She wondered how Rick managed to get that shipment back. Did the occupants of Suite 1030 attempt to open or use any of the products? If there truly were drugs inside, how awkward would that have been? At least it explained his absolute fury at her mistake and it really appeared as if what Pete said was true. How crazy was that? And how dumb was she?
She was mid eye roll before her gaze passed over then returned to a dark head bobbing above the others. Her head immediately swiveled to the right, searching for Pete to no avail. Perfect. The man was walking out. His gait was rather quick no doubt because his legs were probably twice the length of a normal human being. Well, maybe not quite, but he was fast. Her head swiveled from him back to Pete’s last known location and back again. He was almost to the revolving glass doors. Crap!
Her body immediately lifted from the chair and her feet practically walked on their own through the lobby. She gave a backwards glance toward the small hallway near the corner of the building, hoping to see Pete but only seeing bodies wandering from that area out toward the lobby. She waited rather impatiently as other people took turns walking through and around the constantly revolving door as her eyes lost then fastened again on the dark head she sought.
Come on, Pete! One last glance before she stepped forward and spilled out with the rest of the bodies onto the sidewalk. It was becoming dark outside; the last bit of daylight was slowly descending casting everything within sight in muted shades of gray. Dammit! Why must he always wander away when that stupid beeper thingy went off? This was his fault.
The man walked briskly down the sidewalk within the confines of a much larger group as she practically jogged to keep pace with his stride. Some of the mass continued straight down the sidewalk while he and a rather large group turned left into another building. A parking garage as denoted by the sign hanging from the front of the concrete structure.
Another backward glance and still no Pete. She followed the mass into the structure, watching as the men and women either headed for the elevators or turned and wandered down the various rows of parked cars. Tall dark haired guy continued walking and as people veered off, it was evident that he was parked somewhere near the opposite side of the structure. He was the only one left. Was she following too close behind? What if he turned? Would he recognize her? I’m no good at this! What do I do? Pete, you beeper crazed asshole from Hell. This was his thing! She silently fumed. She watched as the man gave a quick glance to the left. She immediately turned to the right, head down, smack into a concrete pillar before bouncing off and hiding behind it. God, I hope he didn’t see that… She tried to control her heavy breathing as she slowly looked from behind the pillar and focused on…nothing. He was gone. Simply vanished… Stepping away from the concrete support she watched as headlights appeared and turned the corner of the row, heading straight for her. Was it him? What to do? The car was a Mercedes. A new Mercedes, black and sleek and incredibly expensive… Was it him? She immediately stepped back behind the pillar and watched as the car slowed down as other vehicles pulled into the main exit row. His license number. She would get his license number and maybe Pete could somehow trace it. Could he do that? That was good plan. Actually it was the only plan. Unless of course she stepped in front of the vehicle and somehow tried to detain him… Should I do that? Maybe I should do that. Do I walk up to the car and ask if he’s seen Rick? That would be weird, right? Who walks up to a car in a parking garage to ask if you’ve seen someone? Maybe…
All thought ceased immediately as something clamped over her mouth and pulled her body from behind. One of her hands shot up and grabbed at the hand covering half of her face as the other swung back and hit flesh. A muffled ‘Ooof’ sounded as the pressure increased.
“MMMMMMM!” her scream was completely muffled as her body was drug back behind the pillar.
“Shhhhh.” Warm breath shot against her ear before words registered in her brain.
“Going somewhere, Jane?” Her body calmed immediately as the pressure loosened.
“NO!” she answered forcefully after pulling his hand from her face.
“He’s leaving and…I didn’t get his license number, no thanks to you, asswipe,” she muttered hotly as she craned her neck around the pillar only to realize that the car was gone. Perhaps he was still in line waiting to get out. It was possible…
“Don’t ever take off on me again,” he stated before walking past her and viewing the line of cars waiting to exit. “What kind of car?”
“Mercedes. Black. New. I hate you.”
“I’ve never heard of that model…come on,” he tossed out sarcastically before walking toward the cars near the exit.
Scanning the row, she realized that he was already gone. She followed behind Pete, her loafer clad feet stomping after him.
“Good going. Maybe if you weren’t so damn fascinated with your stupid beeper we might actually have a lead on this dude, but noooo. No, you have to pull some stupid vanishing act every time that dumb ass contraption goes off and I drank three lattes waiting for this dude and for what? Now we have nothing all because of your beeper and I…I have a buzz.” She bounced off his chest as he turned abruptly before his hands grasped her upper arms to steady her.
“Are you done?”
“What?”
“Are you done?” he asked quietly, his eyes focused intently on hers.
“No.”
“Jane?” One of his dark brows rose and maybe he didn’t do it intentionally, but it was really sexy. And this train of thought was completely inappropriate…
“I wish you would just tell me something, anything. Could you just give me a clue? I mean, I’m going to help you, I think I kind of…never mind.” She almost said she kind of liked him. “You know all this stuff about me and I know nothing about you. I don’t even know your real name. Would you at least tell me your name?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“No.”
“Well, could you at least tell me the reason we’re looking for Rick?”
“Nope.”
“Come on, Pete!” she accentuated her whine with a foot stomp.
“Jane, k
eep your voice down,” he stated in an irritatingly calm tone.
“What’s with the beeper? Is that how you figure out who you’re going to whack next? What is it with that thing? Mmmm.”
His thumb and forefinger squeezed her lips shut.
“Yes.” He answered simply. “There, I told you something. Will you shut up now?” He gave her a slight grin before his eyes lifted and watched as other people began to walk toward them. “We need to get going.” He stepped away but not before grabbing her hand and giving her a slight tug to follow him.
“But what about the guy? Do we have to come back? What are we going to do?”
“I have a plan,” he stated.
“What’s the plan?” She quickened her pace to walk next to him.
“You’ll see.”
Hmm.
*****
“But the ship’s about to sink,” she said.
“I don’t care. Move it,” she heard from the other room from her perch on the front of the bed.
“Just until the next commercial?”
“No.”
“Bubble Butts isn’t going anywhere!” she yelled.
“And Titanic will be on at least four more times while we stay here,” he countered before appearing in the doorway. Leonardo and Kate were quickly forgotten as she looked up and caught her breath. Hopefully that wasn’t too obvious. She purposely lifted her jaw to meet her upper lip.
He was dressed in fashionably worn jeans and a long sleeve thermal tee that was just tight enough to hint at the muscles in his arms as they crossed under his chest. Leaning against the doorway, he regarded her with a mixture of amusement, impatience and maybe a slight bit of exasperation.
“Turn the TV off. Throw some clothes on, let’s go.”
“But…”
“The ship sinks, Leonardo dies and she throws the necklace in the ocean,” he stated in rapid succession before she gasped then narrowed her eyes.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“You ruined it.” she stated blandly.
“Everyone knows how it ends. You can’t tell me this is the first time you’ve ever seen this crap.”
This Guy Kills Me Page 14
