Page 101 of Beguiled

He’d disappeared.

Instead of making me feel any better, my stomach dropped. My instinct was kicking in, screaming to get the hell out of here. After scanning the street, I jogged down the sidewalk, my nerves remaining on fire. I was caught in a bubble of not knowing what I should do or who I should trust.

Although there was one person who could try to help me make sense of this.

Stash.

I’d no sooner made it to the end of the block when a sound caught my attention. As if something metal had been popped against another metal piece. Without hesitation, I backed against the building and into the shadows, cursing under my breath since I hadn’t thought about bringing a weapon with me.

Even my can of mace needed to be replenished. Very cautiously, I leaned forward, searching the area where I’d just come from.

There was no one there. No one waiting to take me away. Just the ugly lights in the distance indicating my best friend, the only woman I’d truly connected with had lost her life in a horrible, tragic fall.

Another police car with flashing lights rolled by, cutting the sirens only as he reached where I was standing. With my stomach still aching, for a few seconds I couldn’t move. I was turning this into something it might not be, but I had to know for certain. Right now, I didn’t want to go home.

Was I afraid? Maybe.

Was I in shock?

Absolutely.

My feet heavy, I searched the perimeter. Whoever the stranger had been, he’d left. I was all alone and I’d never felt so much so in my life. I had the sudden urge to catch a flight home.

After all the work I’d done on the presentation, I suddenly couldn’t stomach the thought of working on numbers or pretending as if everything was alright.

Because it wasn’t.

Ugly tears fell again and I continued holding my stomach as I walked to the car. This just couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be.

As soon as I was inside the car, I slumped in the seat and finally allowed myself to become emotional. No matter how hard I tried to put everything into perspective, I knew without a doubt Tawny’s fall hadn’t been accidental. She’d been pushed to her death.

By whom?

If the Irish mob had wanted to kill her, why wait until she returned to her apartment? And why hadn’t she taken the subway straight to my house? Because she’d wanted to show me something. Whatever it was, she hadn’t wanted to take it with her to the club. That was the only plausible reason.

Unless she’d been kidnapped and brought to her apartment.

I squeezed my fists in front of my eyes. This was a nightmare. With a little additional heavy breathing, I was able to start the engine.

It was after two in the morning, for God’s sake. I couldn’t just show up at Stash’s house no matter how close we’d been hours before.

The physicality of our relationship was amazing, but that’s all it was.

“Breathe, girl. You’ll be okay. Go home. Lock the door and think.”

Sadly, the mantra didn’t seem to be working.

I rolled away from the curb, leaving the horror behind me. When the chilly glow of the sky from the number of emergency lights began to fade, my grip on the steering wheel eased.

But my pulse remained skyrocketed, much like the scattered breaths I was taking. My crazy mind told me to take the long way back to my apartment, one that would allow me to see if I was being followed. The conspiracy theory had decided to stay with me.

I barely remembered taking the turns on the road, constantly checking the rearview mirror to ensure I hadn’t been followed. When I was close to where I lived, another sickening feeling settled into the very core of my being.

What in the hell had Tawny gotten me mixed up in?

As soon as I made the turn onto my road, the bad feeling continued to sweep through me, digging into every bone and muscle. I was only a couple of blocks away when I noticed a dark sedan parked near my building. There should be nothing abnormal about that, but my nerves were jumping all over the place.

I decided not to pull down the side street toward the parking lot, instead driving right by without slowing. There was someone sitting in the driver’s seat. The only reason I was able to tell that was by movement briefly captured by the flash of my headlights.