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It wouldn’t be long before Ted spotted her here, if he hadn’t already.
Hiding in plain sight wasn’t going to work in this situation. As a former waitress in two different popular restaurants back in Winston, she’d seen Ted in action more than once.
Unfortunately, he’d seen her before, too.
With him hot on her trail, her brief plan to settle down in some anonymous little town and get another waitressing job to let things cool off was now out the window.
She knew Ted’s typical method of getting someone to “cooperate” was to lure them out of whatever building they were in with a weapon shoved against their side. Not elegant, but very effective. He’d propel his quarry to a quieter place for an unforgettable chat to help show those foolish enough to borrow from a connected loan shark how things in the business truly worked.
Ted’s weapon of choice was a gun, but she’d seen him also use various knives, crowbars, and even a confiscated sharpened metal tent stake once to ensure cooperation. But as a rule, he didn’t like calling attention to what he did. On the rare occasion that he encountered someone about to make a scene in a public place, he’d backed off.
That was in her favor because Lilianna was not going to cooperate. She either had to scream her lungs empty the moment he put a weapon near her or be proactive and call a lot of attention to herself to keep him at bay. Unfortunately, this hastily thought up plan would only work for a short time. Because like an untreated rash, Ted always came back worse than before.
She chose the preemptive strike to extend her freedom. Perhaps there was a thin line of exhibitionism in her soul also, though, because while her primary goal was to escape, the thought of dancing like a sex kitten in this bar to attract a man to go home with turned her on more than just a little bit. But sex wasn’t a requirement tonight, just escape.
Her useless, broken-down vehicle less than a mile from this place had limited her options, but she hoped this plan worked. If so, she’d be out of this bar in a very public way. If it didn’t, she’d be naked, chained to a bed, and dancing for a completely different audience by this time tomorrow night.
Rumor had it that Sammy had more than one off-the-record brothel business already well established. That was the incentive Sammy had used to invite her to cooperate. Instead, it had given Lilianna an even more solid motivation to make this extreme plan work. Whatever it took.
The crowd inside this bar seemed very much working-class cowboys with a few bikers and ranchers also scattered in around the room. They likely weren’t expecting the performance she was about to give, which was exactly why she was doing it.
She glanced through the throng of people in the bar, casually locating Ted to keep track of him. This man had put her on this path of public demonstration. She shielded her face quickly so he didn’t see her before the music started, as a last-minute motivation to continue this semioutrageous plan. It was time.
The loud beat of the tune she’d chosen finally erupted from the speakers strategically located around the room. She pushed one hip out repeatedly in rhythm to the song, hoping to catch the attention of the patrons so that Sammy’s enforcer wouldn’t take her out of here tonight.
Her best option was to involve others so that the bone breaker on her trail would wait to apprehend her in a more quiet venue sometime in the future. Although, Lilianna didn’t plan to give him a better chance to grab her later on either.
“Whew!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “It’s getting hot in here!” Heads turned in her direction, and the din of voices faded in the wake of her outburst. Now or never.
Undulating her body to the sexy, sultry song she’d chosen, Lilianna raised her arms in the air and swiveled her head around, flipping her blonde locks right into her face. Tendrils of hair blocking most of her view, she rotated her hips seductively as she moved toward the back of bar where several small tables were scattered. She got into the dance she performed, and it seemed as though all eyes remained focused in her direction.
Ted was also probably looking by now, but hopefully he wouldn’t be so bold as to try and muscle her out of here with everyone looking.
