“Oh.Wow.”I hold the lock up for Mr.Bear as I stuff him into my backpack along with some extra clothes.“Did you see that?I got it open.Yessss.”
It’s silly, but Mr.Bear has become something of a confidant over the years.
I should really get moving before Liam comes back.Which is going to suck, because there’s a storm absolutely raging outside.Still, I don’t have much choice.
I grab whatever I think I might need for at least a few days while I cram my single granola bar into my mouth and use the water bottle to wash it down.
Liam may have taken the cash I had saved up in my room, but I still have the tip money from last night’s party hidden in my pencil case.It’s only about a grand, but it’ll get me by until the auction.Then I should be home free.
Where I won’t be is here.
I’m soaked by the time I make it out the window.Then there’s the challenge of getting down the post I usually climb, which is mossy and slippery now that it’s wet.Not knowing how much time I have, I try to hurry.
About halfway down, my hand slips.Gravity yanks me to the muddy ground, knocking the breath out of me.It takes a lot of wheezing and coughing before I can get up onto my hands and knees, and when I do, I’m a mess.
Also, there are feet in front of my face.
There’s a second of panic mixed with…am I actually getting turned on again?Then I realize these are not the black military-issue boots Liam wears.They’re a pair of high-end dress shoes, which means, probably Michael?
I stand to face my fellow escort.He’s wisely wearing a rain poncho over his designer khakis and buttoned shirt, but the dark skin on his hands and face are splattered with rain.Which probably means he’s been standing out here for a minute.His expensive-smelling cologne wafts my way as he looks at me with concern.
“Hi.Uh.I didn’t expect to see you here?”
I don’t mean to talk in questions.I don’t even like that I do.It just sort of happens.
Michael smiles patiently.“I’m driving rideshare this weekend.Simon sent a text.Said this Liam guy you’re staying with had your phone, and he was worried something might have happened.I volunteered to come check things out.Is everything okay?Why does someone else have your phone?”
Okay, well I’m not touching that last question.I squirm a little, standing there in the rain, scratching my cheek in my nervousness.Which I think got mud on my face.Ew.
I look down at myself.At my mud-spattered clothes.The cut on my shin that must have happened when I fell.“I won’t lie to you, Michael.It’s been better.”
I give him the briefest, too-long-didn’t-listen version of my last twenty-four hours.Minus the spanking.
“I don’t think he’s tracking my phone since he took it with him,” I finish.“But he keeps finding me.”
Michael points to my arm.“What about your watch?”
I hold up my arm.“It was a gift from my dad.I never take it off, except to shower.”
Michael looks at me as if I might be stupid.Which maybe I am, because it takes me a second.“Right.Why didn’t I think of that?”
Of course Liam would hide some sort of GPS locator in the one thing other than my phone that I always have on me.Something with sentimental value, no less.Of course he would.
I take it off, hesitating because I really don’t want to leave one of the few things I have left from my parents.I’ve got the watch, and I’ve got Mr.Bear.Everything else got sold off.It’s not even a nice watch.The band is plastic.But I’m used to the solid weight of it on my arm.It’s practically a part of me.
Except, if Liam finds me again, I’ll be stuck in that bedroom until I’m thirty.After a beat, I slip it into the top of the barbecue grill.That should keep him guessing for a while.
“Can you give me a ride?Liam took my keys and phone.I can pay you with cash, though?”
Michael clicks his tongue and shakes his head at me again.“Friends give friends rides for free, man.Let’s go.Brennan’s got his panties all in a twist.You were supposed to be at Shadow, like, an hour ago.”
As we head to his car, I resist the urge to look back.If I do, I might not be able to go.
Chapter Ten
Ravi
The insideof Shadow smells like furniture polish and latex.The converted mansion is almost entirely open on the bottom floor, with a stage at the back wall and a gleaming giant birdcage to the left, and I sure wonder what goes on there.Or on the raised platform to the right.Or in the rooms upstairs.
