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“Cartier…”
“I hate what happened, but… I’m not willing to risk my life coming back to Los Angeles right now. If you can come up with another way for me to help, I’m all ears. Otherwise, I have to go.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, I hung up. Maybe if I wouldn’t have seen him shoot her so casually, I would have been more willing to help. All I could think about was how I was seconds away from that being me. I felt bad as hell not doing more to help Ashley, but I was afraid. The robber’s fingerprints had to be all over my doorknob and purse. I prayed that gave them some kind of lead.
A person didn’t wake up one day and commit a robbery that ended how that one did. Ol’ boy had done this before. I prayed he had a record because that was probably the only way they would be able to find out who he was. A part of me was more willing to finger him if he was brought into custody, but the idea of going back to L.A. was completely off the table for me right now.
Fourteen
Hosea
Ralph called me, concerned about Cartier. Something had happened that caused her to consume a lot of vodka. I had a busy day today, so I didn’t check in with her as much as I usually did. She said if she got bored, she would go to work or spend time with Haley, so I wasn’t sure what was going on.
When I made it down to the lounge, I saw Cartier seated at the bar. Five empty shot glasses were in front of her. Her leg was shaking underneath the bar. I sat next to her, nodding a silent thanks to Ralph for calling me. Yesterday, she was on a cloud because she’d gotten out of the house and spent time with Haley. What had changed since then?
“You wanna talk about it?” I asked.
“I don’t want to keep putting my problems on you.”
I chuckled. “Seems we’ve been trading.” She smiled softly, leaning more in my direction. “Talk to me.”
After a shaky exhale, Cartier nodded in agreement. “Yesterday, Detective Sanders called. I felt really bad about not giving a description of the robber. Like a coward. That ate at me all night.” She looked around for Ralph. To keep her from getting another shot, I turned her head in my direction so she could focus on me.
“Keep going, Tink.”
“I woke up this morning and decided I would do the right thing: go back to Cali and meet with Sanders. There’s no guarantee my description will lead to them finding him anyway, but at least I would be able to say I did all I could for Ashley and her family.”
“Okay. So… what happened?”
“Raven went to the apartment to get a few more of his things. He had the door open, and I guess the robber had been looking for me. When he saw the door was open, he stood there and let off a few rounds before he ran out.” She chuckled with a shake of her head. “It was a scare tactic, and it worked. Raven called the police to file a report, and a few minutes after, I got a message request on Facebook. It was from the guy, taunting me. He sent me a picture of Raven and Sanders talking. He told me I could run, but I can’t hide.” A tear slipped down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. “He’s legit stalking that apartment, waiting for me to come back. What if I would have gone back, Zay? What if I would have gone back to my apartment and found him there waiting for me?”
Having heard enough, I stood and pulled her into my arms. She held me tight. Close. Buried her head in my chest.
“Tink, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I need you to trust that.”
“I know I’m safe here, but what about when I go back there? I don’t want to feel like a coward.”
“You’re not a coward. You’re doing what’s best for you. If you want to go back to Cali once they catch him, go for it. If you want to go now, I’ll go with you. You’ve done all you can do for Ashley without risking your own life. Don’t let anyone make you feel forced to risk your safety, especially him. He needs to just do his fucking job. I’m sure there are security cameras in the area, and how in the hell was he even able to get in there a second time without being seen?”
She breathed deeply as she wiped her face. “He’s on camera, but there was a blue bandana around his mouth and nose this time. Last time, he wore a full face mask. They were able to pull up some distinguishing tattoos, so they are going to run those in their database and see if anything pops up. Also, he said they are going to see if they can track him through the page he messaged me from.”
“Good. Just give it time, Cartier. I don’t like you feeling like you have to solve this because you don’t. Let Sanders do his job. You’re trying to think something through logically that you’re experiencing emotionally. No matter what your mind tells you is the expected thing to do, listen to your gut. It’s not going to steer you wrong.”
Her head hung briefly before she gave me another hug. “Thank you,” she whispered against my ear, and the feel of her breath had my body locking up.
“Always. That’s what I’m here for.” Cartier slid her hands down my chest before wrapping her arms around my neck. “Elite is having a first of Fall pool party. You should come.”
She gave me a smile. “First of Fall pool party? That man will have a party for literally anything.”
“That he will. Will you be my date?”
Licking her lips, Cartier blushed. “Yes,” she almost sang before releasing a soft laugh. “Thank you for getting me out of my head.”
“Stop thanking me, Tink. I would do anything for you.”
Her eyes rolled as she playfully pushed me away. “Anything, but not everything.”
“What do you want from me that I haven’t given?”
