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The word was hard to get out. Her eyes went wide as she pushed the door open.
“Oh Lord. Richard! This man says he needs help. Says he’s been kidnapped. Bring your phone, quick!” She patted at her leggings. “Wait, I have mine here. Oh my. Here, call whoever you need.”
I grabbed her fuchsia-pink phone and dialed the first number that came to mind. A number I had memorized just in case something like this ever happened.
“Hello?” His voice rang like the chorus of a dozen angels singing in my ear. It was that fucking nice.
“Gabriel, oh Gabe, I’m so fucking happy to hear your voice.”
* * *
“Jesus fucking Christ,”Noah said, a hand on the back of his neck. He leaned against the hotel dresser before Jake put an arm around his shoulder, seemingly steadying him.
I’d just finished telling the group what had happened. They were all here, gathered around me. I couldn’t go home, and I definitely couldn’t go back to Gabriel’s house, so I got myself a room in a hotel. A room on the top floor, and not because I wanted to spend more money but because I wanted to be as far away from the ground as possible. I didn’t want any chances of someone breaking in through a window while I slept.
“Here, drink some of this.” Steven handed me a glass of water and sat on the edge of the bed with me, a gentle hand resting on my knee. He offered me the same kind of empathetic smile you give to someone battling terminal cancer. As if he knew this saga just wasn’t going to end happily.
Or maybe that was just me projecting.
I took a sip of water before I leaned my head on Gabriel’s shoulder and shut my eyes.
“Two good things came from tonight,” Tia said. I looked to her, my friend still in her silk pajamas, having jumped out of bed and into the car the moment she and Jess got the call that I was okay. “One: You’re here with us, safe and sound. And two: we know where the Midnight Chemist did his shit. That’s got to mean it isn’t much longer until they catch him. Right, Gabriel?”
All eyes in the room turned to the man sitting next to me on the bed, doubling as one of those marble coliseum columns holding me up and keeping me from collapsing. I’d never been happier to see anyone in my life than I’d been when Gabriel showed up at the door, wrapping me up tight in his big arms. I cried on his chest, his T-shirt soaked from where I had my face pressed.
And then I kissed him. It tasted like salty tears and dirt, but I didn’t care. Gabe’s kiss was the antidote to everything that had poisoned me. It was a spark of light in the all-consuming darkness that had been covering me like a cloak. His lips on mine pushed all that darkness back, as if he had flipped a switch and turned on all the lights.
“It definitely improves our chances,” Gabriel said, looking to a stressed-out Tia, who held her can of Red Bull as if it was the only thing keeping her moored to this earth. “The FBI is clearing the scene and doing forensics tonight. I’ll be getting a report this week on what they find. The agent told me I’ll be allowed to go in and do my own search as well. There’ll be something in there.” Gabriel’s hands rubbed at the center of my back.
Steven got up from the bed and went for the open bottle of vodka from the hotel tray. He poured some in his orange juice and took a chug.
“Pass that over this way,” I said, holding a hand out. Steven gave me the bottle, our fingertips grazing. I held the bottle up to my lips and took a heavy swig. The tasteless vodka burned on the way down, spreading warmth through my limbs. Tonight called for drinking straight out of the bottle. “Anyone else?”
Eric reached for it. And then Colton took a shot after.
The only ones we were missing here tonight were Yvette and Eric. She had FaceTimed me to check in and apologize that she couldn’t make it to the hotel. Apparently, Evan was going through something, and Yvette didn’t want to leave him alone. I had told her I understood and that I’d see her tomorrow, but it did make me a little worried about this new relationship. I didn’t like how Evan appeared to be separating Yvette from her friends.
“Do you have any solid leads yet?” Steven asked Gabriel. He sat in the love seat, his back to the floor-to-ceiling window that looked out on Midtown.
“I have someone I want to talk to,” Gabriel answered.
A chorus of “who?” erupted in the room.
“Mason,” Gabe said. “He was one of the victims’ prior boyfriends. I’m not saying he’s a suspect, but he could have information. I’m hoping that after talking to him and searching the hideout, I’ll have a much better idea of who’s behind this.”
“I just can’t believe it.” Jess had her arms wrapped tight around her stomach. “Trist… are you sure you’re okay? After what you’ve been through… I just can’t. My heart breaks.” She sniffed back some rogue tears.
“I’m okay,” I said, holding my head up and making sure there wasn’t a tremble in my lip. “I really am. Shaken, yes. Butnotstirred, alright?”
That got a chuckle from the room.
“Seriously, maybe it’s the shock that’s still working its way through me, but I feel good. And you guys being here help with that. I’ll just book an extra therapy session next month. I’ll be good.”
Jess shook her head but smiled. Noah clapped his hands and raised his glass. “Let’s toast,” he said, “to…”
“Therapy,” I said, standing from the bed and getting another chuckle out of the room. “And friendship,” I added with a wink. Even more laughter. We clinked our hodgepodge mix of drinks together and cheered. I looked out the window, at the twinkling lights of a sleeping city. Somewhere out there was the source of all my pain and trauma, prowling through the shadows like a wounded cat. Its claws had been dug into my chest, seconds from bearing down and ending me, but now we were the ones with the advantage. Now the hunter was the hunted, and I could smell blood in the water.
I just hoped it wasn’t mine.
