Page 120 of On A Manhunt: Complete Series

MALLORY

“Thank you so much for getting the ticket. I’ll pay you back,” I told Bridge as she tugged me into the master bedroom, shutting the door behind us. She flipped a switch which turned on a lamp beside a supersized, cushy reading chair in the corner.

With a quick hand wave, she shut that down.

“No, really.” I grabbed her hand, squeezed it, which had her eyes meet mine. “I will pay you back.” I was not my mother.

Bridget worked as a substitute teacher. I knew exactly how much she made a day. It wasn’t much. Less than me and without the good benefit package. Until she met Mav, she’d been living at home with Lindy.

Then she fell for a billionaire who rented this huge-ass house where they now lived together. She didn’t have to work again. She had a flipping jet at her disposal, which I could have probably flown if I didn’t want to keep my arrest a secret.

I would not–NOT–take advantage of Bridge’s new situation, or even her old one.

I was not my mother.

“I know. I did it for myself, really. I was selfish,” she admitted, cutting off my thoughts.

I frowned, crossed the room and dropped into the chair. Even though the massive bed was made, I wasn’t sitting anywhere near where she and Mav got it on. All. The. Time.

“Selfish?” I let my head fall back. “How?”

“What am I going to do with a BFF permanently stuck in Vegas?” She plopped down on the corner of her bed, crossed her legs like my first graders on the rug at the front of the classroom.

I wanted to cry all over again.

“And…” She raised one finger. “You haven’t heard what Mav did to Professor Dipshit.” She lifted another. “Plus, I’m dying to know why you got arrested for prostitution. I mean, prostitution!”

She waved her arms in the air and was way too excited for the situation.

I leaned forward. “Shh,” I hissed. “Will you keep it down? I don’t want the guys to hear.” Especially Theo. “Tell me about Professor Dipshit.”

“Fired. Papers he stole retracted.”

“That’s it?”

That totally sucked. Sure, I wanted the guy fired as much as Bridge, but that was all? After all the pain and suffering and sadness and anger he put her through? I wanted him tied to a spit and slowly spun over an open flame with an apple stuck in his mouth.

“With the university,” she clarified. “Legally, he didn’t do anything wrong so he can’t go to jail for what he did. But we can sue. We–the other women and I–are going after him in civil court. Lost income, emotional distress, defamation, and so on.”

I grinned. “Mav’s got ruthless lawyers, I’m guessing.”

“Sharks.”

I felt villainous and ruthless in the sweats I’d changed into in the hotel lobby bathroom when I’d retrieved my suitcase from the concierge.

My hair was up in a sloppy ponytail and the only makeup I had on was left over from the night before.

I should’ve cared I flew home looking like this, but I was just happy to be on the plane.

Besides, no one looked all too hot on a Sunday flight out of Vegas.

“I love it,” I said, with a sly smile on my face. The first one of the day.

“So tell me about your new profession,” she said, shifting on the bed to get more comfortable. She was probably wishing she had a bowl of popcorn for the upcoming one-woman shitshow.

“After all you went through, we can’t be done with your ordeal after two minutes,” I said. She’d been expelled from MIT after being seduced and stolen from by a professor. It was a big deal, and this was very anticlimactic.

She shook her head, pushed up her glasses. “Mav and I have already been celebrating. In Boston, on the plane. Here.”

A pink flush spread across her cheeks and I really didn’t want to know any more details about how they celebrated.

“We’re going to have a party,” she added. “Get Silas up here and celebrate sometime Dex has a day or two off so he and Lindy can join.”

Silas was in Denver running James Corp from the main office and Dex was in the middle of hockey season.

“Now you, the hooker. Spill.”

I put my hand over my face, wanting to die of mortification all over again.

“Last night, we were in the casino,” I began. “Craps. Everything was fine. I had on that cute dress.”

“The green one?”

I nodded. “And the strappy heels.”

“Hot,” she confirmed.

“I had to pee. A guy came up to me by the bathrooms and we started talking. He was cute. Seemed nice. Asked me if I was up for a little fun.”

As far as undercover cops went, he had been really good looking. If he hadn’t arrested me, I’d have been into a date. But he lost that chance, the jerk. Mistaking a woman for a hooker wasn’t endearing.

“I asked him what he had in mind.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “What? Why didn’t you knee him in the balls?”

“Because I was trying to flirt!”

“Okay,” she said, circling her hand in the air for me to keep talking.

“He said he had a room at the hotel, that he was interested in a blow job, or straight sex.”

Her eyes bugged out behind her glasses. “And that wasn’t a warning sign? I mean, I’m all for you having a one-night stand, but maybe his name would have been good? A drink at the bar first? And what’s with straight sex? Who has straight sex?”

If Bridge was asking that, then not her. Which meant she and Mav did all kinds of hot, kinky stuff. I hadn’t even tried straight sex yet.

I was hurt. Wounded. I felt… like a little kid. Inexperienced and left behind. “I got caught up on the fact that he wanted to have sex with me. Me!”

I stood, paced in front of the huge window that overlooked the entire valley.

“Why wouldn’t he want to have sex with you? You’re smart and hilarious and in that dress, gorgeous.”

I turned, rolled my eyes. “I’m me! Miss Almost-Virgin. Tom wasn’t all that interested.” I left out the stomach problems from the date. And Theo. And Theo’s fingers.

“Then what happened?” she asked.

“He said he’d give me a hundred. I couldn’t believe it, one because he wanted to have sex with me–”

“We need to work on your self-esteem issues.”

“Says the woman who didn’t think her brain was good enough for a billionaire hottie,” I countered.

“Yeah, well, I got that billionaire hottie and that magical dick of his, so it’s your turn to get your head on straight. You’re amazing and guys want in your pants all the time!’

“Oh yeah? What guy?”

“Tom.”

I shook my head. “Tom’s out. There is no line of men waiting to have sex with me, Bridge. None.”

“Fine, so you were stunned a guy in Vegas wanted to jump your hot bod.”

“Exactly. I got all sassy and said I was worth more than a hundred dollars.”

She raised her arm. “There you go! You’re totally worth more than that. You’ve got a high-price pussy.”

I nodded. “Exactly. Jokingly, I told him I was high-class and I only go for a thousand.”

She groaned. “Oh God. Having the big picture, that was probably a bad idea.”

“You think?” I countered.

“Shit, Mal. Your sass gets you every time.”

“I know!” I threw my hands up in the air. “Has your flirting ever got you arrested? Because mine has.”

She cringed because I definitely sank to an all new low.

“After that, I’m being handcuffed and read my rights, arrested for solicitation.” I dropped back into the chair. “Bridge, it was mortifying.”

“Is it like in the movies?” she wondered.

“Being arrested?” I stared at her for a second and realized she was serious. “Walk of shame in a big, fancy Vegas hotel full of people? Mortifying. Handcuffs? Not sexy like you might think. Pat down by a beefy woman? Let’s just say I’m never switching teams.”

“All those people who witnessed your walk of shame think you’re a sex goddess. Ever think of that?”

I gave her a look. “Really? That’s what they were thinking?”

“Fine, they were probably all judgy and thinking you’re a ho. Again, it’s kind of flattering.”

“Trust me, it wasn’t flattering. Not any part of it.” I’d already relived all the late-night fun over and over. “Except my mug shot is better than my driver’s license photo, so that’s a perk.”

“I want to see it.”

“Hell, no.”

“You said you had to pay bail?”

I nodded. “I had no idea you could put it on a credit card. I thought I had to deal with a shady bail bondsman named Carl or something.”

“Your friends couldn’t get you out?”

I shook my head. “Since they were at the craps table, they didn’t see me get arrested, thank God. At the booking center, I was able to leave Alana a message before they took my belongings away, let her know what happened.”

“You swiped your credit card and got out of there?”

I shook my head again. “No one gets out until a hearing before a judge. She set bail.”

“That means you have to go back?”

I nodded. “I have a court date next Tuesday. Bridge, if I’m found guilty, it’ll be a misdemeanor and I’ll have a record. I can lose my teacher’s license and my job and–”

She raised a hand, cutting me off. “That’s not going to happen. Sharks for lawyers, remember?”

I shook my head. “Those are Mav’s people. I can’t let him help. Not only because I don’t have the money to pay for them, but no way can he know about this.”

“This isn’t like your mom being her usual lazy self and you covering their electric bill.”

“It is exactly the same. I did something stupid, and I won’t have someone fix it for me.”

She sliced a hand through the air. “Unless you’re planning on being arrested again, it’s not the same at all.”

I pursed my lips. Considered, then shook my head. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Mav can’t know.”

“Why not? It’s kind of funny.” Her lips twitched.

I glared. It was not funny. “I could lose my job. The less people who know about this, the better chance of it not getting around town. Maybe even from gossip alone.”

“Mav’s not going to tell people.” Her tone indicated she was a little hurt I’d even consider him to lack the integrity needed to keep this secret.

“I trust him, but the less who know, the better. Even now, there’s an arrest report out there. Anyone could look and find out what happened. That is not gossip.”

“Okay, that’s bad.”

“I have to find the money to fly back and pay a lawyer to represent me, then hopefully get the charges dropped. That’s the best scenario. Me being broke, but no longer a ho. I’ll be happy with that at this point. Broke and unemployed would be really bad.”

Then I’d really be my mother.

She gave me a pitying look. “I’m glad Mav suggested putting that down payment money into investments so it would grow, but now it’s locked up.”

I shrugged, because it was true. Mav knew about me and that house and put me in touch with one of his financial advisors.

They’d promised a huge growth on the savings, and I’d been game.

But that meant no touching, even now when I could use some of it.

It was good in a way, that my down payment I had so far was safe.

But I wouldn’t be able to add much more right now.

“So much for buying that cute house you want, right?”

My stomach dropped and it was the first time all day I felt close to crying. I swallowed hard. “Right. I’m not sure how I’m going to swing adding more to the down payment fund now. This is going to set me back months, at least.”

She stood. “For tonight, you’re back home. That’s a start. Want to spend the night?”

I nodded. I was exhausted and in no mood to drive to my apartment.

“Pick a bedroom, then come down and watch Dex’s game. Maybe we’ll see Lindy on TV like last week.”

I shook my head. “All I want is a shower, then sleep. I have to work in the morning, so I’ll be out of here early to go home and change.”

“Sure. And don’t worry about the guys. I’ll tell them something besides the truth.”

Them. Not just Mav, but Theo, too. I could only imagine what he’d think of this. That I was either an idiot or a ho. Or both. I went down the hall to the farthest extra bedroom and laughed at myself.

Me. A ho. Had I really been arrested for being a prostitute when I really hadn’t ever had sex? How ridiculously ironic was that?