Page 40 of Rum & Coke

“No problem. What kind of car was it?”

“A black one.”

“Doesn’t narrow it down by much.” He chuckled.

“No, it doesn’t.” I shook my head. “My friend got the plates though.”

“And you called the cops?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Go talk to the boss. Hopefully, you can get something from the police. I doubt they will follow up, but maybe, with the plates, they can at least tell you a name.”

I was hopeful they would because I didn’t want to look over my shoulder every day. I was already going to change my route home. The police had told me they’d file a report and run the plates. Stalking was a crime, but the only thing I could do would be to get a restraining order, and that was only a piece of paper. A piece of paper couldn’t physically protect me.

“Right. Well, thank you.”

“You bet. Thank you again for telling me. I’ll walk all of you ladies to your cars and make sure no one leaves behind you.”

I smiled tightly up at him. “Thank you.”

Instead of going to the dressing room, I took Galen’s advice and went up to Sebastian’s office. I figured that since it happened to me, it was happening to other girls—or would, and the boss should know about it. With each step I took up to his office, my heart pounded in my chest. What if Sommer was in there again? What if it was another girl? What if he was just busy?

When I knocked, he called out for me to come in. I opened the red door, took a deep breath, and entered.

Sebastian was alone and behind his desk that pointed toward the stage to my right. He smiled and turned to face me as I stepped inside. His dirty blond hair was styled in its usual slicked back way, and he was in a gray suit with a white button-down shirt and lavender tie. “Tessa, to what do I owe the pleasure of you coming up here?”

“Ah.” I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. “I was wondering if I could look at the security feed from last night.”

He set the pen he was holding down and leaned forward. “Why do you need to do that?”

“I—”

“Come in and close the door.”

I still stood a few steps inside the office, so I took a deep breath and shut the door before walking to a chair in front of his dark wood desk. Before I sat down, I paused, wondering if it was the one he sat in when Sommer was on her knees. Without too much hesitation, I sat on the edge of the chair.

“So, what’s going on?” he asked, resting on his elbows on the top of his desk.

I proceeded to tell him everything. “… and I hope that maybe the cameras will show me their face.”

“Good thinking. The cameras are on a three day cycle, so it should be here.” He pressed a button as he turned around in his chair, and a screen rose from a credenza behind him. I watched as he pulled a keyboard and mouse from a drawer and then typed some things on the keyboard and moved the mouse around, bringing up a color feed. “You left at what time last night?”

“Well, it was two this morning.”

“Right.” He pressed some buttons, and after a few moments, I saw myself exit the door.

“Do you see the black car?” Sebastian pulled up another view, this one of the parking lot and not the employee door. He rewound the feed until we saw the black car pull into the space. “He pulled up a little after nine.”

“Nine?”

“Yep.”

“And it’s a guy?”

“Well …” He zoomed in with the mouse, and I stood, getting closer so I could see better. “Yeah, it looks like a guy. Does he look familiar to you?”

I bent and got right in front of the monitor. The screen wasn’t clear since it was dark with only the parking lot lights casting a glow. The guy in the car didn’t look familiar at all, though it could be anyone because it was too grainy to discern any features. I sighed. “No. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before.”