Page 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
PIPER
Being alone in the house is weird. It still doesn’t feel like mine or that I belong, but Adon says it will just take time and to put my belongings wherever I want. Maybe once I start paying him rent, it will feel more like a home.
Freckles makes it feel more that way, and as I arrange plants around the living room, it looks pleasantly Piper-ified.
Avery and Odin ended up going back to Emily’s before Adon left for some family dinner thing she had planned. As awkward as I thought the exchange would go, it was nothing like the horror movie in my mind. Far from it.
Emily didn’t come inside the house, but greeted me on the stoop with a warm smile, saying she was glad to see I had moved in.
Glancing over her shoulder to make sure Avery and Odin were in the car, she lowered her voice. “It’s not my place to say, but I’m really happy Adon has someone. Especially a person as free as you are.”
She gave me her cell number in case I needed anything, but I was still a bit stunned at her words.
Am I free?
Heat filled my eyes as I thought about it.
Yeah. Now I am.
Maybe all that insight I learned in therapy actually did help. I had been trying to hold myself back because I felt broken. I’d purposefully do things to make myself undesirable, just so I could blame it on my damage. But, really, it was my own doing. Having someone to accept me completely has changed that mindset.
It mended the shattered pieces, but like a broken bone, I’m stronger in the spots that were fractured now.
With that in mind, I return to the house with a comfortable grin coating my face and set to work in the kitchen, rearranging things the way I like. Making lists of items Adon doesn’t have so I can stock it with baking supplies. Maybe I’ll even be an organized person here. Likely not, but there’s always hope.
Once I’m arranging the bed pillows with some of my more colorful ones, I decide to spend the rest of the evening snuggled up, watching a movie on Adon’s big TV attached to the wall above the dresser. Well, I guess it’s mine, now, too! Weird.
My phone bings with a text message, and I hurriedly check to see if he’s messaging me from the game.
Unknown
Meet me.
Furrowing my brow, I text back.
Me
Who is this?
Unknown
You know who this is.
Part of me wonders if this is a wrong number, and I decide to ignore it. Just as I set the phone down, it bings again.
Unknown
Rosy
With wide eyes, I grab it again and text back. No one really knows that’s what Adon calls me. Maybe Essa, but no one else, I don’t think.
Me
Adon?
Unknown
This is a secure line, baby. Meet me. I’m with Tarin.
She wants to have some fun.
What? We hadn’t discussed this, but maybe he’s trying to be adventurous? My heart races, thinking about sharing Adon with her. I don’t like it. Why wouldn’t he talk with me about that? It seems… not like Adon to share.
Unknown
I need you.
See you in twenty?
If he’s sitting at the club bar with Tarin and talking about me, I definitely want to go to tell them both what’s up. They can’t just think I’ll participate with both of them. It’s like worlds colliding. I don’t like it.
Unknown
She took your laptop, Rosy.
Me
She did?
Unknown
Yes. I got it back for you.
Me
Okay I’ll be there. At the warehouse?
Unknown
No. At the old hotel this time.
Me
See you then.
Unknown
Goodbye my love.
While getting dressed in whatever I had grabbed from my closet at the apartment, I scratch at my shoulder. I’m so uncomfortable. Something just feels off .
In my panic, I call Adon’s regular phone, but it goes straight to voicemail. Flipping through my numbers, I find Rhodes’s number and call him.
“Hey, Piper! Sorry, can barely hear you. They just scored!”
“Can I talk to Adon?” I ask, pacing in my tiny sparkly lilac club dress while pulling on some clear base high heels.
“Uh, he went to get popcorn just now or the bathroom.”
The way his words come out lets me know he’s covering. “He’s not there, is he?”
“Um, I… He… He was just here, Piper! He’s enjoying the game.”
I can’t help the laugh that jumps from my belly. Rhodes is a horrible liar. “He sneaked away, huh?”
“Well, yes. But nothing bad. He just wouldn’t tell me where he was going.”
“Thanks, Rhodes. Enjoy your game.”
“Sorry, Piper.”
He probably wouldn’t tell his brother where he was going because he was too embarrassed. Is this a game he’s playing as Daddy Don? He misses the club days?
A smile crosses my lips. That must be what this is. Had Emily pick up the kids so we could enjoy each other in that way.
With that in mind, I spend a bit more time on my makeup and hair, then head out to my car in the driveway. I’ve only been to the hotel location once, but it’s my favorite. At least it has private rooms, though they don’t have door locks. Before meeting Adon, I didn’t mind the open curtains, but now that it’s just us, I secretly appreciate it being only him and I.
The Rosebud was a highlight of Main Street in Northview back in the 20s. Now, its windows have been spray painted black to hide what happens inside every other week or so. The first two floors have been kept up, toned in olive green and dark wood with marble floors and an iron hand-crank elevator. Rooms are outfitted with a simple bed, latex sheets, and a chair. I’ve only been in one briefly, just to see what it was like, but was impressed with the setup.
The bouncer is the same who had chased me last year, and my stomach knots with worry that I can’t get in. He eyes me suspiciously when I show my ID. “Tarin said I could come,” I say.
He scratches his bald head, then nods and opens the door for me.
When I enter, the soft jazz music puts my nerves at ease. A soft smile creeps over my lips, thinking about the love of my life and his love of jazz.
Tarin is working behind the mahogany bar, mixing glowing green drinks. She doesn’t see me as she heads to a table in the back filled with men in tuxedos, a tray balanced on her hand. Scanning the room, I try to find my large boyfriend, Daddy Don, but he’s not here.
Slipping onto a barstool, I wait.
A tall man wearing a mask like the Phantom of the Opera takes the seat next to mine and taps on the bar, waiting for Tarin’s return. He glances down at me for a moment and gives me a greeting grin. “Hello.”
“Hi. I’m waiting for someone.”
“For me?” he asks with a sly smirk.
“No. For my boyfriend.”
“Well, that’s a shame. Pretty thing like you should be more open to exploration.”
I shrug and pick up a straw, tearing off bits of the paper and making a pile on the counter. The man’s presence seems too overwhelming, especially when he swivels to stare at me full on.
With a heavy sigh, I protest his advances. “Look?—”
“In fact, you seem like you’re a fucking whore. A slut who likes to spread her pussy to whoever will take it.”
My jaw drops at his audacity, face heating with irritation. “You don’t know me! How dare you!” I think, if I had a drink, I’d throw it in his face, like in one of those old movies. Instead, I stand, but he grips my arm and slides off his stool. The way he pulls me into him must make it seem as if we’re together.
An odd flicking sound cuts the tense air, and something sharp pokes into my side. “I have a knife pointed at your spleen. If you scream, one slice will put you in the ICU, taking pills for the rest of your life, if you even have one after. Do you understand?”
I hold my breath, terror suddenly swallowing me whole. A tear drops from my eye as I nod. “What do you want?”
“March to the back with me and act like you want to.”
My eyes dart around the room, but most of the attention is focused on some women entertaining the group of men in the seating area. One woman has started giving blow jobs to everyone in a row, and the loud yells of encouragement would drown out my screams, though I’m too afraid to say anything for fear that the sharp blade will slice between my ribs.
With careful steps, I head toward the hall at the end of which is the elevator. The Phantom enters with me and points to the crank. “Take us to the second floor.”
As I slide the elevator into motion, he moves the weapon to my lower back. Sweat pours from my forehead as we exit into the hallway, and he points us toward one of the closed doors. “Open it. Get inside.”
I stumble and consider dashing forward, but he grabs my arm as soon as the thought enters my mind and shoves me into a room. It’s dimly lit and smells of potent cleaners. Slamming the door behind us, he grabs the nearby chair and shoves it under the doorknob, but it doesn’t fit very well. Still, it will be an annoying deterrent if I can find an opportunity to escape.
“You want a blow job or…?” I size him up, keeping my voice from shaking. Why would he even go to this length to get a woman? Is this his kink? To force someone? Maybe I can just get by with getting him off quickly and surviving.
He scoffs and shakes his head. “No. I don’t want your whore mouth anywhere near me.”
My brow furrows. “Then why?—”
“Where’s your purse? Your phone?”
“My-my phone?”
“Yes, your phone, you dumb girl. Hand it over.” His palm wags in the air with impatience. I reach into my bra and produce it, then hold it out. “No, open it for me. Go to your pictures.”
Pulse racing, I do exactly as he says. “Here,” I say, flashing the screen at him.
“Scroll up to a few months ago.” He comes to stand behind me, the knife pressing against my ribs again. “Further. There! Delete that and then empty your trash folder.”
The picture is just of me and Maggie at Rainy Day. We’re smiling as I toss an arm around her.
Then, I see it.
My gut fills with lead. There’s a tall man standing behind us at the creamer station, filling a cup of coffee with almond milk. He’s simply pouring it in and mixing it with a wooden stick. But I recognize the man…
It’s Dennis Harrington, the dead woman’s husband.
And when I lift my eyes to his, chills coat every inch of my body. He’s standing directly in front of me.
“Sure, I’ll delete it.”
“Then your trash folder.”
“And my trash folder,” I assure him, wondering if he took my laptop to get the cloud backups. The problem is, I haven’t been able to access it online since I lost my password over a year ago. But he doesn’t need to know that. If he thinks I’ve just deleted a picture and it’s done with, maybe I can walk out of here. “Is that it?”
“No.”
My heart sinks.
“I can’t have you knowing what happened. Lay on the bed like the fucking slut you are.”
With a careful step back, I try anything I can think of to stall. “Why are you doing this?”
He chuckles. “Ridding the world of one more dirty whore is my duty to mankind.”
One more… So he did murder his wife. By putting creamer in her coffee?
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to. Just lay back, and I’ll be done here in a moment.”
It dawns on me how desperate my situation is. Adon has no idea where I am. If he’s not at the hockey game, where is he? No one saw me come up here, and the cameras probably would only catch a couple going to use a room willingly.
The shine of the yellow light off the blade makes me tremble uncontrollably, my pulse pounding in my ears.
Is this it? I finally find love, envision my future, only to have it taken away from me?