Hidden Sins (12 page)

“So is that a yes?” Mia asked.

“It’s a big yes,” I laughed as Mia grabbed my hand and hauled me up the stairs.

Luke

The thought of Hannah slipping into other men’s fantasies killed me, and that was precisely what Buttons offered. I’d seen the way men at Buttons devoured the waitresses with their eyes, and it was unsettling, and one of the many reasons I never showed up. I despised the fact that I had anything to do with the club, but I owed my friend, Sean, a favor and I wasn’t about to let him down. He helped me when I first started the security firm and it was something I could do in return. We’d met one another in a past life, but I never expected it to bite me in the ass like this.

I stretched my legs in front of me in the airplane seat and took a sip of the red wine the flight attendant had just brought over. What in God’s name was Hannah doing at Buttons? Maybe she was passing by and that’s how the phone triangulated. That had to be it. There was no legitimate reason why she’d be there. She didn’t even fit the profile. Sean had a thing for brunettes and a real distaste for blondes. And Hannah was definitely blonde. No doubt about it. A beautiful blonde at that. Her being a blond was the one thing I could hold onto until I could access wireless at the cruising altitude.  

Damn! She was hard to shake.

I took another sip of the wine as I thought about why I was so fascinated by a woman I barely knew. The guy next to me snorted, signaling he’d already fallen asleep, which was good since I hated spectators while researching. I grabbed the newspaper out of my bag and opened it to the second page, but I had no interest in reading. My mind kept wandering to Hannah. My guys were on her so she’d be safe until I got there, but it didn’t calm my fears at all. I knew too little about her and what problems were following her. There had to be a way to get her to trust me and tell me what was going on. That would be the quickest solution.

The moment the Captain announced that we had reached our cruising altitude, I opened up my laptop and began searching for information on the NLC. I also opened up another window for the facial recognition software to run my official airport greeter’s face through. I scanned through my email, checking for something from Sean. Regardless of how many times I told Sean I didn’t need to know nor did I care, he usually kept me apprised of all the new hires. And sure enough an email had landed in my inbox from Sean with the subject “You’ll Never Guess”. My stomach tensed as I became one step closer to confirming that Hannah was indeed working at Buttons. I clicked on the message, which brought up Sean’s new hire confession. It had taken seven years, but he no longer felt that all blondes were the devil’s spawn. Things were looking up. Too bad he was going to have to fire her.

I hit reply and began typing a message back to Sean congratulating him on his breakthrough while encouraging him to reconsider his latest hire. My blood was pumping harder as I thought about when she was going to start and how to get her out of there if she already had. I could literally taste the fury pulsing through my veins when I thought about other men looking at her. But just as I was about to hit send, it occurred to me that Buttons was safe. Membership was exclusive. I could watch her, keep her safe, and get her to trust me. I was always rational and this was the rational thing to do. So why was I so impulsive when it came to Hannah? There had to be something to it, and I was sure if I wanted to enlighten my shrink about it, she’d have a field day with it. But I was smarter than that. These feelings would be going nowhere. I would be telling no one.

I took the last swallow of wine and motioned for the flight attendant. I needed a beer. Scanning the news articles about NLC was quite informative. They had done a good job of keeping a squeaky clean image. But one thing was quite concerning. A series in one of the smaller newspapers was conveniently stopped when the journalist passed away. There was no explanation as to why the last two articles were never published. It was as if the series never existed beyond the first three articles. I took note of the journalist and kept scanning information that led nowhere rather quickly. What if the journalist had figured something out? But that wouldn’t explain why the newspaper wouldn’t finish up the series. I rubbed my fingers along my temple as I thought about how to infiltrate a tight-knit community like the NLC.

An email from the detective came over. He must’ve gotten my message. I quickly opened it up and wasn’t surprised at the formality. It was a typical bland email, going over the events that had transpired and the steps that had been taken. As I read through the report listing what the man had said to Hannah, it became apparent that whoever was after her had no intentions of stopping. They wanted to find out what she knew, and after they found that out, she’d be discarded. That much was clear. From what I read, Hannah didn’t tell the officers anything from her past so that had put them at a definite disadvantage. If she was unwilling to trust the police, why did I think I’d be able to gain her trust? This was going to be a lot more difficult than I’d imagined.

I closed the detective’s email and began looking up the individuals who’d been affiliated with the NLC. I didn’t have the luxury of time to find the pieces to the puzzle. If one person already knew where Hannah was, they all did.

Hannah

Somehow I’d managed to stuff the chair and the last of my boxes into Rikki’s car and was on my way over to the new place. It was almost nine o’clock at night, but I was fighting the clock for a reason no one knew but me. I wanted to be situated in my new place with no ties to my old one before Donald Jamison was let out of jail. I’d decided to call in my truck to the city for impound as well. It was eight-hundred dollars down the drain, but I couldn’t afford to be seen in it now, especially since he was going to be out of jail. I said my goodbyes to everyone at the house, and Rikki was sweet enough to let me use her car to go back and forth. After this trip, I was going to drive back to the house one last time and ride the bus back. As paranoid as it sounded, I didn’t want anyone, including Rikki, to know where I would be living. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she understood completely.

Mia was thrilled that she wouldn’t need to sleep another night alone in her too big for her house, and she promised she was a night owl and that I wouldn’t be disrupting her by moving my stuff in tonight.

I got out of the car and Mia was already down the steps, ready to help with my last haul.

“Hey, girl. Welcome home,” she said. “What can I help with?”

“The chair?” I asked, pointing to the backseat.

“Okay.” She opened the door and slowly maneuvered it out of the tiny space, and I grabbed two boxes and slammed the trunk. That was it. I just needed to drive the car back to the house and catch the bus back.

“Follow me,” she said, climbing the steps. “I emptied your new room out. It’s all ready for you.”

“I told you not to do that,” I said, laughing and shaking my head. Once she had her mind made up, there seemed to be no changing it. My boxes that I’d dropped off from my first trip were no longer in the foyer, either.

“You hauled my things up by yourself?” I asked in disbelief.

Mia had decided the room she was initially going to give me was too small, which baffled me since it was twice the size of the one I’d just left. Her bedroom was on the top floor and mine was on the second.

“I figured if I didn’t already put your stuff in the bigger room, you’d try to argue me out of it,” she laughed.

“True, and thank you.”

I put one of my boxes on the floor and followed her up the stairs to the family room and kitchen area. It was all one big, open space that overlooked the large deck and ocean. My room was down the hall to the right.

The place was absolutely beautiful, and I was bummed that I wouldn’t be able to stay longer. There were photographs of different beach scenes lining the hallway as I walked behind her to my new bedroom.

“These pictures are gorgeous,” I said, stopping to take a better look.

“Thanks. My brother will be thrilled to hear you say that. Although, he’d never show it,” she laughed.

He sounded like a real treat.

She made it into my room and set the chair down. “I’ll go grab the other box.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I said, as she slipped by me.

“No biggie,” she said, grinning. “Hey, have you eaten? I haven’t.”

I started to feel like I did at the Starbucks where the complete kindness of a stranger completely threw me for a loop and then his life was in danger. I didn’t want her life to be in danger. Mia was my roommate, but barely so, and she was already going above and beyond. It felt like all I did was show up and endanger whoever was unfortunate enough to be around me.

“I’m good,” I said, setting my box in the bedroom.

“That’s not what I asked.” She gave me a knowing look with her hands on her hips. “I’ll have something for us to share by the time you get back. Lock the door on your way out.”

She spun around and climbed the stairs, probably headed to her bedroom. I actually hadn’t gone to the third floor yet, but she said that was where her studio and bedroom were. I let out a sigh, walking down the hall and climbing back down the stairs. It felt like changes were on the way, but I wasn’t sure what kind of changes those would be.

Letting myself out of the house, I locked it and walked to Rikki’s car. If Mia knew that I was planning on dropping the car off and riding the bus back, she wouldn’t hear of it and would follow me to the house and drive me back herself, and that wasn’t what I needed. I wanted to leave the house behind me, and everyone in it, including Rikki. That was how it had to be done.

As I drove onto the highway, I thought about how crucial it was that I save as much money as I could and leave Mia’s house before I put her in danger. But I doubted anyone, including Mr. Jamison, would look for me on beachfront property. And working at a private club where only members were the patrons seemed like the absolute safest job to have. At least, that was what I told myself to feel better about walking around in pajamas.

I turned off on the exit leading to the house and let out a deep sigh. I knew Nancy would be thrilled to see me go, and I didn’t know many of the other house members so it would be an easy escape. As I pulled onto the street, I noticed most of the lights were on at the house. I hoped Nancy was home so I could tell her I was leaving. I’d already written a note as well, just in case. I parked the car and made my way to the entrance where Rikki was waiting for me.

 “Nancy here?” I asked.

“In the kitchen,” she replied.

I walked to the kitchen with Rikki behind me.

“Nancy.”

Her back was turned to me as she was washing the dishes.

“You outta here?” she asked, turning to face me.

“I am.” I nodded. “I called to get the truck impounded. It’s of no use since they know it’s mine. The tow truck usually comes in seventy-two hours or so.”

Nancy nodded and pressed her lips together, wiping her hands on a towel.

“Take care and stay safe,” she said, her eyes softening slightly. She was too hard for me to read. And no matter her story, I couldn’t trust her. Wouldn’t trust her.

“Thanks again,” I said, giving a slight wave.

I glanced around the house and couldn’t wait to get out of here and never return. I understood why places like these needed to exist. I only hoped I’d never see the inside of one again.

Rikki followed me outside and shut the door behind us as I glanced around. I was absolutely exhausted, feeling like I’d never be able to escape what I was trying so hard to leave behind. The darkness of the evening only led to my anxiety as I thought about all of the places people could be lurking, waiting, for me. I crawled into Rikki’s car as she turned on the ignition.

Rikki let out a deep breath as we pulled away from the house. “I thought what I was running from was something fierce, but seeing what’s happening to you…”

I nodded. “Believe me, we’ve all got our own baggage. Mine are just a little more aggressive at the moment. But I hope there’s an end in sight soon.”