Highways & Hostages (7 page)

Phoebe blushed and turned her face away. “Thanks.”

“So I’m kind of new to the area, and haven’t made a lot of friends yet. Would you be up for hanging out sometime? We could grab food or something.” Billy put his free hand in his pocket and ducked his head as if feeling shy. He peered at Phoebe through long lashes.

“Are you asking me out? I look like total crap right now.”

“And that’s why you should go out with me. If you look this good right now, I can’t imagine how gorgeous you are when you’re all dolled up.”

Phoebe giggled. Billy knew he was in. He pulled his cell from his pocket and held it out to her. “Can I get your number?”

Phoebe hesitated for a second, then grabbed the phone from Billy’s extended hand and keyed in her number. She returned the phone to Billy and tossed down her cigarette, grinding it out with her heel. “I’ve gotta go. See you around?”

“You free tomorrow?”

Phoebe smiled. “I could be.”

“I’ll text you.”

Phoebe nodded, put her hands in her pockets, and started down the sidewalk. Before reaching the gravel lot, she stopped, turned around, and grinned at Billy. Then she took off across the lot.

Satisfied, Billy leaned against the brick façade of the bar and took a long drag of the cigarette. He opened his mouth and blew smoke rings into the air. Maybe Finn would realize he was more useful than Alex. Maybe Finn would finally see him as an equal. And maybe, just maybe, his dad would praise his efforts to support Finn’s mission and start grooming
him
to take on a bigger role in the family business. Otherwise, he might take his talents elsewhere.

Phoebe Carstens might not be going to Mexico, but a super gorgeous guy just asked her out,
and
he thought she was twenty-two? She’d take it!

Phoebe put her hands in her pockets and made a point not to glance back at Will again as she walked out of the parking lot. She wanted him to get the impression that hot guys asked her out all the time, and that she was doing
him
a favor. She hoped he didn’t think she was lame for not having a car. If he asked, she would just tell him she usually rode her bike, but it was in the shop. Bike riding was totally in right now.

The grin on Phoebe’s face morphed into a scowl as she continued down the sidewalk. Why couldn’t Stella just let her borrow the stupid car? Phoebe was embarrassed to even be seen riding in it, but at least it was something. All Stella did was drive it the five minutes to work, where it stayed parked for twelve hours at a time.

God, why couldn’t Stella let her do
anything
?

Phoebe had thought spending the summer in Las Vegas with her older half sister would be a blast, but so far it was even worse than living at home in Ohio with her parents. At least they
let her be. She barely saw Stella, and when she did, Stella always wanted to nag her about something.

But maybe she and Will would hang out and hit it off. She imagined them riding in his convertible—a guy like that
had
to have a nice car. They would take weekend trips to the beach or just wander out into the desert, looking up at the stars and contemplating life like in the movies. Will might be just the thing to save her summer.

Later that night, back in his sleek and sparsely decorated condo, Finn hung up his black leather jacket by the door. Nearly everything in the condo was made of leather, glass, or polished nickel. Finn didn’t spend much time in his condo since he often travelled for Julian, so it only contained the essentials: bed, sofa, wet bar, TV, hot tub, and an amazing view.

Finn pulled off his shoes and walked past the leather sofa in the middle of the room to the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony. He could see the lights of the Strip glittering only a mile away. He pulled out his cell, dialed a number, and waited.

“Hello?” a raspy voice answered.

“Hey, Gram. Sorry to call so late, but I knew you’d be up.”

“I’m so glad you called! It’s never too late for
you
. It’s been ages since I’ve heard from you!” Finn’s grandmother, Gloria, exclaimed.

“I know. I’ve been really busy,” Finn apologized. “But I figured I’d call and see what you’re up to.”

“The girls and I went to Bingo Night.”

“Bingo Night sounds fun. Did you win something good for me?”

“Don’t patronize me, Jacob. I know you don’t want to hear about this old lady’s boring adventures. Tell me what
you’ve
been up to. How is that girl you’re dating? Are you going to bring her to meet me soon?”

Finn rubbed his eyes as he tried to remember what he’d told his grandmother during their previous phone call. “We’re doing well, but we haven’t been able to spend a lot of time together lately—I’ve been putting in a lot of hours at the office. I don’t think she’ll stick around much longer.” Finn hated lying to his grandmother, but she worried about him being alone. And she definitely wouldn’t approve of his “love ’em and leave ’em” philosophy.

“Tsk, tsk,” Gloria chastised. “You should never your put work before your home life. But I know you’ll work it out; you’re such a smart boy.”

“Thanks, Gram.”

“What about your job? You said your boss was considering you for a promotion to Vice President of Acquisitions?”

Finn sighed. He needed to start jotting down his lies on sticky notes to keep his stories straight. “That fell through. Things have been a little…crazy…at work lately,” Finn explained. “But I think he’ll be reconsidering soon.”

“Well, Jacob, I want you to know how incredibly proud of you I am,” Gloria gushed. “Promotion or no promotion, you are doing wonderful things. Your Pop Pop would be proud of you too.”

Finn immediately reached for his dog tags, his eyes prickling with unshed tears. Only his grandmother had this effect on him. “Gram, stop.”

“I mean, you’re doing so well for yourself, and you still remember your little old grandma from time to time.”

“You’re all I have left; I would never forget you. Did you get the check I sent last week?”

“Yes,” Gloria replied. “And I told you I don’t need anything else; you’re already paying my rent. Save your money so you can buy that girlfriend of yours a nice rock.”

“Gram—”

“I won’t be around forever, Jacob. I want to know that someone is taking care of you,” Gloria cut in.

“I can take care of myself.”

“I know, but sometimes you need to take a break and let someone else care for you.”

“I’ll take that into consideration,” Finn promised. “I have to go now—I’ve got a big meeting tomorrow and I need to do some research. I love you.”

“I love you too, son. Promise me you’ll call again soon!”

“I will, Grammy. Bye.”

Finn clicked off the call and put his phone back into his pocket. He leaned his elbows on the balcony railing and dropped his head into his hands. He preferred to ask forgiveness rather than permission, but this time he would cover all his bases.

“God, I don’t know if You really exist or not. But if so, You’ve probably already given up on me. If You
are
listening…I just want to say I’m sorry for lying to my grandmother, and what I’m about to embark on. Please, just take care of my Gram. Um…amen.” Finn stood up and glanced around, waiting for a sign that God was listening, or that lightning was about to strike him where he stood on the balcony. When nothing happened after a few moments, he went back inside.

“Alright, Bert, my last table just left,” Stella announced happily. She untied her apron and hung it up on a peg across from her boss’s office.

Bert leaned out his office door, too lazy to get up from his rolling chair. “Good work, Stella. I wish all of my employees were as dedicated as you.”

“Well, now I’ve got a wedding to pay for, so I need all the hours I can get.”

Bert grunted as he repositioned himself in the chair. “That man better take good care of you, or I’ll come after him myself.”

Stella hugged Bert’s thick neck. In the two years she had been working at the Leaky Stein, Bert had taken on the role of father figure in her life. “I’ll tell him you said that.” She planted a fat kiss on his cheek and Bert’s color rose.

“After all, can’t have someone carting off my best waitress,” he blustered, quickly falling back into his usual role of curmudgeonly dictator.

“Of course, that’s all it is,” she said with a smile. “See you tomorrow, Bert.”

Stella exited the bar through the door next to the office and made her way through the parking lot. Preoccupied with searching for her keys in her large purse, she didn’t see the man coming around the side of the building.

“Hi,” he said with an awkward wave.

Stella jumped and her keys fell from her fingers. It was Blondie, alone again, without Mr. Hot Stuff. She bent to retrieve the keys, then straightened. She racked her brain for the name she always saw on his bankcard. “Um, hi…Jacob. What are you doing back here?” she asked cautiously. Customers rarely came into this part of the parking lot.

“Actually, no one really calls me Jacob. It’s Finn.”

“Okay…Finn. What are you doing here?” she asked again, slowly backing up.

“I need your help with something,” Finn said.

Stella quickly assessed the situation. Finn was holding a duffle bag in one hand, and his other hand was in his jacket pocket, where there was also a gun-shaped object. She opened her mouth to scream, but before she could call out for Bert, Finn had cocked a gun and aimed it at her.

“I really am sorry to have to do things this way,” he said. “But if you scream, I’m going to have to shoot you.”

Stella remained still, her eyes wide. She wondered why this man had given her his nickname before pulling a gun on her. Clearly he intended to rob her. “Look, I don’t have anything in my wallet, but you can have it. Actually, you can have my whole purse if you want it.” Stella removed the purse from her shoulder and held it out to Finn.

“I don’t want your purse—”

Stella clutched her left hand in distress. “Well, what do you want? My ring? Is that it? Please don’t take my ring. I don’t think it’s very valuable anyway!”

“Goddammit, I don’t want your purse or your ring. I want you!”

Stella’s head swiveled as she looked for an escape route, but she didn’t dare move an inch with the gun pointed at her. Why the hell wasn’t anyone else in the parking lot or exiting the bar? Maybe she could reason with the guy.

“Sorry, but I’m a little confused. If you don’t want to rob me, why did you corner me in a parking lot? I’m pretty sure that’s not a water gun aimed at my face right now—”

Oh shit.
A new thought occurred to Stella. Did he intend to rape her? From her previous interactions with him he didn’t seem like the type. But that’s what people said about serial killers like Ted Bundy.

Or what if what Valerie said was true, and Blondie had a crush on her? But then, why would he hold her at gunpoint? Was it possible he could be
that
desperate? Hmmm… He was pretty good-looking, so it couldn’t be hard for him to get a date. There must be something seriously wrong with him—in addition to the whole holding-people-at-gunpoint thing.

Stella cleared her throat and fiddled with a pigtail. “Finn, is it? I’m very flattered and all, but I can’t date you. I’m engaged.”

“Oh my God,” Finn exclaimed, waving the gun around crazily. “I’m not trying to date you. I need your help!”

Stella tensed and closed her eyes, waiting for the gunshot to ring out and make impact. She really hoped Finn wouldn’t hit anything too vital.

“Look, let’s go to your house and I’ll explain everything.”

Stella risked opening an eye and peeking at Finn. “Let me get this straight. You hold me up in the parking lot at the place where I work. You tell me you want to go to my house, but you want me to believe that you’re not stalking me or in love with me?”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Finn said, shrugging. “Look, I don’t have any more time to waste.” He waved the gun at her. “Let’s go.”

Stella glared at him. “So what? Are you going to follow me in your car or something?”

“About that… Yeah, I’m gonna need to ride with you.”

Stella’s jaw dropped. This guy was definitely off his rocker, but you didn’t mess with crazy.

“Which car is yours?” Finn asked.

Stella closed her mouth and glared at him before turning and gesturing toward Josie.

His nose wrinkled in disgust. “Are you kidding me? Are you sure that thing even runs?”

“You hold me at gunpoint and tell me we’re going to my house. Then you insult my car?” Stella replied.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’ve been over all that already. Whatever, let’s just go.”

Stella reluctantly shuffled toward the Beetle. Finn kept the gun trained on her as she unlocked the passenger door before unlocking her own. He frowned at the polka dot car seats, then tossed his duffle into the backseat, careful to keep his gun aimed at Stella all the while. She settled herself behind the wheel with her purse on her lap. Finn reached over and grabbed it. “I’ll hold on to this for you,” he said.

Stella glared at him. “Be careful, your inner gentleman is showing.”

“Not really,” Finn said, digging through the purse. He victoriously held up her cell phone. “I was looking for this. Can’t have you calling in the cavalry. Here ya go.” He plunked the purse back in Stella’s lap.

She shook her head in a mixture of annoyance and disbelief.
The nerve of this guy!
She took back any nice thought she’d ever had about him.

They rode to Stella’s home in tense silence. Stella clutched the Beetle’s steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip while Finn anxiously tapped out a beat on his thigh. He came to attention when Stella pulled into a trailer park.

“You live
here
?” Finn asked.

Stella swallowed and gritted her teeth in answer.

“Sorry, that was really rude. It’s just not what I was expecting.” Finn was striking out all over the place with the waitress. This was not how he’d planned for this to go. He couldn’t believe she’d thought he wanted to ask her out. Did guys normally ask her out while pointing a gun at her? Women.