I want nothing more than to press Kathleen back into the mattress and slip back inside of her. I want to hear that sweet sound of her release, keening in my ear again. I can smell our lovemaking, and even as she covers up, I can still feel her.
“Hello?” I ask wearily, pulling my boxers back on.
I’m annoyed with the change of plans, very clearly.
What turned out to be an amazing day has been cut short. I have a business now, though, and I swore I would look after the dancers if I could.
I glance from where I sit at the edge of the bed to see her wrapped in the sheets and with her pale hair tumbling wildly around her shoulders like soft silk.
Her cheeks are pink, and her mouth is set in a firm frown. She looks like she’s been thoroughly tossed in the sheets, and again, I’m annoyed that we’ve just been interrupted.
On the phone, there’s silence on the other end but for the crackle of the line.
“Hello?” I ask again, more annoyed. I swear if this is some sort of prank call….
“Eddie!” A frantic voice shrieks through the other end of the phone. It’s like something in a movie. I’m instantly on edge, and I can feel Kathleen scoot closer behind me in the sheets.
“Eddie…. Please, it’s Chrissy! Come to the lounge….”
“Chrissy?” Kathleen calls frantically into the speaker. “Chrissy, what’s wrong?”
“Please come…,” Chrissy cries, sounding strangled as the call breaks up once again. “Myers is…so much blood! Eddie, they got inside…they’re inside!”
The call ends abruptly, and I jump to my feet to yank my jeans back on. Kathleen scrambles to get into her clothes beside me.
“Who isthey?” Kathleen asks, looking scared for her friend.
“No idea, baby,” I tell her, but I do have an idea. I don’t want her to get worked up just yet when it might be nothing. There’s no point in making her upset.
Her eyes are wide as we leave the room, and I wrap my hand around hers, bringing her hand up to kiss her palm and hopefully calm her down. Not that I’m exactly calm, but at least I can help her feel better about the whole thing.
I’m terrified of what we might find at the club, but I need to stay strong for her.
With one urgent text, my sisters are at my door with boxes of snacks in tow for some reason, ready to babysit a half-awake Stevie thanks to all the noise.
“Hey there, kiddo,” Robin says, giving the bleary-eyed little boy a goofy salute. “You want to play with some matches or run with a knife or something?”
“Very funny,” Kathleen says, shaking her head. She pats her brother’s head, and he sinks back into the cushions with a yawn. He’s asleep in mere minutes.
It’s three in the morning, and Riley has a coffee in her hand, sipping it like it’s normal to be awake before the sun is. I guess she could say the same about me.
“We were doing some wedding planning, and it sort of got out of hand,” she says, shrugging like it doesn't really matter to her. She doesn’t even look tired. “We brought Chinese food from that 24-hour Chinese restaurant down the street.”
“Good luck with that,” I tell her, patting her shoulder sympathetically. Anything open 24 hours is just a no-go in my book. “Just try to keep him safe here, okay?”
“You got it, big brother,” she tells me, looking as if she wants to make a joke or something. “Go handle your business, then.” She looks at Kathleen, making a wrinkled face that shifts into a grin. “Also, you two smell like a 70’s motel room.”
Kathleen’s face goes red, and I roll my eyes at them. We hurry out of the apartment, and Kathleen holds onto me for dear life. We get into the car, and she clings to me there, too, wrapped around my free arm as if her life depends on it.
“It’s going to be okay, Kat,” I tell her, driving swiftly through the half-empty streets in the center of the city to the other side of town. There are still cars out, though, and people walking the road to nowhere fast. “You know that, don’t you?”
“She sounded so scared, Eddie,” Kathleen whispers with a shivering breath, shaking her head against my bicep. “I have never ever heard Chrissy sound scared. Not since I’ve been working there at the lounge have I heard her that upset.”
“She’s fine,” I reply, though if it’s more for her or me, I’m not quite sure. I’m just as unsure as she is about this whole thing. “She’s going to be fine.”
It’s my job to keep those girls safe, not just the one I’m falling in love with. If anything happens to them, that’s on me completely. For some reason, though, this feels off to me. It feels as if we’re walking straight into some kind of a trap.
The parking lot is dark, but I hear Kathleen's quiet intake of breath when we both spot the familiar black SUV parked under the streetlamp, making sure to be seen. Usually, even at this early morning hour, there are still a few stragglers watching the women on stage, but not today. Today, the place seems eerily still.