Blitz (Emerald City/Black Family Saga Book 1) (15 page)

“Looking for something?” Clipboard guy seems to tower over me this time and he slams my bag and my hat against my chest. “I think you need to leave,” is all he says next, then turns his back.

After ten minutes of ‘excuse me’, as I make my way across the floor and a few ‘hey, isn’t that that football player?’, I finally step through the exit and into the parking lot.
 

Other than a few straggling smokers, it’s empty. I approach the first guy I see and grab his shoulder. He whirls around his expression hard. “Can I help you?”

“You were up on stage,” I say. “You know Mariah. Have you seen her?”

He leans back, his gaze traveling from my head to my toes. The cigarette between his lips dangles, as he shakes his head, and shrugs a little.

“Of course you do. You’re Jake. You’re in her band and Pete said—”

“What did that old fool say? He needs to mind his business. I don’t know any Mariah,” he says, glancing behind me. “And by the looks of things you better get on your way.”

I follow his gaze to the guy with the clipboard. He’s exiting the bar, lighting up a cigarette. He notices me right away. His jaw tightens and he shoves a hand in the pocket of his jeans.

“This guy giving you trouble?” he asks Jake.

Jake shakes his head and drops an orange butt on the ground, kicking at it with his shoe. “Like he could.”

I stare back at the two of them, wishing I could do more to make them listen. They know where she is but they won’t tell me. Maybe if they knew who I was, they’d do me the favor and stop acting like a couple of big shot asses.
 

“Hey,” I call. “I’m not an idiot. I know you know who I’m talking about. Where is she? I’m not just some random guy who—”

“Ray,” a voice calls from behind me.
 

My breath catches in my throat and I turn to face her.

“Hey,” I say. I want to rush forward and hug her again but this time I play it cool. “What, um, are you okay?”

“No,” she says and anger flashes behind her eyes. “Get out of you here you idiots,” she calls over my shoulder. “I’ve got this,” her gaze locks on mine when she says the last word.
 

Feet shuffle behind me but it’s apparently not good enough.
 

“Go away, Jake,” Mariah says without looking away. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

We stand there staring. Other than the swish of tires against damp pavement, it’s completely silent. I grip my hat tightly in my hands, my breathing growing uneven again.
 

“I can’t believe it’s you,” I say. “All this time…I didn’t know what to think. I don’t even know what to do right now. I didn’t think I would ever find you.” I smile.

Though there is a hint of something behind her gaze—Relief? Gratefulness? —she responds by taking a step toward me. But instead of falling into my arms, like I expect, she walks right by me.
 

“Well, congratulations. Here I am. Now, if you don’t mind, get the hell out of my town.”

Headlights flood the window, illuminating the room below. I’ve been sitting cross-legged on this bed for more than an hour and I’m pissed. He left me here. Went off to a bar and left me in a strange empty house. Starving. I’m going to kill him.
 

What part of “Let’s just go” didn’t he understand? Let’s as in we. Not just him. Who in their right mind would stay in this house all by themselves? And he had the nerve to turn off the lights? The only thing that calms me is the glow from my cellphone.
 

I don’t know what possessed me to make my way all the way upstairs to this room. It’s like I read the Idiot’s Manual on How to Get Good and Murdered. I suck on my bottom lip and hug myself. How a kick ass girl like me can be such a wimp, I don’t know. But with every creak and settle of this godforsaken attic, can you blame me?

My stomach rumbles again and I curse Ray. All he had to do was wake me. Wake me up and take me with him.

Now I’m stuck up here, waiting to be ripped to shreds by the local crazy.
 

The front door opens and closes.

It’s about time.

I move to finally get off the bed, but instead, I freeze. He hasn’t turned the light on. Why wouldn’t he turn the light on?

I listen intently, but all I hear is heavy breathing. And I realize with a hand over my mouth to mask my own, that I can’t determine one person from another by that. The only way I’ll know what or whom I’m dealing with is when they come up those stairs.
 

I fumble with my phone in search of Ray’s number. I find it after several attempts and send him a quick message.
 

That u?

There’s no responding chime or the sound of a phone vibrating and my body goes straight into panic mode.

Shit. Shit. Shit!

Pete. It’s that creepy looking farmer come to finish me off. Just like in the damn movies. I’ve sat around here like an idiot for an hour, when I could’ve run.
 

Calm down, Sydney. I close my eyes. Pete’s not creepy. He’s not a serial killer. Don’t be stupid. He’s just a guy and you are an idiot. He probably just came to check on the place.
 

So why didn’t he knock?

Footsteps hit the stairs and I bite down on my lip. They ascend slowly, my heart beating a thousand times for every step.
 

“Sydney?”
 

I scream and the lights fly on, revealing Ray in the doorway.
 

“What?” he asks, his gaze frantic. “What happened?”

I let out a long open-mouthed breath, my hands clasped on my chest. “What the hell?” I jump up from the bed and smack him in the shoulder. “Didn’t you get my text?”

He pats his pockets. “Must have left my phone in the car. What happened?” he asks again.

“Nothing.” My gaze falls on the bag in his hand. “Is that?”

“For you.” He thrusts the bag toward me. “Sorry if it’s a little tossed. I dropped it on the way out.”

“Whatever,” I say, tearing into the bag. “Food is food.” I set the Styrofoam container on the desk by the railing, open it and pop a fry into my mouth. It’s cold and slightly soggy but it tastes like heaven.
 

“So how’d it go?” I ask, grabbing another handful.

Ray doesn’t say anything so I turn to face him. “Did you find her? Your sister?”

He nods once. Then lowers himself on the edge of the bed. “Sure did.”

“So…?” I ask through a mouthful of cheeseburger.

“So she basically told me to go away.”

I chew slowly, then shove another few fries in my mouth while he still stares at the ground. How are you supposed to respond to that?

“I guess I can’t really blame her,” he says with a shrug. “It’s been four years. The last time I saw her she was seventeen. She’d just gotten out of juvie. I mean we’d already lost two years before that. Then bam, she’s gone again. It had to be overwhelming for me to just show up like that. I mean it was nerve-wracking for me.” He sighs. “God, Syd. She was beautiful. Looked just like our mother. With my our father’s eyes.”

“I’m sorry,” I finally manage to force out. “I know how excited you were. Maybe you just need to give it some time. Go back in the morning.”

He smiles at me and I lick the salt off my lips. His eyes glisten and his brows are drawn downward. He literally looks like he’s about to cry and I’m not sure I can handle that. It makes me feel awful to think it, but it’s true. “I’m so sorry,” I say again, apologizing for the thoughts he can’t hear.
 

I close the food container and walk over to sit on the bed next to him.
 

“I should have brought you a milkshake or something,” he says.

“It’s okay.” I stretch my legs out in front of me and cross one ankle over another.
 

We sit in silence for several minutes.
 

“This house freaks you out, huh?” Ray asks, with a little chuckle.

“Totally,” I reply. “I thought you were Pete coming to cut me into pieces.”

Ray laughs out loud and lies back on the bed. “Sorry, I left you all alone,” he says. “You just looked so peaceful.”

It takes me a moment to decide whether or not it’s a good idea, but after a while, I ease down next to him. What I really want to do is go downstairs and grab my suitcase—dig around for my toothbrush, or gum. If I wasn’t so damn hungry I might have been smart enough to remove the onions before I started eating. For now, I’ll just have to turn my head when I talk.
 

I roll over onto my stomach and prop my head up with my hands. “So, what are you going to do about Mariah?”

Ray covers his face with his hands. “Who knows? But I can’t think about it anymore. I’ll find her in the morning. Then we’ll talk,” he says with a heavy sigh.

“You know this isn’t your fault, right? You said it yourself yesterday. You had no idea your parents weren’t looking for her. If you would have known—I know you, Ray—you would’ve kept looking. This isn’t your fault.”

I don’t really know him. In fact, I barely know him. But I know my words are true anyhow. He’s just that kind of guy. At least he’s proven to be so far.

He drops his hands to his sides and turns his head to look at me. As he stares, my heart rate kicks up and there’s a nervous swirl in my stomach.
 

Lying down on this bed next to him was a bad idea. Good god, at least he’s fully clothed.
 

“Thanks,” he says, his voice low and quiet. “You’re…a good friend.”

I smile, the breath catching in my throat.
 

Breathe, Sydney. Freaking breathe or you’re going to pass out.

He reaches up toward me and, as I freeze, so does he, a look of uncertainty washing over his face.
 

“Um,” I say.
 

“Sorry,” he says at the same time and drops his arm.

“No, it’s okay. I just…”

Ray raises his eyebrows. I want to say, yes, kiss me. Just kiss me. It’s all I’ve been able to think about. But instead I just stare back, frozen in time.

Ray turns onto his side and props up on his elbow. “You’re such a nice girl, Sydney. And…a good person. A good friend to me.” He licks his lips and his gaze shifts to the plaid red and blue comforter. His eyelashes, long and dark, flutter as he looks up to observe me again. “I know we’ve only known each other for about seventy-two hours, but I think this could be more than that. I don’t know what you think about that but I—”

“I think that too,” I say. It comes out sounding all desperate, like I’m bidding at a freaking auction. I clear my throat and suck in a sharp breath. “I mean, I like you too.”

“So if I kiss you again…”

I nod. Please.

He tilts his head and I lean forward. We meet somewhere in the middle, thoughts of onion breath and nerves suddenly melting away. This time, the feeling of his lips against mine halts my breath. This time I might actually pass out. He doesn’t crush his mouth to mine like he did the night before. He kisses me softly, each one taking longer to reach me than the first.
 

We are in slow motion, savoring the taste of each other.
 
I roll onto my back, pulling him with me. His skin is hot against my palms, as I move my hands under his shirt and tug him closer. His lips brush the crook in between my chin and collar bone and he takes in a long deep breath.
 

Then he pulls away and my heart sinks.

“What?” I ask with a soft sigh. “Is it my breath?”

Ray laughs and lies back on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling. “Yes and no. It’s my stomach. I’m starving and you taste like a cheeseburger.”

“Gross,” I say, sitting up.

“It should be,” he replies. “But I feel like my stomach’s eating itself.”

“You didn’t get anything at the pub?” I move to the edge of the bed, doing my best to hide my disappointment in a moment that ended way too soon.

He shakes his head, his expression shadowing. “Too much drama to bother.”

“Do you…want to go back?”

“I’m not sure I should ever go back there.” He lets out a heavy breath and the mattress shifts as he joins me. “Maybe we should just go back to Seattle. I found what I was looking for, right? She’s alive and well. Doing okay from what I can tell.”

“But could you really just leave? After all this time?”

Our gazes connect for the first time since the kiss ended and when he smiles I can’t keep mine from falling to his lips.

“No,” he says. “I probably couldn’t. But you should have seen how mad she was. She doesn’t want me here. She doesn’t want anything to do with me and I can’t blame her. I’ve been gone for years. Living my life. Doing my thing. And while she may not have exactly been suffering, the guilt still rattles me. I left my baby sister alone with a woman she could barely tolerate. As much love as I know my aunt has for us, we only ever really had each other. And I left her.

“You shouldn’t leave. You should talk to her. Maybe she was just surprised to see you, didn’t know how to react. I bet if you wait it out, she’ll come around.”

He takes my hand, his gaze locked on our fingers. “Maybe you’re right.”

“Come on,” I say. “I didn’t drive all the way out to a town called Moscow to sit in a creepy cabin stealing kisses from a cute boy who never seems to want to finish the job.”

His eyes widen a little and he closes them, briefly. “I’m sorry.”

“Last night you were drunk, tonight you’re deliriously hungry. I’ll try not to take it personally.” I grab his hand as I jump to my feet. “Now come on, I’m thinking I could use that milkshake after all.”

“Here you go, hon.” The red-headed waitress named Jill, who’s been at our table no less than six times in the thirty minutes we’ve been here, rests another pitcher in front of Ray, a wide grin spread across her creased face. “If you need anything else…” She squints a pair of glassy green eyes and plants her hands on her hips. “You sure we don’t know each other?”

“Like he said.” I reach across the table linking my fingers with his in a bid to give her a reason to take a hike once and for all. “We’ve never been here before. We’re tourists, so probably not.”