Bottom Feeder (30 page)

I grab a teasing comb from the trunk
and open the back door to begin excavating the lace out of the seat
indentions. I pick up the scrap of fabric with the pointed end of
the comb—like it’s a snake ready to strike—then pull the red and
black g-string out of the car slowly.

Dom takes two steps back while I toss
them in the garbage. I probe the comb between the seats again,
finding another pair stuffed underneath the passenger seat. Dom
gives a look of disbelief when I bring those out and chuck them in
the garbage.

“
They’re not mine,” I
announce defensively. “My booty would never squeeze into an extra
small.”

Smooth, Carrington. Real
smooth.

“
Is there something I can
do for you?”

Dom props a hip against the trunk.
“What happened after I left? You seem, ah, upset.”

I shrug. “I kept an eye on Jackson. I
drifted to sleep about an hour before Miles came in the room
screaming.”

“
Terrance said you owned
Wotley.”

I shrug again. Why is Dom trying to
make small talk? I am leaving for good as soon as the panties are
cleaned out of my car. I really want him to go away.

No, Carrington, you really
want to sit on his lap.
I sigh. It’s
true.

I insert quarters into the upholstery
cleaner. The machine whirs to life. I begin cleaning the backseat
until the timer beeps a warning when I move to the front. Dom
slides four carwash coins in the slot and leans against the door,
gauging my every move.

The North Carolina thermostat is
obviously set to six degrees hotter than hell. Within minutes I am
drenched in sweat. Streams of perspiration run down my face and
back, soaking through my shirt. Sexy, Maddy is thy name.

I finish and climb on top of the
concrete to hang up the hose properly. Dom reaches for my hand to
help me down. I let him.

“
You’re mad at me,” he
states.

“
No.” I’m not mad. Not at
him, anyway. “I had a nice time. It was the best birthday ever.
Really.” I pause to make sure my emotions are in check. “It was
nice meeting you.” I extend my hand.

Instead of taking my hand, he places
his palms on either side of my face, his long fingers gently
grasping the back of my head. He pulls me closer.

Definitely not good for the tears I’ve
had barricaded since I turned around ten minutes ago to see him
smiling at me. I cannot like him. I can’t. I. Can. Not. Do.
This.

Yes, you can.

“
You’re making it really
hard for me to leave. Tell Jackson to stop sending you on these
errands to check on me. You’re not his minion.”

“
Monroe didn’t send me.”
Dom has the decency to look hurt. “Why did you leave without saying
goodbye?”

“
Why do you care if I said
goodbye?” I snap. Dom wipes runaway tears from my cheek.

“
You think I blew you off
last night?” I give him a look that says
Dern skippy!
“Dominguez didn’t tell
you why I
couldn’t
contact you?” I shake my head.

He sighs and proceeds to tell me the
story of how he ended up in the Cumberland County jail.

“
My idea was to make a
shuttle service for everyone who couldn’t drive,” he begins. “On my
third trip, there was a disagreement between myself and another
guy. He was wasted and grabbed the wheel while I was driving. I
swerved, cutting off another car. Thirty seconds later, I was
pulled over.”

The Tiburon belongs to Jackson’s
roommate. He asked Dom to take care of it while he is overseas.
Since the car isn’t registered to him, Dom could not produce the
proper paperwork and ended up spending the night in a holding cell,
waiting for a judge and confirmation from Jackson’s roommate that
Dom is allowed to have the car.

“
When you called Wotley
this morning, I was in his office explaining why I wasn’t at the
DUI briefing. I heard parts of the conversation. I didn’t know it
was you making him squirm like that, though.”

I am incredibly selfish. I
didn’t think of
anything
like that happening to him because I was too busy
rolling in my own pity. “I’m sorry you had to go through
that.”

“
I know how it looked when
I didn’t come back or call. When I came to Monroe’s room and
everyone started asking about you—”

“
What? Why?”

“
Word travels fast. When
Monroe said that you were his, I assumed—”

“
He said
what
?” I rub my palms
over my eyes, feeling a massive headache coming on.

“
That you are . . .
his?”

I am
livid
. If you ever wondered if blood
could boil, the answer is yes. Yes, it can. I should not have
kissed him. I should have punched him in the throat.

He is insane. Absolutely
insane. The entire time he and I have known one another, I’ve done
nothing but disgust him and mess up his life because I’m a bottom
feeder, a nobody. But now I’m his? His
what
, exactly? The female version of
a whipping boy?

I take a few deep breaths to calm
myself, but renegade tears continue flowing.

“
So you’re not with him?”
Dom asks.

“
I’m not with anybody,” I
answer bitterly. I sit in the car with my head on the steering
wheel, questioning my weakness. Hating my weakness.

Dom crouches beside the car. “Be with
me.”

Last night I would have jumped at this
opportunity. Last night I would have thrown my arms around him.
Kissed him. But last night isn’t today and today I am changed. I
can feel the shift inside me, like glaciers running through my
veins, hardening my heart, my emotions. Changing the very core of
me.

Not to mention I come with more
baggage than a Southwest flight. Today is not the day to hold back,
so I voice every single word of this to Dom without going into
specifics. I end my speech by reminding him I will be in New York
by this time tomorrow.

He smiles. “Spend the rest of your
time with me.”

“
I’m leaving Fayetteville
in an hour. I’ve got one more stop.”

His eyes are locked to mine. Brief
flashbacks of the way he kissed me flip through my mind like a
cartoon sketch. Warmth spreads in places it probably
shouldn’t.

The corners of his mouth twitch,
probably noticing the blush staining my cheeks. “I’ll come with
you.”

A battle ensues between my head, my
heart, and my hormones. I hate that I actually feel comfortable
with Dom. I felt comfortable with Jackson and we all know how that
turned out.

Everything inside me is saying to stay
another day. Common sense screams to leave without as much as a
glance in the rearview.

I will regret this tomorrow. “No,” I
sigh.

He frowns. “Why?”

I swing my legs out of the car. “I
don’t trust myself. Being alone with you right now? Not a good
idea. I’m not going into details, but between the time you left
this morning and an hour ago, I have learned some life-altering
information. I am hurt beyond a simple repair job. I’m alone. More
alone than I’ve ever been. If I’m alone with you, it will be a
desperate, vulnerable time and I can’t risk that. I’m sick of
regrets. I would like to spend more time with you, but I can’t drag
you into my mess. I won’t. ”

“
What if I want to be
dragged into it?”

I shake my head. “I wouldn’t wish this
on anyone.”

“
But
I
want this. Maddy, you are so
different than anyone I’ve ever met. Do you know how much of a
breath of fresh air you were to me yesterday? Besides, I come with
my own baggage.”

I would like nothing more than to tell
him I’d stay and take a chance with him, even if only for a few
more hours. But I’ve only known him for one day. More than that,
Cordell would know if I didn’t make it to New York City.

“
Here’s the thing.” I take
his hands and sit them on my lap. “I’ve got too many secrets that
can put you in the path of something . . . unsafe. When I leave
here,” I pause, thinking about the car having some kind of
Big Brother
system.
“Let’s stand by your car.”

He grasps my hand as I lead him
between the Tiburon and a towering wall that hides us from sight
and sound.

“
When I leave here,” I
continue, “I’m going to disappear in plain sight, be off the radar
without anyone knowing.”

“
Why would you have to . .
. ?”

I put my hand up. “I don’t exactly
know the details yet. I’m only telling you this because I don’t
want you to think I’m blowing you off. I’m also going to ask you
not to tell Jackson about this conversation. My ties to him will be
cut as soon as I find out the extent of his punishment.”

Dom drops my hands and grabs my waist,
pulling me to close. “I’m a big boy, Maddy,” he says. “I can take
care of myself. I have a feeling you are worth whatever might come
my way.”

We are in the parking lot of a car
wash in the middle of one of the largest United States Army bases
in the world, but everyone and everything else disappears except
Dom. I reach around his neck and pull him down to me. I don’t kiss
him. I stare into his mahogany eyes, run my fingers through his
hair, and memorize the architecture of his face.

“
I’ll tell you what,” I
whisper. “How about you come to New York in one month?” By that
time, I should have a pretty solid plan.

“
I will request leave time
first thing Monday.” He leans into me and rests his head on my
shoulder. I shudder with delight as his lips lightly brush against
the hollow of my neck.

All my inhibitions are about to fly
out the window on a unicorn with rainbows and cupcakes streaming
from its bum. Under protest from the rest of my body, I bring my
hands to Dom’s chest and, gently and unwillingly, push
back.

“
Thirty days,” he says,
kissing the tip of my nose. “I will be at your door in thirty
days.”

Mid-day traffic on Skibo Road is worse
than Savannah’s rush hour. Once I’m finally inside my favorite
chain bookstore, I pay cash for a scone and an iced caramel
macchiato. I grab a stack of napkins and find an oversized chair in
a back corner.

My mission, if I choose to accept
it—and I do accept it, obviously, because the other choice of
giving up kind of sucks—is to slowly disappear from the grid. That
way, no one can find. Not Cordell, Larry, or even Agent
Mace.

On a stack of napkins, I begin to
outline the key points of my plan. The most crucial item I must
remember is that everything needs to continue as normal. I have to
pretend the pain in my chest is not really my heart shattering into
tiny shards. I have to pretend I’m not angry.

Operation: Get the *#!%
Out (OGTFO)

-Assume all bags and suitcases have
tracking devices. Donate luggage to thrift store(s).

-Find Lawyer

Cell phone:

-Only use for casual calls

-Purchase pre-paid burner phones,
different carriers

--For Dixon, lawyer and
research

-Allow minutes to run out and change
numbers each time

Laptop:

-School use and casual emails
only

-Set up new email account

-Use public computers for
research

iPod:

-Check for broken seal

-Purchase new ear buds

-Do not use on Wi-Fi

Car:

-It has to go

Apartment:

-Bug sweeper.

--Find tactical supply store between
here and NYC

-Door brace x2

--Front door, bedroom

Money:

-Lawyer

-Assume all card purchases are
tracked

-Keep current bank with Cordell’s name
on the account for now

--Use this account only for food and
school necessities

-Get cash back when making grocery and
clothing purchases

--Save and store this money

-Open a new bank account at a
different bank ASAP

--Safety deposit box

---Different bank from new bank
account

School:

-????

One semester should be plenty of time
to plan what I have to do as far as school is concerned. Maybe I
can live in Europe. But that requires getting on a plane, and I
don’t think I’m ready for that kind of commitment.

My eyes feel heavy from lack of
sleep.

Taking a last glance at the inner
workings of my plan to disappear, I rip the napkins into small
pieces and toss half the bits in the garbage. I step outside and
toss the second half in a garbage can and pour the remains of my
macchiato on top.