Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 04 - Dirty Deeds (25 page)

Guilt continued to pound at me as I remembered the disappointment in Riley’s eyes. I had someone really great in my life, and I’d let him slip away.

I shook my head. I didn’t want to feel sorry for myself, but it felt like all of my other emotions were drying up. Guilt and self-loathing … they were abundant. I just wished Riley understood me better. I wished he’d never asked me to make that promise.

I rounded the West Wing of the building. Inside, windows were lit with a warm glow. I could see silhouettes of people happily moving about, enjoying their lives and all the fine things that came with it. I shoved my hands deeper into my pockets.

In the distance, the pool area came into view. It wasn’t just any pool area. There were five pools, some with slides, others with jet sprays, some with sprinklers. Everything you could imagine. Right now, the area was dark and the lifeguards had gone home.

I walked between some lounge chairs. I wondered if I’d be caught if I slept here tonight? I wasn’t tired right now, so it didn’t matter. I just kept wandering.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a text message.

From Riley! My pulse quickened.

Where are you? I’ve been looking for you all day.

My heart soared and then immediately crashed. Looking for me with good news or bad? I couldn’t be sure.

I texted him back that I was down by the pool.

My throat tightened again. I prayed that our meeting would be good. I prayed that this mountain of a misunderstanding between us could be moved.

All things worked together for good in Christ, right? That’s what I believed. So I had to believe that all of this would turn out the way it was supposed to. Sometimes, when things turned out the way they were supposed to, that didn’t mean they turned out my way. The thought made my heart ache, though I believed in the truth of the words.

I paused as I spotted that breezeway in the distance and the area under construction beyond that. I wasn’t going any closer. No way.

I heard a footfall behind me and turned, fully expecting to see Riley.

Instead, a gloved hand covered my mouth.

CHAPTER 31

“You couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?” someone growled in my ear.

I struggled against my captor, desperate to get away.

He tried to move me forward, but I dug my heels into the concrete. I was not going with this man. I was certain I wouldn’t come back alive, if I did.

My captor was broad and solid. He easily lifted me off my feet and carried me away from the safety of the hotel and toward the endless woods surrounding it.

I thrashed back and forth. I kicked. I tried to scream. Nothing worked.

“Put her down!” someone yelled behind us.

I’d know that voice anywhere. Riley.

The man paused. That’s when I saw Riley’s fist collide with my captor’s nose. The man groaned, and his grip loosened enough for me to squirm away. But then he turned toward Riley, all bulk and beefy mass.

He charged toward Riley and tackled him. I screamed. I couldn’t bear the thought of Riley being hurt at my expense. I ran toward the masked man and hopped on his back, desperate to stop him.

The masked man reared, trying to throw me off, but I held on tight. My distraction gave Riley enough time to stand and grab a beach umbrella from its stand nearby. The pole was made of iron, thick and heavy. Riley pulled it back and crashed it into the man’s knees.

The man threw his arms behind him. I fell back, landing with a thud on the concrete. My head cracked and immediately pulsated with pain at the impact.

The thug grabbed the umbrella and charged at Riley again. Riley ducked, but the man turned at the last minute. The pole clocked Riley in the arm. He moaned.

Someone yelled in the distance. Security was coming.

The man spotted them and started to run. I grabbed the first thing I could find—a chair—and threw it in his path. The man fell headfirst onto the concrete. But, before security could reach him, he’d pulled himself back up and darted into the distance.

I turned over to check on Riley when my gaze skimmed the pool beside me. I let out a scream.

There was a man floating there, face up.

That man was Doug Matthews.

***

After the police, EMTs, and hotel staff disappeared, it was just Riley and I. We’d both been through the ringer with questions from everyone who’d arrived at the scene. Doug was dead. He’d only been dead for less than an hour, so I guess that cleared me from being a suspect.

The EMTs had treated Riley’s cut, checked out my head, and given us all the warning signs that we might need further medical help.

Bentley had glared at me from across the crowd the whole time. I’d successfully avoided him, and the police had kept him busy with lots of questions before finally leading him inside to check out the security footage. I guess the murder overshadowed his need to humiliate me publicly, at least for the moment.

Now that everyone else was gone, Riley looked at me, a depth of unreadable emotions in his eyes. My heart squeezed again. Those unreadable emotions seemed an awful lot like the ones he might have if he was breaking up with me.

Instead of saying anything, he took my elbow and led me inside.

“I can’t go in here.” I pointed toward the hotel.

He didn’t slow down or miss a step. “What are you talking about?”

“They kicked me out.” Scenes from that ugly confrontation flashed through my mind. Not one of my better moments.

Riley’s voice rose in pitch. “Who kicked you out?”

“The manager. It’s a long story.”

One shoulder shrugged up. “I’ll sneak you in the back way then.”

Sneaking me into a place where I was forbidden just might be one of the most romantic things Riley had ever done for me. Too bad he was doing it right before he dropped the bombshell that we were breaking up.

He kept his hand on my elbow. Using his card, he opened a back door and took the emergency stairs all the way to his room. I stepped inside, trembling and nauseous and feeling washed up. What a night. What a trip, for that matter.

Riley locked the doors and stepped back. His gaze was heavy, burdened. I wished I could come up with a cleaning solution to wash away people’s pain. I’d be a millionaire if I could.

My gaze perused the room and came to a stop on … Veronica?

She sat on the couch, a look of alarm in her eyes as she sat up straighter. Why had she been sitting alone in the dark?

My eyes zeroed in on the low cut blouse she wore, as well as the bright pink lipstick. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders, and she had a goblet of wine in hand.

“Where’s Lane?” Riley asked. He looked equally as confused by her presence.

She pulled a hair behind her ear. “He’s … um … he’s asleep.”

Riley shook his head methodically. “I guess you couldn’t sleep?”

She grabbed her purse. “I should be going.”

She swooped past me and was out the door. Out of curiosity, I walked across the room and pushed Lane’s door open. There was no one in there.

My mouth dropped open. “She was here for you,” I mumbled.

“I had no idea she was going to be here, Gabby. Please believe me.” He locked gazes with me.

I did believe him. But I also believed that Veronica still would do anything to be with Riley.

Riley moaned, grabbed his arm, and stripped off the sweatshirt he was wearing, revealing a torn T-shirt underneath. He glanced at his arm and grimaced.

I sucked in a breath when I saw the blood there. “You’re hurt.”

The EMTs had treated one cut. They must have missed this smaller one on his other arm.

He examined the deep gash on his bicep. “I’ll be okay.”

I stepped closer, starting to reach for it but thinking better of it. “No, you need to get that cleaned up.” I grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and held it under the sink until warm water soaked it. I took it back to Riley and gently pressed the cloth into his cut.

My throat ached when I thought about how he could have been hurt.

Those thoughts were immediately followed by the realization of how defined his muscles were. He must be sneaking in some workouts on his lunch break. It wasn’t that I hadn’t ever noticed before. It was simply that my emotions were going haywire at the moment.

I focused and stared at his cut. “That’s deep. You might need stitches.”

He shook his head, his jaw locked in place. “I’ll be fine. Some butterfly bandages will work.”

“I’d get some for you, but no one can see me here.” I offered an apologetic smile.

His hand covered mine, which covered the washcloth over his wound. “I’m going to be fine, Gabby. Stop worrying.”

I swallowed and left him to hold the washcloth. My head still pounded from my fall. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and saw my lip was busted, my hair was a tousled mess, and dirt smudged my cheek. I was a mess, in more ways than one.

How appropriate that someone who cleaned up messes was such a disaster herself at times.

I turned around, ready to get this conversation over with. Riley and I both started at the same time. We stared at each other a moment, tension crackling between us, until finally Riley said, “You first.”

I nodded and leaned against the table behind me. How did I even begin to explain everything to Riley? My emotions didn’t even make sense to myself half of the time.

“I’ve been thinking a lot lately, Riley,” I started. “Aside from God, you’re the best thing to ever happen to me, and I’m so sorry that I wasn’t open and honest about everything.” I sucked in a deep breath. “But I also know that I’m doing what I was created to do, Riley. I’m good at solving crimes. My passion is to find justice for people who desperately need it in their lives.”

“You are good at what you do, Gabby. I’ve never argued with you there.”

“Every time I try to investigate, you ask me not to.”

“Because I worry about you.”

“Is that really the reason?”

“Of course it is. Why would you ask that?”

“Because sometimes I think you want me to be someone I’m not. I can’t stand feeling like that.” I blinked as my words escaped my lips, etching a moment in my life that I could never take back.

Riley stared at me, a wrinkle between his eyebrows. “What are you saying, Gabby?”

I shook my head, fighting back tears. What
was
I saying? I pulled in another breath. “I guess what I’m saying is that I can’t choose between you and doing what I love.” A tear spilled down my cheek.

Riley stood, his eyebrows forced together, his shoulders tight. “Are you breaking up with me?” His voice sounded low, laced with surprise, regret.

I wasn’t sure. Was that what I was doing? My gaze flickered back up to his. “I just want someone who loves me for me. For all of me.”

“Gabby—” He reached for me, but I held up a finger to stop him. I had to get through these thoughts that suddenly hit me with clarity.

I sliced my hand through the air above my head as high as I could reach. “I’ve had you up on this pedestal for so long. The problem is that I keep trying to climb up this huge base at the bottom so I can reach you, and I just don’t think it’s ever going to happen.”

“Gabby.” He reached forward and brushed a tear from my cheek. “Please stop. Don’t do this.”

I shook my head, my chin trembling. “It’s true.”

“We can leave this silly resort. I don’t need it. I don’t need to be around my old friends. None of this was supposed to make you feel bad. I wanted you to enjoy yourself. I wanted time with you, away from the craziness of our usual life.”

“Maybe my problem is that I haven’t had time to discover who I am now that I’m a Christian. You’ve helped me change in so many ways, for the better, but now what?”

“Now we get ready to start a life together. You and me. Forever.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to feel like this forever.”

“Feel like what?”

My throat burned as the words stopped up my throat a moment. When they emerged, they sounded raw, exposed. “Like I’m not good enough.”

“Gabby, I’m not the one who’s making you feel like that. I love you as you are. I just want you to be honest with me. I want you to trust me enough to be yourself.”

I wiped my hand across my forehead, and when my fingers reached my temple, I rubbed vigorously, as if trying to wipe out a stain. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything right now.”

Silence stretched between us for a moment as we stared at each other. Finally, Riley fidgeted. “Maybe you should get some rest. Your thoughts will be clearer after you get some sleep.”

I nodded and stepped toward the door, my head feeling like it weighed a hundred pounds. “Yeah, I should.”

“Where are you going? Why don’t you stay here? I’ll go to Derek’s room for the evening.”

“Derek’s probably not going to be speaking to you anymore,” I admitted feebly.

“What?” His confusion disappeared as he shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. I can just stay on the couch, and if people ask questions, I’ll explain myself to them. I’d rather do that than be worried about you all night. Besides, Lane will probably be back and be sleeping in the other room.”

I thought of my options. There weren’t many. Finally, I nodded, too exhausted to argue. “If you wouldn’t mind, then that would be great.”

He put his hand on my back and led me to a door on the other side of the room. “Let me just grab a few things.”

Bile rose in my throat as I watched him collect his bag and some clothing from the closet. My dream getaway with Riley was not supposed to work out like this.

CHAPTER 32

I woke up the next morning and felt like I’d been run over by one of those antique carriages downstairs. My head pounded. My chest ached. My eyes were swollen, and I couldn’t even remember crying.

I sat up and everything from last night came crashing back. Derek’s business card. Being accused of taking Ajay’s necklace. Doug’s dead body. A possible break up with Riley.